Dragon Quest Launch - London Turning Japanese
It’s turning Japanese, we really think so…
To celebrate this Thursday’s UK release of Japan’s biggest ever selling PlayStation 2 game, the Oxford Street branch of HMV is turning Japanese for the day!
Well, not entirely, but SPOnG has just been informed by Square Enix that anyone who purchases a copy of the game between noon and 3PM this Thursday (April 13) will receive a one-off Manga portrait of themselves, which at least saves you having to pay a fiver for the same service from some poor, struggling artist on Leicester Square, we suppose.
On top of this, there will also be a load of other Dragon Quest goodies (read: value-added merchandise) up for grabs on the day. Gamers will be able to enter a draw to win a framed Dragon Quest poster signed by Japanese gaming legend Yuji Horii, a collectable Slime beanbag and maybe even a Slime PS2 controller – neither of which are available in the UK.
Perhaps most interestingly - at least for old perverts like us - the Dragon Quest Puff-Puff Girls will be in the store for photo opportunities and to hand out exclusive prizes to people who manage to batter some of the 300+ monsters featured in Dragon Quest. Forget Ubisoft’s Frag Dolls, the Puff Puff girls sound like they are where it’s at when it comes to employing female talent in order to sell games to hormonally-charged young men.
‘Puff Puff’ refers to a move in the game in which your character ‘gives out love’ according to a Square Enix representative SPOnG spoke to earlier today. And while the Puff Puff girls are not actual characters in the game, they are - according to SPOnG’s source - "kind of like the game’s cheerleaders – all very cute Japanese girls". SPOnG is so there! To erm, bring you pictures and breaking news of the event as it unfolds, of course.
If you don’t know much about Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King, then here is what you need to know. Cursed King sold a staggering three million copies in three days in Japan. 40 million people worldwide have played Dragon Quest, and the game is so big in Japan that launch day queues stretch for roughly three tube stops – the equivalent of Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road. Or a small northern industrial town.
In Japan, Dragon Quest release dates coincide with public holidays to stop people taking days off school and work – lucky then that we have a whopping four-day weekend coming up in which, should you be a fan of quality Japanese RPG’s, you can really cane the game.
Well, not entirely, but SPOnG has just been informed by Square Enix that anyone who purchases a copy of the game between noon and 3PM this Thursday (April 13) will receive a one-off Manga portrait of themselves, which at least saves you having to pay a fiver for the same service from some poor, struggling artist on Leicester Square, we suppose.
On top of this, there will also be a load of other Dragon Quest goodies (read: value-added merchandise) up for grabs on the day. Gamers will be able to enter a draw to win a framed Dragon Quest poster signed by Japanese gaming legend Yuji Horii, a collectable Slime beanbag and maybe even a Slime PS2 controller – neither of which are available in the UK.
Perhaps most interestingly - at least for old perverts like us - the Dragon Quest Puff-Puff Girls will be in the store for photo opportunities and to hand out exclusive prizes to people who manage to batter some of the 300+ monsters featured in Dragon Quest. Forget Ubisoft’s Frag Dolls, the Puff Puff girls sound like they are where it’s at when it comes to employing female talent in order to sell games to hormonally-charged young men.
‘Puff Puff’ refers to a move in the game in which your character ‘gives out love’ according to a Square Enix representative SPOnG spoke to earlier today. And while the Puff Puff girls are not actual characters in the game, they are - according to SPOnG’s source - "kind of like the game’s cheerleaders – all very cute Japanese girls". SPOnG is so there! To erm, bring you pictures and breaking news of the event as it unfolds, of course.
If you don’t know much about Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King, then here is what you need to know. Cursed King sold a staggering three million copies in three days in Japan. 40 million people worldwide have played Dragon Quest, and the game is so big in Japan that launch day queues stretch for roughly three tube stops – the equivalent of Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road. Or a small northern industrial town.
In Japan, Dragon Quest release dates coincide with public holidays to stop people taking days off school and work – lucky then that we have a whopping four-day weekend coming up in which, should you be a fan of quality Japanese RPG’s, you can really cane the game.
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Comments
Joji 11 Apr 2006 20:14
1/2
Unfortunately some of us have work. Nice to see so much effort going into the launch though, especially when manga and anime is slowly becoming more popular in the u.k.
Shame Akira Toriyama couldn't show up too.
Shame Akira Toriyama couldn't show up too.
kid_77 12 Apr 2006 13:05
2/2
This game just looks so good, I nearly got a PS2 yesterday just for this, but... £100... STILL! Call me a tight arse, but I'd only pay £70 for a 6 year-old console.
I got a Saturn with Sega Rally and Virtua Racing for £25 instead.
I got a Saturn with Sega Rally and Virtua Racing for £25 instead.