NINTENDO DS

Japan

What Kinds Of People Purchased Dragon Quest IX?

By Ishaan . July 26, 2009 . 11:49am

Dragon Quest IX is finally out, and, as expected, is already stampeding all over the competition in Japan. As a lot of you might know, while Dragon Quest has never been as big as Final Fantasy in the West, it’s in a league entirely of its own in Japan.

Part of the reason for this is that Dragon Quest isn’t just popular with the kiddies and “young adults,” it’s also popular with the oldies…of which there is a significant amount in Japan. Dragon Quest transcends age, profession and gaming habits. It’s bigger than Wii Sports and Wii Fit.

Let’s take a look at the general reaction on the streets to DQIX. Ninety nine people from a broad spectrum of age groups were asked to take a brief questionnaire regarding the series at various stores that were selling the game in the Akihabara, Yurakucho, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro districts. These were the questions:

1. What are your feelings about purchasing DQIX?

2. Out of DQs I-VIII, which is your favourite?

3. What other games are you playing at present?

Below are some of the answers. Age and profession are included to help give you an idea of the kind of people that are buying the game.

Female, 24 years (Part-time worker):

A1: I’m happy I was able to get the new DQ, which I’ve been waiting and waiting for. I’m going to play it as soon as I get home.

A2: I liked Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride the best.

A3: I’m playing old games on the Wii Virtual Console.

Male, 26 years (Model):

A1. I’ve been playing DQIX whenever I go to my friend’s house, so I’ve seen it as an example, and so I just kind of lined up to buy it. As such, I think my anticipation level’s a bit different from the people around me (laughs).

A2. I haven’t played any other ones before.

A3. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G on PSP

Male, 30 years (Office worker):

A1. I thought it would be sold out, so I’m happy I managed to buy one. I’m going to play it asap once I get home.

A2. I’ve played the whole series, but I especially like Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride.

A3. I’m playing Ace Attorney Investigations on the DS.

Female, 63 years (Author):

A1. I’ve been playing the DQ series since the first installment, so i’m looking forward to this release, too.

A2. I like Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen.

A3. Ace Attorney Investigations, 3D Picross and Shin Sangoku Musou.

Female, 31 years (Civil servant):

A1. I want to go home quickly to play this.

A2. My favourite is Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride.

A3. I haven’t been playing any games lately.

Female, 41 years (Housewife):

A1. I came to buy it for my son.

A2. I played it recently and so it’s still fresh in my mind, so my favorite right now is Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King.

A3. I’m playing various games on the DS and Wii.

Male, 18 years (Highschool student):

A1. I’m happy to have bought it. I look forward to battling with monsters.

A2. Dragon Quest III and Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride.

A3. I’m not playing anything else at the moment.

Female, 36 years (Housewife)

A1. I’m buying it as a gift.

A2. I’ve played every game in the series, but I like Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride best.

A3. I’m not playing anything.

Male, 37 years (Office worker)

A1. I’ve played the whole series, so I thought I’d continue with the newest addition, too.

A2. The first one, Dragon Quest.

A3. Other than the DQ series, nothing really.

Female, 25 years (Apparel store employee)

A1. I want to enjoy it during break with everyone at work. As a side note, my coworkers are all getting DQIX, too.

A2. I like Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King.

A3. I’m in the middle of playing Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G on the PSP.

Male, 51 years (Office worker)

A1. I didn’t think I’d be able to buy it, so I’m happy I was able to.

A2. I love Dragon Quest III.

3. Currently, nothing.

Male, 23 Years (Office worker)

A1. After thinking about it, I’ve decided. It’s a “YATTA!!” kind of feeling.

A2. Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie.

A3. The Winning Eleven series.

Female, 30 years (Actress)

A1. I got up early to line up, so I’m tired.

A2. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen.

A3. The Final Fantasy series.

Female, 32 years (Part-time worker)

A1. I want to play it with my boyfriend.

A2. I haven’t played any before.

A3. I’m not playing anything right now.

Lots of older women on that list. As you’ve probably guessed, yes, Dragon Quest is something even non-gamers in Japan seem to play. Compared to games like Wii Sports and Wii Fit, it looks like Dragon Quest is every bit as capable of bringing back lapsed gamers. It would also seem that it was wise of Square to include a co-op multiplayer feature, as that seems to be the draw for certain people.

Point of interest: if you think back to the DQX announcement, you’ll remember Satoru Iwata was at the event and has, on numerous occasions, pledged marketing support from Nintendo to help spread awareness of the game once it releases, both in Japan and in the West. That’s likely not only because of how big the series is, but also because it’s exactly the kind of game that easily straddles the core/casual line in Japan, while satisfying both audiences.

It’s going to be very interesting to see what happens when Dragon Quest X releases on the Wii, given the nature of the system’s audience. What direction will the series take? Will it do better than Dragon Quest IX?

Notes: 1. Big thanks to Laura for her help with translating and bearing with me while I wrote this up.

2. We tried to pay attention to and accurately represent the tone of people’s answers in English. Also, any time you see “DQ” instead of “Dragon Quest,” the person said “Dorakue,” which is how the Japanese shorten the series title. We’ve also used the English titles for all games mentioned.

3. As Laura pointed out to me earlier, Dragon Quest V seems to be the FFVII of the series. Since DQV just got a remake on the DS, it might be a good jump in point for people new to the series.

4. What you see here is just a few responses. Head over to Gpara for more if you’re interested. Google Translate should help you understand the majority of the responses.

TAGS: Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, Nintendo DS, Square Enix

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Saturnus

wow, 63 year old woman? If this series really can appeal to what seems like every kind of person I really should try it out sometime.

Ereek

Very interesting and it's good to see it beating out games like Wii Fit. Any sales numbers on it so far? The last I heard was 3 million.

Ishaan

That's about right.

MadMirko

It's not exactly beating out Wii Fit, it could pass it in the coming weeks, but Wii Fit has been selling for a really long time so that might only be temporary. DQ VIII on the PS2 sold 63% of its total sales (or 2,2 mil copies) first week, for a total of 3,5 mil copies. Wii Fit sold 7% of its current total in the first week, for a current total of about 3,5 mil copies.

Ishaan

Right, but keep in mind that Dragon Quest as a craze has been around for much longer than Wii Fit.

Being on the DS can't hurt it either. You could have multiple people in a family owning individual copies of the game in order to play together...that's an advantage Wii Fit doesn't have. It's a one-per-household game. :)

UnscathedFlyingObject

And the extra cartridge for ppl who want to have extra save files.

SE is genius. I'll give them that--and freaking boycott them.

constraint

Well for one thing, let Level 5 develop Dragon Quest 11.

Yoneda

Dragon Quest is so popular with non-gamers because it actually is pretty much like non-game that simulates playing a game:

All this complexity with magic spells, equipment, consumable items, different monster types etc surely lets 60-years old women imagine they were making clever strategic and tactical decisions. Additionally the need to gather gold, items and experience makes them believe they were making great efforts to win these 'games'. And running from town to town in the order the story dictates allows them to feel like they were 'exploring' a vast fantasy world.

Hraesvelgr

Is that supposed to be criticism of the series?

Ereek

It looks more like trolling to me.

denpanosekai

Cool ass people. One big giant happy family.

Enact

Hmmm, my girlfriend enjoys the series quite a bit (particularly VIII) whereas I only have experience with VII and VIII so maybe I should get the older titles realesed on the DS. From what I hear (and from that survey) DQV seems to be the most loved.

Parable

I remember having played bits of some of the Dragon Warrior games at my friends place back in the early 90s. Never really got much into them... I, like many american RPG players, had fallen under the spell of the FF series. But DQVIII piqued my interest. Then I got sucked in by the SMT games. Thinking maybe its time to take a look at the DQ series again and pick up some DS remakes.

Spencer

Great job with this Ishaan and Laura :). I love how Gpara got responses from such a diverse selection of purchasers.

Rocketujuiso

I loved DQIV when it came out for the DS, so I plan to get IX, but I should have known DQ wasn't popular before I decided I wouldn't buy it when it first hit stores in Canada, as Amazon.ca doesn't stock it, and neither do any local stores. I suppose I was mistaken when I told myself any Square Enix game would last a great while in a store here.