At Tsuda Hall in Tokyo's Shibuya district, a new Dragon Quest concert was performed yesterday. With composer Kouichi Sugiyama present, Japanese publications obviously had to ask the maestro a few questions regarding his work on Square Enix's upcoming Dragon Quest VIII: Sora to Umi to Daichi to Norowareshi Himegimi. The PlayStation 2 title will apparently go gold in Japan this week. The composer mentioned that he wanted fans to enjoy the up to 100 hours of gameplay offered by Dragon Quest VIII as much as its music. While previous series' installments often had to be delayed, this time there won't be any delays. According to Sugiyama, the BGM produced by the PlayStation 2's internal sound source will be the best on the system so far. Regarding the soundtrack, he mentioned that the underlying concept was for fans to be able to enjoy the 38 tracks.

The Dragon Quest VIII Original Soundtrack will be published by Sony Music Distribution in late December. The first print of the two-disc album will come in a special box, containing a super picture label.

The Dragon Quest VIII Original Soundtrack will be available in Japan on December 22nd for 2,900 yen ($26.50 US).

• Famitsu