It's almost here...

When word came out that Square-Enix was about to make a major announcement regarding their next release in the Dragon Quest series of RPGs, most people assumed the game would be coming to one of the home game consoles. Speculation began as to which console would be the lucky recipient of the game, with Microsoft's Xbox 360 thought of as the most likely candidate.

But as many of you already know, Square-Enix dropped quite a bombshell on the gaming community with the stunning announcement that Dragon Quest IX wouldn't be coming to one of the home game consoles, but instead would debut on Nintendo's portable DS system. Of course next came the wait for what many RPG enthusiasts are already calling the single biggest portable RPG release in history. Well that wait is about to officially be over - at least for some.

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For those of you who aren't aware, the much-anticipated Dragon Quest IX will be released on the Nintendo DS system in Japan on July 11th. What makes this such an eventful release is that this marks the first time that one of the major RPG franchises will make its debut on a portable game system. Not only that, but anytime you have a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest release, you can pretty much expect lines around city blocks outside of popular Japanese game retailers as fans flock to pick up their newest dose of RPG goodness.

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While Square-Enix has kept a fairly tight lid on information regarding Dragon Quest IX up until now, we're finally beginning to see a steady stream of screenshots and information pouring out as the Japanese release date draws near. We're hoping this means we'll finally begin seeing more information and assets released for the US version of the game that's being localized for release outside of Japan as we speak.

We'll of course be importing the Japanese release of Dragon Quest IX next month and we'll be bringing you our impressions of the game in order to give you an idea of what you can expect when the game finally sees a US and European release. We'll also keep you up to date on any new information and developments regarding the game as they become available. Hopefully the wait for this highly-anticipated RPG release won't be too much longer.