Square Enix has announced that it shipped Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King to North American retailers yesterday. It is the first incarnation of the series on Sony's PlayStation 2 console, and has already sold over 40 million copies.

Dragon Quest VIII has received a number of upgrades for its North American release. The game has added voice acting by popular British actors, a new menu system, and a completely orchestral game soundtrack. Series creator Yuji Horii notes that he hopes North American gamers will appreciate that the development team kept true to the elements that have long been popular in the series, while adding more to make it stronger in North America. He said, "We are extremely excited about DRAGON QUEST VIII’s release in North America. Utilizing state of the art polygon technology, not only the map, but all of Akira Toriyama's characters are created in 3D. The player can freely run around in this wonderfully animated world as far as the eye can see."

The game has been rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB and has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $49.99. It comes bundled with a playable demo of Final Fantasy XII. Look for RPGamer's review of the latest entry in the series to arrive shortly.