If you happen to be in Europe and a fan of the Dragon Quest Monsters series, then you'd be glad to know that the official website for Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker has just gone live for that side of the Atlantic (and for other PAL territories). Eye-candy, info on the video game, plus a lot more goodies were packed into it so be sure to check it out. Click the full article link for more info.

To DS gamers in Europe: if Q1 2008 is a little bit too vague for you, then worry no longer. You can finally encircle March 14 in your calendars as Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker's street date. Details in the full article!

Nintendo has revealed the titles coming to Europe in 2008 for the Nintendo Wii and DS platforms. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is nowhere in sight, but Mario Kart Wii and other big video games are expected to ship next year.

Find the list at the full article!

Well, it's confirmed. If any of you guys have a convenient ticket going to Japan, now would be a good time to book it so you can catch the Jump Festa 2008 event. That's where Square Enix will be previewing the closed door trailer of its upcoming Final Fantasy Fabula Nova Crystallis games, as well as its other highly anticipated titles for next year.

For more information, read more it in the full article!

In case you were hoping that Square Enix was going to release Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker into Europe before Christmas, we've got some bad news. The company has announced that this title won't be hitting the said region until early 2008.

As a recap, DQ: Joker launched in Japan back in December 2006. Its home market apparently took to it with gusto, with a staggering 430,000 copies being sold on its first day.

The title will be launching in North America this November 6, with retailers like GameStop offering free game-related collectibles to those who decided to pre-order their copy. Here's to hoping we'll be seeing plenty of similar promos for Europe come its launch next year.

Square Enix has announced that the upcoming Nintendo DS title Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker has gone gold. This title is the latest installment in the Dragon Quest Monsters series and is the first to feature online play.

The company has also dropped a reminder about their special pre-order promo. Those who pre-order a copy of Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker from participating outlets will get a free Green Bays Screen Wipe.

The freebie item acts as both a screen wiper and navigational map, so you guys might want to check it out. Participating outlets are Amazon.com, EBGames/GameStop, EBGames Canada and GameCrazy.

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker was released in Japan late last year and is currently on schedule to meet its November 6 North American release date.

DS owners may want to take a gander at this promo we spied GameStop readying up for Square Enix's Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker game.

According to their site, visitors who purchase the game are entitled to an extra trinket: the Green Bays Map Screen Wiper. The accessory doubles as both a map of the game's world, and as a handy screen wiper to keep your game view unobstructed on either screen.

GameStop further indicated what appears to be the game's release date for North America: November 6, 2007. The accessory is reported to be included with the game pack (US$ 39.99), with supplies advertised to be limited. The pack will be available for both the GameStop retail chains and their online shop. That's all the info we've got for the moment - drop by again in case we pick up more details.

Finally arriving to Japanese retail stores just three days ago, Square Enix's Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker proved to be bent on dominating the market. And with a reported shipment of more than 400,000 units on launch day, that doesn't seem too far off.

While no official sales figures have been released, there are some buzz that on the first day alone, the game managed to sell of a whopping 430,000 copies (whoa, every copy's been wiped out?!?). Also, it's been said that Square Enix has shipped a total of 825,000 units since its release on December 28. If the numbers turn out to be true, then, well and good for Enterbrain's baby. It then must be tastier than hotcakes to sell that much, that fast!

Playing Dragon Quest Monsters-Joker is not a solitary battle. Squeenix is nice enough to let you experience monster hunting with your friends. Unlike most games that leave you only with mini-games, DQMJ allows you and a friend a chance to travel and level up together, probably even catch a monster or few. You can do this through the Wi-Fi server provided for Dragon Quest Monsters- Joker. When you join this server, you can join other monster hunters and you can put yourself in the ranks with these other guys.

However, monster hunting doesn't end when you get your monster. It turns out, you can make your monster stronger by combining monsters with another monsters through the Monster Omiai (Correspondence) Center. It's a little like crossbreeding in a monsterly kind of way.

Now, at the Omiai center, you have to talk to a lady and she will ask you the composition of your monster. Which of your monsters are you going to place in the attack? Will you use a different one for defense or for range? As you have made your decision, she will play geneticist and produce your new monster. You can use this monster for battles in the DQMJ world, or you can also use this for the world ranking battle. Did we say world? Yeah, the DQMJ battle ranking system is open to anybody who can connect to the DS Wifi network and to the DQMJ server. Neat, right?

  

Here are new captures for Square-Enix' Dragon Quest Monster Joker for the DS. As much as we want to think that this is exactly a different game, we can't deny that it reminds us of Pokemon and that the little boy looks like one of the characters from the Dragon Ball franchise. It shouldn't be a surprise though as the artist for the game is Akira Toriyama, the same man behind the well-known series. It also shares some similarities with Pokemon 'cause in this game you'll be training monsters and will be engaging them into a battle with another trainer's monsters.

Too bad, the game will only be released in the Japanese market and there's no word if Square-Enix will decide to release it on U.S. and European markets as well. A guy from GameStop has already tried the game but then the Japanese texts only gave him a hard time figuring it out. Anyway, check out these new screens which features more of the monsters: