Dragon Quest is the biggest game franchise in Japan, and the latest incarnation on DS is expected to make a huge impact right away. According to a Nikkei Marketing Journal translated by Kotaku, pre-orders for Dragon Quest IX have been quite good.
There were 1.2 million pre-orders of Dragon Quest IX on July 5 according to Media Create. However, hundreds of thousands of pre-orders have come in late, and might make the pre-order total closer to 1.6 million or maybe as high as 2 million. Dragon Quest IX will release in Japan on July 11.
Dragon Quest is almost an inexplicable phenomenon to most Western gamers, being like a combination of Madden and Halo as far as fan following in Japan. IndustryGamers loves the series and can't wait for Dragon Quest IX to come state-side.
