The localizations are not what is stopping these games from being more popular, nor are the removed content (which the average consumer is blatantly unaware of).

Simply put, Square doesn't know how to market it in the west.

Dragon Quest's biggest opponent is Dragon Quest itself.

DQV has all the content the japanese version has (which is talking to the party). SE got Nintendo´s help for marketing DQIX, so we´ll see how it will do.

I really doubt DQ will ever be popular in the U.S. People just don´t want to play games with an archaic turn-based battle system. If there´s a chance to popularize DQ, then Europe.

Pokemon ?

IMO POkemon took a fair share of "inspiration" from Dragon Quest.

The difference between the two is that Nintendo made Pokemon a success outside Japan.

BTW I'm playing it ( DQ5 ) and I laugh aloud when my hero encountered in battle a ridiculous party composed by some strange little  creatures.

In that party there were  4 "monsters" that act and wear like a magician, a priest, a warrior and an hero but they were all inept.

So funny  

You mean like Final Fantasy III and IV DS?

Face it, the games are being labeled 'archaic' because they aren't on the same graphical level as Final Fantasy.  As well as not being as popular as a certain other SquareEnix RPG series.  Why is Dragon Quest 'archaic' and Final Fantasy DS 'Fresh and New' when both feature enhancements to their battle engines and game content?

Oh yeah, new menues and FMVs for Final Fantasy.

FFIII, FFIV -> active turn-based. The remakes didn´t sell that much anyway in the West to be considered 'popular'. Spectacular FMVs are not the selling point they used to be as well.

DQ still uses exactly the same battle system as the first one.

FF is the exception, its very popular since FFVII in the U.S.

Btw I didn´t use 'archaic' to say DQ is bad. I like DQ, especially the zenithia trilogy and am totally happy with the localisation. I hope they do such localisations with the rest of their games.

@celine: the inspiration that Pokemon took was the monster hunting aspect. If they made a new DQ animated series and it became extremely popular in the West then DQ games would sell like hotcakes to kids like Pokemon does. I´m just trying to be realistic though.

Many people dislike the first-person viewpoint in battles as well.

I personally like the accents, it adds personality, and the localization is done very well.

They're both turn based.  And both follow the same gameplay as their earlier games, with additional enhancements.  The fact that one has a 'time bar' and one doesn't makes them different in execution yes.  But neither can be considered 'better' than the other.  In fact, the ATB can be considered a hinderance in some cases as Dragon Quest is much more about taking the time you need to think what strategy to perform, utilizing all the items, spells and party members available to you.  Where the earlier Final Fantasy games (going up to games like FFVII) were more about quick thinking to keep pace with the ATB bar.  Leading many into the trap of just utilizing a strategy of Atk, Heal and repeat.

Also, I'm not celine, but I think he was commenting on the fact that Pokemon is a turn based game, and not just the fact that it utilizes a 'Monster Hunting' game.  Both Final Fantasy, Pokemon and heck, Disgaea in its own way prove that turn based games can become popular.  But they need to be marketed well and be localized well.  SE hasn't done either for DQ.

Yet Mother has this huge cult following.  Even when the creator has stated the gameplay is nearly identical to that of Dragon Quest.

Hmmm....

It isn't only the monster catching thing ( althought my post was directed about to "turn battle system" comment ).

Menu layout, ease of use, streamlined story event are all element in common between the two series.

If million of people in western countries can enjoy Pokemon I think it is possible ( and likely ) that some of them can enjoy Dragon Quest too.

About Nintendo marketing push for Pokemon brand I invite you to read an article from 1998 that spoke about US launch of the brand:

http://www.cjonline.com/stories/082798/com_pokemon0827.shtml

Ninteno heavily invested in them to succed. Hell they even rebranded a city with the name of the mascot for that day !

What had Dragon Quest for the western markets before Squaresoft and Enix merged ? Almost nothing.

Enix USA went out of business in early ninteenes just after having brought the Famicom's Dragon Quest in the US several years after the original japanese releases.

EDIT: lol

Complaints mainly are about the traditional turn-based battle system. Westerners constantly ask about innovation in their games and DQ hasn´t evolved ever since. I´m not considering which one is better or worse.

Sure, if SE can market DQ like Nintendo did with Pokemon on their own then it would certainly reach a 'popular' status. But 100% SE can´t do that due to lack of resources, so they are definitely not the ones to blame. I´d blame Enix for not investing on the Western market like Squaresoft did and formed alliances with poweful players (Sony, EA). And since SE and Nintendo will promote together DQX, I don´t think there´s any reason to blame SE for anything, like the current trend dictates.

You know, I´ve never played Pokemon. I hate the anime for having such a stupid plot and characters. It´s for kids, not all ages (unlike DQ). And if DQ has to be downsized overseas for the sake of popularity, then no, better for DQ to never be popular abroad then.

Countless series can be accused of 'not innovating' from Halo to Madden to Mario.  Yet they all do.  Dragon Quest has as well.  You seem to think it hasn't, but it has.  We could have a huge discussion over the way it has, but I'll just explain it as a comparison such as comparing FF3 to F5 to FF7 to FF10.  Well DQ has had a similar evolution.  However, they did all their major leaps earlier (and many of them influenced Final Fantasy).

And you can't say SquareEnix is stretched in resources when its one of the largest gaming companies in Japan and producing 10-15 new Final Fantasy games a year.  Its a simple matter of them focusing their marketing attention in America/Europe on certain series, instead of giving enough marketing attention to all the games they release.  And especially Dragon Quest, which is their best selling RPG series in Japan, they are basically giving no media attention in America/Europe.