By looking at my collection, one would assume that I am a total Nintendo fanboy. This isn't true at all. Gamecube as my platform of choice was a decision made by the fact that I could only have one system in my house (my wife wants me to quit spending so much money on games), online was not available for me ( I like my consoles in English, but I live in Japan; XBOX Live and PS2online does not cross regions) and I wanted to old games from the NES, SNES, Genesis and Dreamcast Era ( Gameboy player makes most of this possible, Cube has most of the DC's best games ). This in mind, I have recently been thinking that if I was to purchase another system this generation, that it would not be the Wii. I've had my eye on the PS3.
Why? Well, first and foremost, I could play all the great exclusives from the PS2 such as Final Fantasy XII, God of War, Shadow of the Colossus and Gran Turismo 4. I could play my collection of PS1 games that are packed away back at my parent's house. I could convince my wife that it's a DVD player that just happens to play games. And I could probably play the PS3 until 2013, since Sony's machines seems to have a long life span. Part of this reason is Japanese game publisher's seem to support the Playstation line without question, since the Playstation line dominates Japan.
Until this morning.
There has always been one game in Japan that can determine the outcome of a generation in this country. Dragon Quest. While Final Fantasy is big in Japan, Dragon Quest is much, much bigger. It wasn't the loss of Final Fantasy VII that had Nintendo questioning the design of it's own 64-bit system, it was the loss of Dragon Quest VII. The move of Dragon Quest from Nintendo platforms to Sony cemented Nintendo's number 2 position in Japan for years to come. Japanese gamers knew they must own Sony's machine in order to play the next Dragon Quest. Dragon Quest VIII sold an incredible amount of copies for the PS2 in Japan, more than any other PS2 game I think ( I can't be sure...but I'm sure it must be in the Top 3). I think everyone can agree that Dragon Quest IX is going to be a huge game.
Dragon Quest IX will be released on the Nintendo DS in 2007
I couldn't believe it when I saw the commercial on television this morning. It was only the Dragon Quest theme playing with the title logo over a black screen, but it clearly had the DS logo beneath the title, and nowhere was a Sony logo to be found. This, in my opinion, has determined that the DS will defeat all in Japan during 2007. Surprising, not only that it's not Sony's system, but also, it's coming to a handheld.
I believe this move is a historic moment in gaming. Just as Final Fantasy VII was huge for Sony back in the day, this is huge for Nintendo. While the fate of the Wii remains to be seen, the fate of the DS is crystal clear. As is the fate of the PSP. Unfortunately, the PSP will now forever be number 2 in Japan. This has left me wondering if Final Fantasy XIII, MGS4 and Gran Turismo 5 are enough to move PS3's, enough for Sony to get back to number one spot.
Unlikely, in my opinion.