In an announcement today that shocked very few, Square Enix has declared that the Nintendo DS RPG Dragon Quest IX: Defender of the Stars will no longer ship in 2007. The title has been pushed back to 2008 in Japan with the company still not commenting about a North American release window.

The delay came about as Square Enix claims they need more development time to make sure the quality of Dragon Quest IX is up to par. Square Enix remains busy as the remake of Dragon Quest IV is still on track for 2007 at this time.