Japanese Businessmen Take Days off to Finish a Game…..

Okay, no one is innocent.  We all have taken a day off from work because we were “sick.”  “Sick,” as in, perfectly in a good health but taking a sick day off from work.  Whether it was because we wanted to go to a live concert, had a massive party the night before, or simply couldn’t wake up, we are all guilty.  But taking a day off to play a video game?

“Dragon Quest IX -The Protector of Starlit Sky,” which was sold on July 11, is the latest installment of the popular RPG series, Dragon Quest.  The series has become a societal problem in the past, as kids were bullied to give up their DQ copy.  Reportedly the fans queued up at the stores (which makes people wonder, “why?” and “don’t they have anything better to do?”), and it was announced that 3 millions copy were sold on 14.

Apparently, the term “Draque (abbreviation of Dragon Quest) day off,” started appearing on the web.  Blogs where fans announcing that they will take days off from work and school started popping out through out the Japanese blog site, and an iPhone application development venture company named “Yume wo Miru,” (meaning “dreaming”) apparently even implemented a system (!?).

It is a bit ironic that the game, despite its popularity, has spawned various harsh reviews, creating a storm on amazon.co.jp.  Some where annoyed with the constant delay, and the constant changes in the system before the actual sales date.  Some were annoyed with the fact that there is only one space to save, and that it was on DS.  The fairy that speaks Garugo (think Valley Girl speech) was not popular either.

It has been reported that it takes up to 40 hours to complete the game.  Few days off should be enough.

On an another note, I knew a guy who took several days off to read the new Harry Potter (psst….).  My friend told me of her friend of a friend that quit his work to play FF VII.  Later, when he went for a job interview for his next job, apparently he answered frankly that he quit his previous job “to play FF VII” when the interviewers asked why he quit his previous job.  And he got the job!  Ah- the beauty of working in a creative industry.