It  makes one wonder how a smash hit like Dragon Quest IX is not made available worldwide. In Japan, where it was released in last month, the Square Enix RPG for the DS has already sold well over 3.5 million, earning 2 million sales on its launch week alone. So, when's it coming over to our shores? Yoichi Wada, CEO of Squeenix, has the answer after the jump.

The release of Dragon Quest IX was certainly well-received, having sold over 2 million copies in Japan alone last week. This time, rumors spewing from the NeoGAF forums are pointing to "some serious bonus content" that's to come for the new Square Enix release.

Media Create has released the results of Japan's software charts for the week of July 6th to July 12th. Dragon Quest IX for the DS beats everyone else to the top of the game with a smashing 2, 319,000 copies sold. Wii Sports Resort, which comes in at second place, does not even come an eeny-teeny, bitty close with only 103,000.

Major bummer. Square Enix prez Yoichi Wada has just announced that the delay of Dragon Quest IX for the DS may affect the release of Final Fantasy XIII.

Well, frak.

For over a year now, it's been the same old story in Famitsu's Most Wanted list: Japanese gamers who took part in their polls voted Final Fantasy XIII as the most anticipated title. It's claimed the throne for over twelve months already, but that's changed now. What are Japanese gamers looking forward to the most these days? Dragon Quest IX for the DS. Yeah, leave it to the Japanese gamers to replace an RPG with another RPG - another Square Enix RPG, for that matter - on their most wanted list.

At the Tokyo Game Show, Cloud and Terra were finally announced to be the missing members of the Dissidia roster. Though I'm not particularly surprised. What else is Square Enix up to down at TGS? Well how about a customized PSP-3000 with a Dissidia theme? Check out shots of the handheld in the full article.

What do you think are the titles that will create the most splash at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show? Enterbrain president Hamamura gives off his own list, and we'd have to agree with notes.

So what do Japanese gamers these days want to get their hands on the most? The latest list of most wanted games from Famitsu reveals a heavy leaning towards RPGs (mostly from Square Enix - no surprise there), with a healthy dose of other games from different genres, publishers, and platforms. See the Top 15 Famitsu Most Wanted list in the full article.

Square Enix president Yoichi Wada was recently interviewed by Bloomberg Japan. DUring the interview, he mentioned a few interesting details about Dragon Quest IX for the DS and the direction he wants to see his company go.

If you want to find out what he said, head on over to the full article by clicking on the "read more" link below.

After what seems to be a long drought of Dragon Quest IX screenshots, here's a new batch to tide the long wait over. The 3D graphics - while simplistic - looks crisp and clean, and the customizable characters certainly don't look half-bad either.

The game will also keep Dragon Quest's old-school battle system, making this title a sentimental must-have for hardcore fans of the game, only in miniature 3D. These screenshots certainly makes the wait harder for Dragon Quest enthusiasts, especially when the release of Dragon Quest IX is unfortunately pushed back by a delay.

This Dragon Quest title will hit Japanese store shelves in the fourth quarter of this year, and a Western release date is not yet announced.

    

More screenshots after the jump!