"According to Cosmo Securities analyst Takashi Oka, Square Enix's Dragon Quest IX on DS, scheduled for release in Japan in November, will sell five million units in Japan alone and should generate revenue of $190 million.

"It's not surprising Dragon Quest IX for the portable console sold twice as many units as a version for stationary game machines,'' Oka wrote in a Japanese-language report (translated by Bloomberg)."

"It's likely that this will be another million seller for the platform. The Dragon Quest IV remake, released back in November, was one of Japan's top ten titles for the year and has, according to numbers released today by Square Enix, crossed the 1.15 million mark in domestic sales."

"Wired's annual Vaporware Awards went up yesterday, and because this is the Internet quite a few of the slots went to videogames. But we're not nearly done yet.

We have some slightly different rules for this list. The game in question didn't have to ever have an official 2007 release date attached to it, just as long as the hype coming from the publisher vastly outweighed the substance."

"1. (1 / 1) Dragon Quest IX NDS Square Enix
2. (2 / 2) Final Fantasy XIII PS3 Square Enix
3. (3 / 3) Biohazard 5 PS3 Capcom
4. (4 / 4) Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 Konami
5. (6 / 6) Monster Hunter 3 Wii Capcom
6. (5 / 5) Super Smash Bros. Brawl Wii Nintendo
7. (7 / 7) Dragon Quest VI NDS Square Enix
8. (8 /10) Dragon Quest IV NDS Square Enix
9. (12/ 9) Lost Odyssey Xbox 360 Microsoft
10. (11/14) Final Fantasy IV NDS Square Enix
11. (9 / 8) Shin Sangoku Musou 5 PS3 Koei
12. (14/20) Dragon..."

Some new Japanese Shonen Jump magazine scans for the first DS entry in the Dragon Quest series. Battles seemed to have shifted back to a menu-based system compared to the real-time hack and slash we first saw last year, though you can still see foes on the field before engaging. This is a nifty compromise for those who felt the real time battles would shake too many roots. Player characters also appear customizable right down to their facial expressions.

"Dragon Quest IX is now back to the top of Famitsu's Most Wanted chart for the dates of March 30 - April 5. The list is populated with six more Square Enix titles..."

"Gamefront.de has posted the latest Famitsu's Most Wanted charts for the dates between the 23rd to 29th of March. The list is dominated by Square Enix with Final Fantasy XIII as the most wanted title, and five other to-be-released titles chosen by Famitsu's readers.

Other Square-Enix titles that were picked by the readers are Dragon Quest IX at number 2, Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors at number 10, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings at number 16, Final Fantas..."