A survey of Famitsu readers in this week's issue asks the readers "Do you welcome Dragon Quest IX on Nintendo DS?" -- apparently 46% weren't particularly impressed. Nor were they intrigued by the notion that there's a world of gameplay beyond 1986's turn-based random encounters: 53.9% found the idea to be ludicrous. In fact, it's so bad that when asked what would be hot in 2007, retailers listed Wii above Dragon Quest IX. Holy crap! The world is turned upside-down!
Well, that was unexpected. The news seems to suggest that they aren't as peeved with the downgrade in graphics as they are with the new direction of the gameplay. I'm of the opposite opinion, anyway - a different battle system will be a fresh change from the usual turn-based style. Shocking to see the Japanese almost split in half over supporting DQIX, though, as the series is usually unanimously supported (seemingly).