The blogosphere was a twitter with buzz yesterday after Square Enix announced Dragon Quest IX was coming exclusively to the Nintendo DS, and rightly so. As Wired’s Chris Kohler and Eliza Gauger mentioned at Game|Life, this could be the DS’s first 4 million unit seller.
The Wii still has a mountain to overcome before its longevity is even close to being known, but the DS does not. Even dogs are playing Nintendogs in Nippon right now, because everyone with two legs and and opposable thumbs already has a DS. On U.S. shores, Nintendo sold close to one million DS’s in one month. I’m sure post-December numbers will show Nintendo has gone to ludicrous speed in terms of revenue (I was once there as well, said Destructoid). If the DS can prove that lower development costs and intuitive interfaces make mad bank for publishers, then perhaps the Wii can ride a bit of that wave as well. It will take some time, as it did with the DS, but a few years down the line… Final Fantasy on Wii?
Game|Life:
“And yet, if DQIX is truly a sign of a turning tide, the fact that the Nintendo DS is getting loaded up with Final Fantasy games (Revenant Wings, Crystal Chronicles, III, and God knows what else), it could be the Nintendo DS lineup that’s seen as the true continuation of the Final Fantasy series, and the PS3 games might become less relevant. I know that sounds crazy but hey, Dragon Quest IX is on DS. Welcome to Crazytown.”
Crazytown indeed. Population, me.
