Tsutaya Expects Dragon Quest IX to be Biggest Hit Ever

Mega retailer anticipates permanent fixture in upper rankings through end of the year.

2009-07-08 04:45 / Anoop Gantayat / Comments

This isn't a Tsutaya display, but Square Enix does have these DQ materials at all retailers.

Dragon Quest IX is pretty much guaranteed to be the biggest hit of the year. But how will it rank compared to past multi platinum titles?

Tsutaya merchandizer Taketo Matsuo offered his expert opinion in his latest sales column at Mainichi.jp. Pre-orders (this is presumably just at Tsutaya) are at the same level of PS2's Dragon Quest VIII, he says. However, he notes that DS games have a tendency to be long sellers even with low pre-orders. He believes the game will definitely top sales of DQVIII and adds that it could be "the biggest hit in history." With the game's low price (about ¥3,000 less than DQVIII), he says it could be in the upper rankings through the end of the year.

Additionally, he believes the game could cause people to trade up their DS to DSi.

As always, Matsuo provides a numbers-free recap of last week's sales based off data from Tsutaya' 450 nationwide shops. For June 30 through July 6, Wii Sports Resort (Wii) topped the charts for the second week in a row. Sega's Hatsune Miku Project Diva (PSP) took second in its debut, beating out another heavily promoted debut, Sony's My Summer Vacation 4 (PSP).

Media Create and Enterbrain sales usually (not always, but usually) match the ordering of Tsutaya's rankings.