Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced The Crystal Bearers at E3 2005, with little information provided since then. But Hashimoto affirmed that the game is coming along. "Recently, I was able to check the progress on the Wii version. It's coming along extremely well," he said. "However, developing a game that makes use of the Wii Remote is difficult. For our Wii game Dragon Quest Swords, adjustments related to the remote took a long time."

Regarding Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors, the game is scheduled for a July 12 release in Japan. No release date has been set for other territories.

It's unknown if The Crystal Bearers will ultimately retain its previously announced Wi-Fi functionality, or if the game will connect to the Nintendo DS Crystal Chronicles title, Ring of Fates.

Square-Enix presented a brief trailer of The Crystal Bearers at E3 2006, which appears to mix CG elements and in-game visuals. Readers may view the trailer here.

Square-Enix plans to display and announce software at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show, Jump Festa and its own Square-Enix Party, the latter set for May 12 in Japan. Ten announced Final Fantasy games, in addition to at least one unrevealed Final Fantasy, are expected to appear at the Square-Enix Party. The company ran an advertisement promoting the show in Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, but did not list The Crystal Bearers as a product intended for display. Concluding his interview with Nintendo Dream, Hashimoto said, "Look forward to the events as Nintendo fans, or, even better, as Square Enix fans."