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Extended Dragon Quest X Game Promo Streamed

Square Enix's official YouTube channel began streaming an eleven-minute-long promotional video for its Dragon Quest X: Mezameshi Itsutsu no Shuzoku Online role-playing game on Thursday. The video introduces various systems and aspects of the game, including character creation, combat, partying, and crafting.

The game will ship in Japan on August 2, and the regular version of the game will cost 6,980 yen (about US$86), while the Wii disc plus USB memory version will cost 8,980 yen (US$111). Both versions will include a ticket for 20 hours of free gameplay. Subscription fees will be 1,000 yen (US$12) for 30 days, 1,950 yen (US$24) for 60 days, and 2,900 yen (US$36) for 90 days. There will also be a two-hour "Kid's Time" between 4 and 6 p.m. from Monday to Friday and 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday where players will be able to play the game without a subscription.

Square Enix will release Dragon Quest X: Mezameshi Itsutsu no Shuzoku Online for the Nintendo Wii and Wii U consoles as the franchise's first online game. The game will feature five races — ogre, wedi, elf, dwarf, and pukuripo — from which each player can create three characters.

The Wii or Wii U console that players use will need an Internet connection, though the first few hours of the game can be played offline. Square Enix confirmed that a player can go through the basic gameplay solo. A player can create up to three characters, but each console can only handle one character and one player at a time. Beta testing for Japanese residents with Internet-connected Wiis and Square Enix accounts began in November.

Franchise creator Yuji Horii is serving as general director, and character designer Akira Toriyama and composer Kōichi Sugiyama also return. Producer Yōsuke Saitō and director Jin Fujisawa round out the staff.