Square-Enix brings the hammer down on Chrono Trigger Resurrection

[Great Rumbler]

The small development team behind fan game Chrono Trigger: Resurrection has posted some very disappointing news: they have received a Cease and Desist letter from Square Enix demanding they stop making their game. It seems after years of looking the other way, Square Enix has changed its policy on independently-created games honoring their own.

Perhaps it was the quality of the project that triggered this unprecedented response so far into development. Chrono Trigger Resurrection sports professional quality artwork that has further improved since its last showing. Here are a few samples of what you will now never be able to play:

The Chrono Trigger Resurrection site also has a trailer, which is currently down.

It truly is a shame the lawyers have interfered with something so promising. The team is not swayed, though, and is already planning something “new and fresh.” Our sympathies go out to Nathan Lazur, Luis Martins, David Ying, Mathew Valente and Michael Demirel for working so hard, only to have to walk away.

This project really had a lot of potential so it's sad that Square-Enix came down on them like this. Although, it's possible that SE is working on their own update, but it seems like kind of a slap in the face to the guys that worked on this game.

Planet Gamecube

[A Black Falcon]

A lot of these fanmade games get killed, so I'm not exactly surprised. Nintendo does it too.

[UltraMarioMan]

Just for this I'm not buying FF7: AC....ehhhh who am I kidding...

[Dark Jaguar]

Well honestly, they could have come up with their own characters. They still can. Not ALL of their work is lost, just the stuff violating copyrights. And Square-Enix is still selling Chrono Trigger, in one of their PS1 collections, at least I think you can still order it directly from them anyway. Honestly, I really couldn't justify downloading that remake if I didn't already own the original.

I'm still waiting for Chrono Break...

Ya know, at this rate I wonder how long it'll be before Sierra shuts down <a href="http://www.agdinteractive.com/">these people</a> for their remakes of KQ1, KQ2 and their upcoming Quest for Glory 2 remake. Poor fellows... Honestly, they do good work (their KQ2 really did remake the whole game), but they ARE violating copyright. I went and got the games myself (I don't think there's any legal issues with just owning stuff that breaks copyrights :D, plus I already own the originals), as you might imagine...

BUT, on the other hand, if the company gives them permission, THEN it's fine. Sierra never gave the people above permission, but, on a note that could force Sierra TO allow these remakes, the actual original makers of these games have said "it's fine by us, just watch out for Sierra, it's a totally different company than when we worked there", or something similar to that.

[A Black Falcon]

Right, the people who made the original versions of those games (KQ1 and 2 and the upcoming QFG2) said it's fine, but Sierra is not the old Sierra at all anymore... all traces that matter of that Sierra are gone and now it's just a development arm of Vivendi Universal, so yeah, I would watch out for Sierra to go after them someday. It certainly could happen.

But it'd be very, very sad because those games desperately need the update... I could struggle along with a text-interface if I had to, but what I really can't take are the conversations. Or rather, not knowing what I can say. I hate that! Makes the games barely playable, IMO... especially when combined with the constant irritation of having to text enter all those commands. Graphical interfaces for adventure games couldn't have happened soon enough. :)

And now that I own (legit copies) of both KQ1 and QFG2, the question is quite pertinent to me... I'd like to be able to play those games in a way that they are fun...

On that note, I hope they finish QFG2-VGA soon. It's taken them a really long time. The whole Quest for Glory series is so great... now I've actually played them all, but I still like the first one most. Nostalgia maybe, but I do. But three is good (if linear, for a QFG game), and four looks awesome... five? It's okay. Haven't played it much but the biggest problem is the major combat focus. QFG 1-4 didn't have anywhere NEAR that much fighting! 5 probably has more than the first four put together (that you have to do, anyway, the first four all have random combat that you could wander around and do a lot of if you really wish)... and it shows, as combat is frequently the way to solve puzzles. Oh well, it's still a solid game.

Anyway, what I meant to say is that I often hear QFG2 called one of the best of the QFG games, and usually called the hardest of the QFG games, so I'd like to play it. Without the high frusteration level of text-input and guessing what I can say to people (with perfect spelling or they won't understand you!).

[Great Rumbler]

Considering that Sierra is all but gone, I doubt that they'll being much of anything anymore.

[Geno]

Is Chrono Break even official? I've heard so little about it.

Ironically, this news comes out the day that I finish my new Chrono Trigger file.

[Great Rumbler]

At one point I think it may have been official, but nobody's heard anything about it in a long time.

[UltraMarioMan]

If I were these guys I'd reply to the Cease and Desist letter with "No I will not" And keep working on it.

[A Black Falcon]

Then they sue you and you lose. Simple as that, and not very smart on your part.

GR, Sierra still exists in that they are a name of Vivendi Universal, and there are people who work under their banner for Vivendi Universal. They aren't gone in the physical sense, just in the sense that none of what we remember as 'Sierra' is still there.

[OB1]

This fan-made Chrono game looked incredible (better than anything Square has released in ages), though calling it fan-made is a bit misleading. Most of the guys working on the game actually have jobs as game designers and wanted to do this for fun and experience.

[A Black Falcon]

As for AGI, I'd think Sierra would have taken them out by now if they had wanted to. After all, they've been in operation for several years and have already released two Sierra remakes...

[Great Rumbler]

They aren't gone in the physical sense,

Well, Vivendi did close down their offices and fire everyone...

[Dark Jaguar]

Yeah... Vivendi obviously just wanted the brand name... It's really sad... I know both ABF and I have said this before, but it's just such a shame to see how Sierra went from being a diety among gamers to being bought out and the very FOUNDERS of the company (as well as everyone else with any talent at all) kicked out to make room for... um... various physical incarnations of jerkery they are constantly manifesting by their very existance :D.

[A Black Falcon]

The fired everyone at the Sierra office, yes, but there are still people working for Vivendi under the Sierra banner. Not too many, but there are a few, so the division still exists, technically.

And yes, what happened to Sierra is sad. But it seems like most of the great old gaming (PC) companies have died... Sierra (still "alive"), Microprose, Lucasarts (as a real developer), Interplay (hanging on by a dying thread with none of the employees who made it great as far as I know), Looking Glass, Bullfrog, Westwood, Origin (thanks, EA, for those last three!), Accolade (um, at least I really liked Hardball...), 3D0 (remember, they owned New World Computing, makers of the great and classic Might & Magic and Heroes of Migh & Magic serieses!), Sir-Tech... and I'm sure there are plenty more that I'm missing...

[Dark Jaguar]

I watched that video, and I was impressed at the visual quality of the whole thing. Honestly, I would have liked to see it completed (if the gameplay was also improved with everything else that would be nice, like extra techs and maybe expanded fighting options).

It's too late now of course, and Square-Enix had every right to order them to stop. I wouldn't really call it a shame, just some wishful thinking on my part to have seen it completed...

However, here's a future suggestion to these companies. I myself, if I saw a product that seemed to have as much promise as this, would take the game as an application. If the fan project is really good, I should say a company should attempt to hire the people making it. If they refuse this offer, THEN they can give them the cease and desist, but that would be a great oppertunity to get some new people with talent in there. If the fan-made project sucks, just give them the cease and desist, that'd be like a application rejection :D.

[OB1]

Yes that's exactly what I'm thinking. If a fan game is so good that a developer mght consider it competition in some way, hire the damn people! Really, if they can make an awesome-looking game with very few resources imagine what they could do with a real budget! These developers are retarded.

[Great Rumbler]

Or they could have at least offered the developers a large sum of money for the game, considering how good it was.

[OB1]

Yeah...

[Great Rumbler]

Square-Enix is teh suck.

[OB1]

Pfshyeah.

[Dark Jaguar]

That too, though they aren't "teh suck". FFTA was awesome. I actually liked it better than Fire Emblem thanks to the freedom to pick the missions I wanted to go on. Plus, Star Ocean (Un)Till the End of Time is looking good.

Here's a question about their artistic choice though. I noticed that Gasper (the old man at the end of time) for some reason had that sleep bubble changed to a snot bubble. That seems a little odd... I would have expected it to just have a Z added to it or something, but oh well... It's just that I really don't see what sleeping has to do with a big mucus bubble, nor why waking him up would pop it.

[OB1]

They are teh suck!!

[Geno]

Enix is teh suck. Square was teh rox0r before Enix came into the picture.

[Great Rumbler]

Are you crazy?! Enix only made some of the top PSX games EVER! Like Star Ocean 2 and Dragon Quest 7 and...and...okay that's all I can think but I'm sure they made more! Oh yeah, they published Mischief Makers on the N64, but Treasure was the one that actually developed it.

[Dark Jaguar]

What are you talking about? Square and Enix didn't do a single thing to each other. There's no "corruption energy" sapping the talent out of either company due to the merger.

And Enix rocks! Granted, I've only played like two of Enix's games :D, but that was enough. Namely, Illusion of Gaia kicks arse! I want to be able to step into black voids only I can see! Why can't I?!

[A Black Falcon]

The only Enix game I have is Mischief Makers, and that was made by Treasure...

[Great Rumbler]

I've got several Enix games. Some on the SNES and two on the PSX.

[UltraMarioMan]

Enix is teh suck.

*Stabs Geno until the knife breaks*

[alien space marine]

Blaims it on the jews!

[Geno]

*is teh dead*

I've never played any Enix games, I just know that just about every game with the Square Enix logo on it sucks, and Square didn't suck before the merger.

[A Black Falcon]

... Sword of Mana and FFTA are good...

[Great Rumbler]

Star Ocean 3 is pretty good too, although the first 10 hours are kind of slow.

The only game I can think of with the Square-Enix logo that sucks is Unlimited Saga.

[Geno]

I didn't play very far into FFX-2 because it scared the living daylights out of me.