Is Dragon Quest IX heading to the Wii?

Dragon Quest is easily one of the most well-recognized and widely respected RPG franchises in all the land, and the series is so big in Japan that Square Enix has had to start launching the games on the weekend because kids were skipping school and adults were skirting work just to stay home and play the latest entry. Therefore, there was great rejoicing when Dragon Quest IX was announced, but also great sadness as we learned the game would be a Nintendo DS exclusive, with no console to call home. Oh sure, there’s nothing wrong with handheld gaming, but the series has a rich console history, and for the game to not make an appearance is somewhat disheartening.

Turns out we may not need be crushed after all, as EGM’s Quartermann seems to believe that the game will be appearing on the Wii as well. Apparently, the game is looking to follow the blueprint of Final Fantasy’s Crystal Chronicles series and introduce some sort of Wii/DS connectivity. The question then becomes whether the games will be identical, or if the Wii version will get some sort of presentation upgrades to fit the more powerful hardware.

While old Q Mann seems to be pretty convinced that this is legit, we still haven’t heard any comment from Square Enix. Such a move would make a lot of sense, considering the huge Dragon Quest market as well as the fact that given the popularity of both the franchise and the Wii, Square Enix would be pretty dumb to not put their second-biggest franchise on the current generation’s biggest system. Who knows though, this could be one of those things that just makes too much sense to be true.

TGR Verdict: Rumor Likely