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• Brave New Wi-Fi World: Square-Enix Might Just Change the Way We Play Nintendo Games

  I was a little miffed when Square-Enix announced Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time. More Crystal Chronicles is certainly a good thing, especially when it’s new Crystal Chronicles that promises online and an opportunity to improve on Ring of Fates’ flaws (no story mode co-op is not cool, guys.) I was just sad because this meant the first Crystal Chronicles announced for Wii, The Crystal Bearers, looked even more likely like a candidate for the vaporware hall of fame. I’m getting over the sour grapes though. A game that can be played cooperatively on either a Wii or a DS is the connectivity dream realized, a grand delivery on the promise of Gamecube’s Crystal Chronicles and even Miyamoto and Toru Iwatani’s Pac-man Vs. Graphics be damned, this is the future of co-op. The news is already racing around the internet that Square-Enix might be giving Dragon Quest IX the Echoes of Time treatment. EGM’s classic rumor monger Quartermann says DQIX might hit both of Nintendo’s consoles, ensuring that it will sell a billion copies instead of just half a billion. If this turns out to be true, and both Echoes of Time and DQIX play well over Nintendo Wi-Fi, Nintendo’s sickly online strategy may finally have its first bonafide hook. Read More... Posted Dec 03 2008, 07:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, nintendo ds, wii, final fantasy, animal crossing, square-enix, mario kart wii, dragon quest ix, new super mario bros, echoes of time, animal crossing wild world, animal crossing city folk, crystal bearers, new super mario bros 2, mario kart ds, crystal chronicles, ring of fates, pac-man vs

• Trailer Review: Dragon Quest IX

  As October wears on and the fruits of game season, grand experiences like Dead Space and Fable 2, start to illuminate my living room with an incandescent and warming light, I find myself not looking forward, but back. 2008 has been, to date, a year overflowing with great games and even though it’s been less than a month since I finished it, I’m already looking back at Dragon Quest IV fondly. The characters, the leveling, the music; it was glorious. But, as it is with JRPGs, it will be a very long time before I ever attempt to complete that particularly glorious remake again. (If ever. Role-playing games are a steep time investment as is, a fact I’ve discussed many times in the past.) But this trailer, only recently presented in high-quality after its debut at Tokyo Game Show, fills me with hope for the future. Dragon Quest IX will be awesome. Oh yes, it will be so, so awesome. Read More... Posted Oct 20 2008, 06:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, square-enix, dragon quest, fable 2, dead space, yuuji horii, dragon quest iv, dragon quest ix

• The 'Bout Time Report: Dragon Quest IX Gets a Release Date

  The Dragon Quest games have never been known for their timeliness; Dragon Quest VII in particular had a development time so troubled that when it eventually came out, the game had a sorry first-gen aesthetic in a world where both Vagrant Story and Chrono Cross existed. But according to Kotaku, the upcoming Dragon Quest IX finally has a release date--nearly two years after the shocking announcement that the game would be exclusive to the DS. In this case, the DQ team's lack of promptness won't affect them much--as if it ever did before. The passing of time has only seen millions more DS systems sold, which means that Square-Enix is well on their way towards taking over the world. The reveal of DQ on the DS two years ago was a bit of a surprise, but it actually made sense when you stopped to think about it. Dragon Quest was never a series that prided itself--or relied--on visuals; despite what a show-stopping blockbuster VIII ended up being. When it comes to the franchise in general, VIII was a definite deviation; all of the standard DQ trappings still existed, but they were dressed up in the trappings of a lavish late-gen PS2 game--and even more so in the renovated US version. As much as I'd love to see another game in the same vein as DQVIII--which felt like the only authentic RPG of that generation--the format of IX doesn't really matter. Even with a game as relatively ugly as the DS remake of DQIV, that same addictive DQ formula is present regardless of the graphics. Read More... Posted Oct 01 2008, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments Filed under: ds, square-enix, dragon quest, bob mackey, dragon quest ix