TOKYO--Today Square Enix announced plans to release an updated version of Dragon Quest V as a PS2 exclusive. The new release, which will include updated graphics, is scheduled to launch in Japan in the first quarter of 2004; the company has not yet released information on price or the possibility of a US release. Getting this exclusive should help boost Sony's stock price, which has suffered from the company's recent flurry of bad news.

　　Enix originally released the RPG on the Super Famicom in 1992, and the game tallied total sales of 2.8 million units in Japan. That title presented a storyline that introduced the concept of a monster taming system, which, at the time, was not widely known to the general gaming audience.

　　Details on how the new PS2 version will differ from the original are not currently known, but the original core staff from the Super Famicom release will be returning to develop the game. Yuji Horii will be handling the scenario and game design, Kouichi Sugiyama will compose the music, and Akira Toriyama will handle the character design. Following his work on Dragon Quest VII, Shintaro Majima will once again be handling the art direction. The overall development of the game will be handled by ArtePiazza, which also worked as one of the developers on Dragon Quest VII.

　　Dragon Quest is known as Dragon Warrior in the United States. While the series has not been much of a success in America since its first release in 1986, it remains one of the most popular video game franchises in Japan. The game is currently up to its seventh installment. The next release in the franchise, Dragon Quest VIII, is scheduled to hit Japanese retailers next year on the PS2.