Squenix Drops Dragon
Dragon Quest VIII is upon us.
Published: November 15, 2005
The Dragon Quest series may not encite the same kind of release day insanity here in the States that it does in Japan, but it’s certainly not without its followers. Hell, for a games that Square-Enix may not have even published at one point, they’re certainly pulling out all the stops to make sure everyone knows it’s finally here.
Something about a playable demo of Final Fantasy XII probably doesn’t hurt in the whole word of mouth department either. Still, prepare to see (if you haven’t already) ads in just about every gaming magazine and on every gaming site you’d typically hit on a day to day basis (except ours, but we’re not bitter or anything).
Specifically, we’re talking (or, uh, cutting and pasting) ABC Family, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, Comedy Central, Fuse, G4, MTV, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Spike TV, UPN and the USA Network on TV, plus sponsorships with MTV’s “TRL 12 Days of Christmas”, Spike TV’s “Spike Likes”, and Comedy Central’s “South Park” and “Drawn Together” and more. On the print side, you’ll see ads in Electronic Gaming Monthly, GamePro, Game Informer, Official PlayStation Magazine, PLAY and Tips and Tricks. Online, expect to see DQVIII everywhere; 1UP, AdultSwim.com, AOL RED, Cartoon Network.com, Cheat Planet, GameSpot, GameSpy, IGN, MTV.com and UGO will all be sporting ads.
The blitz hardly stops with traditional spots. The print ads alone are at minimum 2-pagers, and at max a huge 6-page gatefold mini-mag of stuff. Both GameSpot and IGN will be skinned with adverts as well. Like it or not, you’re not getting away from this game, so you might as well just pick up a copy before the Squenix brain slugs and subliminal suggestions force you to.
“We are extremely excited about Dragon Quest VIII’s release in North America. Utilizing state of the art polygon technology, not only the map, but all of Akira Toriyama's characters are created in 3D. The player can freely run around in this wonderfully animated world as far as the eye can see,” gushed Yuji Horii, Creator and Scenario and Game Designer for Dragon Quest. “While we’ve kept true to what made the series so popular, we’ve also added several elements for the North American audience and cannot wait for gamers to experience Dragon Quest!”
The American release, in the grand tradition of all Stateside releases from the uberpublisher, will include extras not seen in the Japanese version (until they re-release it with even more stuff, of course) – voice-overs, revamped menus, better animations, more battle abilities for the characters and a reworked full orchestral score. Oh, and there’s that whole FFXII demo thing too. Yummy.
We’ll have a review as soon as we can gank a copy. Keep your eyes peeled.
Something about a playable demo of Final Fantasy XII probably doesn’t hurt in the whole word of mouth department either. Still, prepare to see (if you haven’t already) ads in just about every gaming magazine and on every gaming site you’d typically hit on a day to day basis (except ours, but we’re not bitter or anything).
Specifically, we’re talking (or, uh, cutting and pasting) ABC Family, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, Comedy Central, Fuse, G4, MTV, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Spike TV, UPN and the USA Network on TV, plus sponsorships with MTV’s “TRL 12 Days of Christmas”, Spike TV’s “Spike Likes”, and Comedy Central’s “South Park” and “Drawn Together” and more. On the print side, you’ll see ads in Electronic Gaming Monthly, GamePro, Game Informer, Official PlayStation Magazine, PLAY and Tips and Tricks. Online, expect to see DQVIII everywhere; 1UP, AdultSwim.com, AOL RED, Cartoon Network.com, Cheat Planet, GameSpot, GameSpy, IGN, MTV.com and UGO will all be sporting ads.
The blitz hardly stops with traditional spots. The print ads alone are at minimum 2-pagers, and at max a huge 6-page gatefold mini-mag of stuff. Both GameSpot and IGN will be skinned with adverts as well. Like it or not, you’re not getting away from this game, so you might as well just pick up a copy before the Squenix brain slugs and subliminal suggestions force you to.
“We are extremely excited about Dragon Quest VIII’s release in North America. Utilizing state of the art polygon technology, not only the map, but all of Akira Toriyama's characters are created in 3D. The player can freely run around in this wonderfully animated world as far as the eye can see,” gushed Yuji Horii, Creator and Scenario and Game Designer for Dragon Quest. “While we’ve kept true to what made the series so popular, we’ve also added several elements for the North American audience and cannot wait for gamers to experience Dragon Quest!”
The American release, in the grand tradition of all Stateside releases from the uberpublisher, will include extras not seen in the Japanese version (until they re-release it with even more stuff, of course) – voice-overs, revamped menus, better animations, more battle abilities for the characters and a reworked full orchestral score. Oh, and there’s that whole FFXII demo thing too. Yummy.
We’ll have a review as soon as we can gank a copy. Keep your eyes peeled.