Retro Gaming Australia

Square Enix has confirmed that a Nintendo 3DS remake of Dragon Quest VII is underway and scheduled for release this coming February in Japan.

Jump magazine’s latest issue (a scan has been provided below) revealed the 3D remake of the Playstation RPG, which is to include StreetPass features.

Dragon Quest VII was never released for PAL regions, so here’s hoping the 3DS remake makes it outside of Japan. We received the Nintendo DS re-releases of Dragon Quest: The Chapters of the Chosen (DQIV), Dragon Quest: The Hand of the Heavenly Bride (DQV) and Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie – so there is hope!

Sources: Tiny Cartridge, Siliconera

Square Enix have today confirmed their involvement in Google’s April Fools’ Day shenanigans, the distinctively Dragon Quest inspired Google Maps 8-bit for NES.

A U.S. representative has told Game Informer that Square Enix provided assets for the collaborative project, stating “Google came up with the idea, then we provided the assets and helped them to create the map.”

Or Dragon Quest II, if you prefer.

Dragon Warrior II is set about 100 years after the first game, with the player taking control of a prince who happens to be a descendent of Loto/Erdrick, who is on a quest to defeat the evil wizard Hargon. It was one of the first games to utilise the concept of your party growing as your quest is played out. The game has been re-released twice: one on the SNES (Japan only) and on a combo cartridge with the first game.

Be glad Enix got over the whole CG thing. Ghastly box art.

Dragon Warrior I & II is another remake of…you guessed it. Of course, if you actually want to play this remake, you’d better start saving your pennies, because complete copies don’t come cheap.

So a couple of months ago, Square Enix announced their plans for the 25th anniversary of Dragon Quest – namely that they’d be releasing a collection containing the first three games in the series in Japan. Now we’ve got a little more information on what’s exactly in that package.

Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary Collection contains the first three Dragon Quest games – both the original Famicom and the remade Super Famicom versions, a 130 page book of articles written by famous manga authors sharing their fond memories of the series and a special 25th anniversary medallion.

In addition to the games on the disc, there is also an archive section with concept art and planning documents for the series, special anime introductions for the first three games in the series produced by Kamikaze Douga, and a special sneak peek at the upcoming Dragon Quest X.

Seems like Nintendo could learn a thing or two from Square Enix on this front, eh?

Dragon Quest fans are being spoiled for choice with new merchandise for the series upcoming 25th anniversary. Earlier today King Records revealed the Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest Scene-Separated I~IX CD-BOX, a 10 CD set containing music from every mainline Dragon Quest game released to date.

The set is a little unconventional. Rather than being grouped by game, the music on each CD is grouped by song type, so you’ll have one CD for all of the castle themes for the series, one for all of the battle themes, and so on.

The set is due out next year, and will set you back 15,750 yen.

Via Destructoid

It’s Dragon Quest‘s 25th anniversary this year, and Square-Enix is ready to relieve you of your money. In addition to the previously announced compilation disc (which has the Famicom versions of Dragon Quest I-II-III), the company will be releasing a whole heap of merch.

The first thing they’ve announced are these Dragon Quest branded playing cards. Called the Dragon Quest Dot Monster Trump Card set, these cards feature pixel graphics of your favourite Dragon Quest enemies, rather than boring old kings and queens. They’ll be out in September for 1,200 yen, but you can get them from AmiAmi now for 870 yen (plus shipping).

Also coming this year are Dragon Quest jigsaw puzzles, which are designed after the boxes for the Famicom versions of the games. They’ll set you back 630 yen a piece in September, but they’re also available from AmiAmi for a cheaper 435yen (plus shipping).

Via Destructoid