One of the strangest vestigial interests of the non-Japanese gaming media is the interest they appear to have with Square-Enix's best-selling Dragon Quest franchise... outside of Japan. Although the franchise remains poker-hot in its home country, that success has never translated outside the Land of the Rising Sun, and recent reports to the latest title in the series indicate that as of 2009, not much as changed.
In its first two days of release since July 11th, Dragon Quest IX for the Nintendo DS sold a staggering 2,237,000 copies to anxious fans, many of whom camped out overnight to get their paws on the latest title in the role-playing phenomenom. Some had questioned whether the publisher could keep the momentum running strong, especially as the title was the first key entry in the franchise to launch on the DS hardware, unquestionably the nation's most popular gaming platform. For reference, the last entry in the series (for the considerably more powerful, though less portable PlayStation 2) sold an equally-staggering 2,267,827 copies in its first week, on its way to a 4.88 million global tally.
The Japanese market needed the boost, as the country continues to buckle under its worst recession in decades, which has affected both console and software sales for months. But while the initial success of Dragon Quest IX bodes well for Japan, it will be interesting to see if the latest title (which supports local multiplayer) will be the first to find true success outside of Japan, particularly in North America. The company has little trouble selling its Final Fantasy franchise to the masses, but would no doubt love to experience a little Dragon Love at the same time when the game hits our shores next year.
Thanks to Famitsu/Enterbrain for the tally!
blog comments powered by Disqus