| Rei said: An interesting fact is that Dragon Quest is the only old japanese franchise that grows in popularity. Pokemon's popularity has greatly decreased compared to the Gameboy installments, same happened with Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Gran Turismo, Dynasty Warriors and so on. That is by no means a surprise considering that japanese videogame market has been continiously shrinking during this console generation. Yet Dragon Quest somehow manages to be growing. |
WHile I agree with you, there was actually one generation where Dragon Quest seemed to have a slight decrease in popularity, at least in sales numbers. And that was in the PS2 gen. Dragon Quest VIII sold about 15% less than DQVII on the PSX. And the last gen also saw a decrease in 'spin-off' titles, as well as high sales for the ones which did come out. But as for wither the PS2 title was less popular than the PSX title, that's debatable. Many magazine polls and other sources place Japanese opinion for Dragon Quest VIII as being one of the series favorites, right under DQIII and V.
And of course, everything has changed this gen, with the DS and Wii and the return of ever rising sales, and the seemingly popularity for the series as it returns to its roots.
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