DA
07-09-2009, 06:34 PM
If these two men look a little pent-up, forgive them -- they've just spent the past two-and-a-half years designing, agonizing, and freaking out over what's almost certainly going to be the top-selling video game in Japan this year.
"It really feels close now," Dragon Quest IX designer Yuji Horii (right) told Famitsu this week. "All the final tweaking we've done took a lot of time, but now it's like 'We've finally completed it! We can finally get it out there!'"
Dragon Quest IX is hitting Japanese stores on July 11, a day sure to be marked by long lines in front of stores and the sort of festival atmosphere in Akihabara that only comes once every few years. 1UP will have full coverage of the DQ9 launch frenzy, so stick around this weekend to get the whole story.
When asked what the most difficult part of the development process was, Horii had an immediate reply. "That was when I had to cut and rework part of the story -- not a large part compared to the rest of the plot, but one that had to be cut out anyway for space reasons."
Producer Ryutaro Ichimura (left), meanwhile, brought up the seemingly endless delays that have marked DQIX's development. "We had a ton of ideas in the beginning about what we wanted to do," he said, "but once we got into the summer of 2008, we began revising the plan because we worried there was too much volume, that it'd scare people off. It was a necessary balancing process, but it was really tough. It's scary for a creator to have to cut out his own work from a game."
Still, it's all over, and Horii couldn't be more excited. "This game is filled with new challenges and new ideas from everyone in the staff, but try it out, and I think you'll see it's still the Dragon Quest you know," he said. "Some quests are going to be hard, but if you can't figure them out, you can ask friends or look around on the net; by this point, that's part of the fun. I'd be very happy to see people play this game for a long time to come. Also, if you're looking for multiplayer partners at the station or McDonald's and I show up, don't disconnect on me!"
"It really feels close now," Dragon Quest IX designer Yuji Horii (right) told Famitsu this week. "All the final tweaking we've done took a lot of time, but now it's like 'We've finally completed it! We can finally get it out there!'"
Dragon Quest IX is hitting Japanese stores on July 11, a day sure to be marked by long lines in front of stores and the sort of festival atmosphere in Akihabara that only comes once every few years. 1UP will have full coverage of the DQ9 launch frenzy, so stick around this weekend to get the whole story.
When asked what the most difficult part of the development process was, Horii had an immediate reply. "That was when I had to cut and rework part of the story -- not a large part compared to the rest of the plot, but one that had to be cut out anyway for space reasons."
Producer Ryutaro Ichimura (left), meanwhile, brought up the seemingly endless delays that have marked DQIX's development. "We had a ton of ideas in the beginning about what we wanted to do," he said, "but once we got into the summer of 2008, we began revising the plan because we worried there was too much volume, that it'd scare people off. It was a necessary balancing process, but it was really tough. It's scary for a creator to have to cut out his own work from a game."
Still, it's all over, and Horii couldn't be more excited. "This game is filled with new challenges and new ideas from everyone in the staff, but try it out, and I think you'll see it's still the Dragon Quest you know," he said. "Some quests are going to be hard, but if you can't figure them out, you can ask friends or look around on the net; by this point, that's part of the fun. I'd be very happy to see people play this game for a long time to come. Also, if you're looking for multiplayer partners at the station or McDonald's and I show up, don't disconnect on me!"