Googleshng: Moving on. Lately Square Enix has been announcing all sorts of interesting little games. Andrew, Sean, care to go into some details for our readers? You're more qualified than I when it comes to this.

Sean: Well, an odd one is the stand-alone Dragon Quest game involving a plastic sword you use as a controller. Some people are suggesting that it's some sort of funky remake of the original, due to the Loto emblem on the receiver, but I don't think anyone really knows for sure at this point.

Alex: Sure, I can't wait to see thousands of lawsuits coming from little children's parents all over the US. For the industry's sake, I hope this one stays in Japan.

Matt: Now, now, it's no different from the light guns

Googleshng: Less realistic looking.

Alex: Matt: And remember what hell they caused?

Sean: That and the light guns probably have quite a bit more heft.

Sean: Alex: Eh, if by hell you mean, popular and bundled with the NES, then yeah. The people with problems always speak louder, even if they're incredibly outnumbered.

Alex: The problem will be with how this game will be marketed. You cant have "mature" gamers swinging around a sword, or can you?

Googleshng: Have you seen the accessory in question? "Sword" is really a stretch.

Alex: I'm looking for it right now.

Matt: Yeah, I know that I for one would have embarrassment issues. It should perhaps be marketed as "campy" or "funky," like Dance Dance Revolution.

Alex: Agreed.

Sean: There's really no need to market it. It's got the Dragon Quest name on it.

Matt: In as much as that that is marketed at all.

Andrew: Looks like Square is rubbing off on Enix, though, cuz Square Enix just announced a new GBA title called Slime Morimori Dragon Quest Shougeki no Shippo Dan, which is another way to say "DQ Slime Action-RPG," which looks like it's going to be filled with puzzles and everyone's favorite slime variants like SlimeKnights and King Slimes. Which says to me it's up for some serious pounding along the lines of FF two years ago. Although, who wouldn't want to play as a slime? :D [Check out this week's Japandemonium for more on this game.--Ed]

Sean: It's not like Enix hasn't been doing DraQue spinoffs since long before the merger, though.

Andrew: True, but I bet these ones will actually get some publicity. No doubt coinciding with DQ8.

Googleshng: Well it's fairly safe to say that I'm in the target audience for this one.

Alex: Have you seen the japanese webpage for Square Enix? It's as much a happy, even merger as WWII Germany and France was a friendly get together.

Sean: I'm assuming you mean publicity on this side, since, again, publicity for Dragon Quest isn't really needed over in Japan.

Andrew: Hey, they played plenty of music along the Maginot line.

Googleshng: Although, as mentioned earlier, I'm not too thrilled with all the recent Action/RPGs aimed at the younger kids.

Matt: I'm sure any problems will be ironed out once the money starts to come in.

Alex: Anyway, it seems to me that Square is happy to advertise Enix products as long as they have the words Dragon and Quest somewhere in the title.

Matt: Well, that's just the Web site.

Alex: I've been watching Japanese TV and reading ads on the subway. Same thing goes there.

Matt: I saw some decidedly non-DQ Enix games on the American PlayOnline site.

Sean: Aside from the issue of there being no Square or Enix, it's wise to keep in mind that although Enix didn't really believe in advertising that much, they are the dominant partner in the merged company.

Alex: Yes, that relationship seems to work here in Japan. I wonder how it will develop in the US.

Matt: They'll just show the other side of the face. The company stays the same, no matter where it operates.

Alex: Does anyone know about this PC game they are co-developing?

Sean: It will be interesting to see what the North American presence will look like, yes, since Enix Japan has never really supported the American market, but this time their American side is actually established before things start getting cut.

Matt: Unfortunately, as far as the two titles in question are concerned, it's probably moot. Weirdness rarely seems to make it to our shores: Disgaea being a recent exception. Take a look at Square's own Hanjuku Eiyuu Tai 3D. Great concept, no localization.

Googleshng: Don't forget every game ever released for the Dreamcast.

Matt: Ah, but I doubt I ever knew about them in the first place.

Googleshng: Quite the odd lot to be found there.

Alex: I believe that this isn't such a bad thing. I mean, it's sad that the corporate side doesn't want to risk spending the money to localize, but the more money they save, the more money (hopefully) they can spend on localization, no? I mean, localizing "odd" games is risky.

Googleshng: I doubt the cost of localization factors in much. It's an issue of disc production costs.

Alex: You're right. The way I see it, there are a lot of odd games (mostly non-RPG) that have no right even being made. Currently, some company is trying to push a game where you play a mosquito and you have to bite half naked Dead or Alive-style girls sleeping seductively on beds.

Googleshng: That's an older one really.

Matt: Nintendo has some oddballs up their sleeve, too. Mario and Luigi is a bit outside the norm, and Giftpia has been confirmed for stateside release, I think.

Googleshng: The PS2 has had its share of oddball RPGs too come to think of it.

Googleshng: Tsugunai for example is essentially Quantum Leap: The RPG.

Googleshng: Then there's Okage: Shadow King.

Matt: Okage also had a quirky concept. Let's hope that this new batch of oddities does better than those!

Googleshng: Wrapping things up here, does anyone think we'll see the games we've gotten sidetracked from in North America?

Sean: The Slime game'd be a safer bet, I think, although the stand-alone nature of the sword game might make it an easier sell, if a bigger risk.

Alex: I'm afraid that Square Enix has already been bitten hard by those re-releases, so I doubt they'll risk it. However, these games could essentially work with a crack publicity team. The key is to find more than one good target (as was done with Pokémon), and you can sell almost anything. Square Enix could turn a profit, but it might not be worth the trouble.

Matt: I think the slime game has a decent chance, if they can tie it in with DQ8 -- so far its appeal seems to extend little beyond the slime's old fans. Console additions, similar to the stand-alone device, always suffer over here thanks to pricing concerns.

Sean: Alex: Bitten hard by those re-releases in that their performance bit them hard, or that they've been bitten by some sort of re-release fever bug?

Alex: The former. Because last I heard, the remakes had done fairly well. Heck, even the bug-fest that was Anthology.

Sean: The PSone DQ4 remake's 1 million+ copies can't have hurt them too badly.

Alex: Really? I don't know anyone who owns them! Where do all these die-hard fans live?

Sean: I don't know, but unless companies are forging sales figures...

Alex: Yeah, look at that. I guess Final Fantasy Chronicles and Anthology combined sold about half a million.

Matt: Happily, even though they are obviously capable of making money off older titles, they are forging ahead with at least a little innovation.

Sean: And they've since passed up the cheap ports that were Anthology and Chronicles, especially with Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu, which is practically a new game (and releases today, if I'm not mistaken). [The game was released on Friday--Ed]

Sean: Which, although they take more resources to produce, should get better sales

Alex: These young whipper snappers (shakes fist). I remember a time when RPGs came out thrice a year. We were happy hacking and slashing and we never got sick of another slime approaching. All the choices available these days can be overwhelming.

Alex: I guess the next step is sword controllers and cute slimes...so be it.

Sean: And if they don't get released in North America, I'll be here muddling through Japanese Slimes and swinging a small plastic sword at evil kanji. G'night.

Googleshng: That's it for this week's roundtable. Join us again next week when we'll be talking about three new topics, with another panel of guests. Oh, and if you can manage to pull yourselves away from Soul Calibur 2, you might want to swing by my page.