Square Enix Favors DS' Portable Approach, Dragon Quest IX DS exclusive

Filed in archive Interviews on June 12, 2007

Yoichi Wada, the chief executive of Square Enix, said in an interview with the Financial Times that the demographics of gamers have undergone a sea of change in the past few years, forcing software developers to shift their strategies accordingly.



"There is a new breed of gamers in the market - we have to make games for all kinds of people," said Mr Wada, in an interview with the FT. "In the old days, we could just focus on the PlayStation or the GameBoy, but the environment has changed completely."

My first thinking was: If that's the case, how come what we're seeing from Square-Enix are just spinoffs of their main titles? and then i read this:

In an abrupt turnround for the company, Square Enix announced this year that Dragon Quest IX, the latest instalment in its successful franchise, would only be produced for Nintendo's handheld DS machine. The move was groundbreaking, as previous Dragon Quest instalments were made primarily for the PlayStation and PS2.

"We chose the Nintendo DS because the widest array of people use it, including people who previously did not play games before," said Mr Wada.

W00t.

According to Cubed3.com: "Wada-san believes that it is at least a couple of years before the "over-engineered" consoles start to truly appeal due to their reliance on "a high-definition TV, a broadband connection and a deep knowledge of gaming". Clearly his sentiments are justified as Nintendo has now sold more than thirty-five million DS units around the world and plans to sell another twenty-two million this year, in comparison to Sony's estimates of shipping eleven million PlayStation 3 consoles."

dragon quest ix image courtesy of jeuxfrance.