Dragon Quest X is a bold statement by Square

Just as popular as Mario, in Japan

Square Enix is preparing for the latest in the Dragon Quest series.  In case you don't know, Dragon Quest is the most popular video game series in the history of Japan.  In the past, when Dragon Quest would come out, people would call in sick to work and skip school, basically causing the entire country to "shut down" in order to play the game.  No, I'm not kidding.  Now I had always heard that the Japanese had a specific law on the books, making it illegal to release a Dragon Quest game on any day but Sunday, but according to other reports I am reading, that is a myth.  Regardless of it's truthfulness or not, Dragon Quest is the Call of Duty of Japan, and has been doing it for over 20 years now.  Think about it like this.  Final Fantasy is the top selling Japanese RPG series in the world...except for Japan.  Dragon Quest outsells Final Fantasy in Japan.

This was a huge move

Now the truth is that Square Enix wasn't always Square Enix.  A while back, Squaresoft (Final Fantasy) and Enix (Dragon Quest) were rival companies.  The difference between the companies was quite opposite though.  Enix was primarily a domestic Japanese company, that would do some really amazing games, but wouldn't reach worldwide popularity.  They really ruled the roost in Japan though.  Squaresoft, was pretty much the opposite.  While they were popular in Japan, the meat of Square's business was rooted in their worldwide appeal.  In 2003, the two companies merged.  I was excited to see this news, because I always loved Dragon Quest due to it's refusal to change, while Final Fantasy continued to "evolve."  

That being said, Square Enix and Nintendo weren't always on speaking terms.  Before 2002, Nintendo of Japan's President, Hiroshi Yamauchi, was so upset at Square's leaving Nintendo for Sony, he proclaimed that Square would never be allowed to make a game for a Nintendo console ever again.  He then went on to do several interviews where he would demean and ridicule the RPG giant.  After his retirement in 2002, and the promotion of Satoru Iwata opened the doors back up to Square, and the two have had a very close relationship ever since.

In Japan, handheld gaming is where most of the money has been for some time.  While here in North America, most of us prefer to play a game on a 50 inch plasma screen as opposed to on a smaller, portable screen.  Japan is a much more "on the go" country, and the ability to take gaming with you is a much more profitable audience.  Square took this initiative by the horns, and re-release several of their classic RPG library for the Nintendo DS; including Final Fantasy III, IV, Chrono Trigger, and Dragon Quests IV, V and VI.  Soon, they announced that the next official Dragon Quest game, IX, would be exclusive on the DS as well.  This was a pretty big announcement, because it was really a sign of where Japan was going with their gaming habits.  IX would not only be handheld, it would also be a game that had an online component, allowing gamers to battle, trade, and explore together via wifi connection on their units.  

25 bucks, and you gotta have it to play

So here last year, Square was looking at the upcoming Dragon Quest X, and what the series could do next in order capitalize on what they had created.  I don't think any of us were prepared for what they had decided to do.  Square had decided to focus the game even more on the online component now, complete with a subscription fee. The game will be out for the Nintendo Wii, and later on the Wii U consoles.  Given the Wii can't properly handle the game properly, though, a 16 gig flash drive will be required in order to play the game.  So if you're Japanese and gonna plunk down your yen on the game, be prepared to slap down another 2000 yen (25 bucks American) on the flash drive.

Now this doesn't make me happy for two reasons.  First of all, the flash drive.  I'm not really keen on spending extra money on hardware that I can only use on one game.  I've done this in the past, and it never really feels like a good investment.  That's small potatoes as to this second one though.  If you're looking to expand Dragon Quest into the online world, why in the world would you put it on the console with the worst online support?  The X-Box 360 has the best quality of online support in the world.  Given the low Japanese install base and the fact that X-Box Live isn't free, I can honestly see why the 360 isn't viable option for this game.  At least not exclusively.  However, the Playstation 3 has a high install base in Japan, and a superior online component to Nintendo.  

The only thing I can think of would be that Square doesn't want to split the audience.  Final Fantasy XI is available on the Playstation 2, X-Box 360 and PC platforms.  Because Microsoft was begging Square to make anything for their console, they allowed X-Box Live users to play with PS2 players.  Otherwise, this would have been not allowed.  I am guessing Nintendo and Sony would both have something to say if Dragon Quest X players could play with one another.  If anything, I would guess Nintendo would have a bigger problem with it than Sony would, because it would mean that the Wii verison would be inferior to the PS3 version.
 

What is interesting is the Wii U version of the game that will come out.  Nintendo's new console is more powerful than the Wii, so presumably the 16 gig flash drive will be not needed for this version.  Furthermore, Nintendo is starting to put a little more R&D behind an online component, which is a welcome sight to see.  I think this is a bold move by Square, as they are throwing their lot in with Nintendo's online service rather than going with what's popular now.  Dragon Quest on the Wii U will make the console very sexy in the eyes of the Japanese.  However, there's an interesting dilemma that will have to be answered.  Square has been trying to make DQ a world wide phenomenon for years now, and if they want this online version to be huge, they might have to accommodate the western audience by putting the game on another console.