Who would have guessed that Dragon Quest IX was not originally going to be released for the Nintendo DS? Well believe it or not this could have been a possible future that thankfully did not come to pass, the Dragon Quest series has been a big name on the Nintendo DS but interestingly if it was not for Professor Layton and Level-5’s CEO the story could have been very different.
Professor Layton is one name that many of us think of when the DS is mentioned, this game is natural to the system as any Pokemon game and part of this was due to how the game used the system, and how well received the DS was. The system helped rocker Level-5’s simple idea into something that reached further then we would have thought possible, and because it did wonders for Level-5 it prompted encouragement from the company CEO to encourage Dragon Quest Yuji Horii to put the game on the DS.
This was revealed as part of a special anniversary celebration for the Dragon Quest series where Level-5’s CEO Akihiro Hino revealed his role in Yuji Horii decision regarding Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies. Using Professor Layton as his key example he pressured Yuji Horii into putting the game on the DS, as we know eventually he caved to the idea and history is what it is. It makes you wonder how well the series would have done now if the game had never headed to the DS, but instead it arrived on another system, it can be suggested that Horii’s eventual decision spread the name of the Dragon Quest series and developed new fans who are loyal to the franchise.
