Scene from the Dragon Quest IX intro. Four years of waiting comes to an end in about a week.

Square Enix announced today plans for a countdown event to usher in the release of the highly anticipated Dragon Quest IX.

The event will be held at the Tsutaya retailer in front of Shibuya Station on the morning of the game's release date, July 11. The first ninety-nine people to arrive at the retailer will be let in to the first floor at 6:30, thirty minutes ahead of the shop's special 7:00 opening time. The ceremony will commence at 6:40 and will feature appearances by producer Ryutaro Ichimura and unspecified others.

This same Tsutaya outlet was home to a similar launch event at Dragon Quest VIII's launch back in November 2004. Square Enix president Yoichi Wada and Dragon Quest series father Yuji Horii made unannounced appearances at that event (see this IGNPS2 article for details).

For those who can't make it out to Tokyo, Square Enix also announced yesterday plans for an online launch event to be held in its Square Enix Members virtual world.