Fans looking forward to the official localization of Dragon Quest V in North America need to wait much longer, as Square Enix confirms the latest remake of the NES RPG is now shipping for the DS. DQV never saw an official release in English, despite promises from the North American arm of Enix (before it merged with Square Soft) to release it in some for or another. Those of you following this latest DQV release may know that Square Enix managed to leave the Party Talk system in the game this time around, after its disappointing removal from the North American release of the DQIV DS remake.

Meanwhile in Japan, Square Enix confirms that DQV reached sales of 1.19 million units during the last nine months of 2008, effectively making it the publisher's bestselling title last year. Indeed, handheld titles would prove to be Square Enix's shining beacons for the better part of 2008. The following figures do not count any sales accumulated before 2008 or since the start of 2009, so these are not lifetime-to-date totals:

Personally speaking it's a shame to see that Valkyrie Profile couldn't muster more sales. However, Xbox 360 fans will be encouraged by the solid returns seen for The Last Remnant and Infinite Undiscovery; this could bode very well for Star Ocean: The Last Hope's release later this month, currently exclusive to Microsoft's platform.

Which heavenly bride's hand will you choose in DQV when the time comes?  If it matters any, Kagami from Lucky Star always chooses Bianca.  ;)