In the United States, GTA, Guitar Hero, and Halo are the games that cause massive midnight sales and headaches for video game store personnel. In Japan, however, nothing compares to Dragon Quest, a series that, over its 23-year life span, has sold hundreds of millions of copies. The games are notorious for causing kids to skip school en masse and businessmen to abandon work and line up 12 hours before the game even goes on sale. Naturally, the lauch for the latest chapter in the ever-expanding series, Dragon Quest IX, was no different.

My morning began at 5:10 a.m. When I got to Shibuya, one of the largest shopping and business districts in the Tokyo area, only 52 people were in line. I joined the crowd already lined up along a tall staircase.

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