This was the message from SE’s CEO Yoichi Wada when the company opted to make Dragon Quest IX: Guard of the Starry Night (tentative title) a DS exclusive game. The decision raised eyebrows last December but recently SE has made their reasoning more clear. It’s a move to incite consumers outside the current audience to give the franchise a try.

Because of next-gen consoles being “over-engineered” and “mismatched” Wada feels that it’ll get to a wider array of individuals if it is released for the handheld. “…the environment has changed completely….” He hopes that the company can capitalize on a diversifying market as “…we have to make games for all kinds of people."

Wada expressed sentiments that the home consoles will become more prominent “…In a year or two years, they will fare better” but that “… [there] are too many specs--and you also need a high-definition TV, a broadband connection, and a deep knowledge of gaming…” is preventing their peak at the moment.

Tags : dragon quest : nintendo ds : square-enix

Comments

By: Dragonfly On: 10:16 Jun 15th, 2007 Offline	Dragon Quest has always been a series that moved from console to console, and commonly it's released on the most popular format at the time. The fact that it's coming out on the DS is no surprise when you look at it from that angle... but it's still a really strange decision. I'm not complaining though. If it's as high quality as the past game, it's going to be beautiful anyway.

By: Corrine On: 11:09 Jun 15th, 2007 Offline	Dragon Warrior I, II, and III for the GB color were awesome games, and I'm sure this next one will also be a great handheld game too. The series suits handhelds rather well. :o