Yesterday brought the news that Dragon Quest IX was being delayed by several months, followed by the reason why, described as a "critical bug." What was then and remains unknown is whether this could have any impact on the game's release abroad.

But what was most unexpected is the impact this may have on another game: Final Fantasy XIII.

A report at ITmedia reveals that the newest installment in the series may also see a delay, with Square Enix President Yoichi Wada adding that "We'd like to work towards (a release) within fiscal 2009."

"We've yet to finalize our plans for the next term, so I cannot say for sure if there will or will not be an effect, but Dragon Quest's release being March or July changes the premise. I can't say that there won't be an influence." -- Yoichi Wada, via Andriasang.com

Regarding the DQIX bug, it is said the size of it is such that "it was definitely not in a state that could be delivered to players."

Wada admitted becoming "negligent" with the project once all the major features were in place. However, he went on to explain, this isn't necessarily a Dragon Quest-specific problem. It may actually be a problem with the standard debugging process itself. Like most companies, explained Wada, Square Enix follows the development pattern of implementing features while clearing out bugs, completing implementation, then doing a big debugging phase at the end. Wada said that the company may have to look into doing debugging during the implementation phase as well. -- Andriasang.com

The ITmedia article notes that with the planned March release, Square Enix was expecting to sell three million copies of Dragon Quest IX in this term alone; however, due to the delay, they've had to scale down their forecast.