Imaginary Battles

This past Wednesday I got word of a Dragon Quest event happening in New York and San Fran being hosted by Nintendo and 1UP. It was mostly to promote Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 and to celebrate the series 25th Anniversary. Dragon Quest may not be a big deal here in the US, but in Japan and in the history of video games it’s the Death Star. It’s so massive that you probably have to perform complicated maneuvers to get out of its gravitational field or risk being sucked into its very epic landscape of stories and creatures.
Dragon Quest made Role Playing Games what they are today and it still leads the genre in rabid fandom and epic stories. What had started out as a bold venture has turned into a endless adventure in all varieties and even a governmental resolution. Recently Dragon Quest gave Nintendo consoles a huge boost when they announced Dragon Quest X for the Wii and WiiU systems. Last Summer’s Dragon Quest IX for the DS saw great support in the US. I personally have spent 450 hours of my life playing that game. Four. Hundred. Fifty.

Become a Monster Scout and… Scout for Monsters in Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2

Have you ever spent 450 hours doing anything in your life? Something that you’d admit to? I didn’t think so.

Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary features the first three games and is out in Japan. I would love for this to come over to the US!

If you’re wondering why does everything look like Dragon Ball Z it’s because the character designs were done by the man himself, Akira Toriyama!

So of course I went out to support Dragon Quest and get some free stuff in the process. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 is a spin off of the main series where you control monsters and creatures from the series in battles. I’ve never played it, but if you’re into Pokemon I can imagine it’s similar to that. For those that weren’t into that there was a Nintendo of America Rep. sending out digital maps for Dragon Quest IX and there were free DQM:J2 Field Guides and ‘Partners In Slime’ t-shirts that were given out at the recent Penny Arcade Expo.

Questing for Dragons, son!

I don’t think anyone from 1UP actually showed up to the NYC event, but I don’t think anyone noticed because we had so much fun playing demos, dusting off our past Dragon Quest games and talking shop with our fellow gamers. These weren’t the only Dragon Quest events Nintendo sponsored in the US. When DQIX was released last year there were several joint efforts between them and GameStop and Best Buy to hold meetings for players to trade maps. It’s great to see Nintendo promote a great series in America and I hope to see more amazing RPGs coming to the States.