Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes was a fan-made ROM modification for the widely-acclaimed SNES RPG Chrono Trigger. I say “was” because Square Enix have sent the fans a Cease-and-Desist letter, letting them know that if the project is released, there will be a lawsuit. The mod “featured ~35 hours of game play, 10 multiple endings, and 23 chapters, much like the original Chrono Trigger; it was around 98% complete.” As ZeaLitY says, the game was made only out of the goodness of fan’s hearts and certainly not for profit. The video above is the trailer for the game, made this year.

I must say that I feel this is a bad show on the part of Square Enix. This was a fan-made mod, with no intent for profit, and people had spent countless hours of their lives in the process of making this game. What harm can a mod like this do? Surely it can only provide free advertisement for their game. My consolations to the fans who put all this work into the game only to have it completely trashed.

YouTube user “TheRealPfhreak” has a girlfriend he loves with all his heart. Naturally, he decided he wanted to make her a keeper. When he decided he’d like to seal the deal, his girlfriend was in the process of a good ol’  Chrono Trigger playthrough. It all made sense. In an effort to create a unique proposal, he decided to meld his innate nerdery with what he’s learned from his Computer Science degree. Read more…

Looks like we’ve got another Limbo of the Lost on our hands. The plagiarism on display here in blatant Metal Slug rip-off Commando: Steel Disaster for the DS isn’t as flagrant as LotL’s level design lifting, but it’s still pretty shameless: The title rips off music from classic SNES RPG Chrono Trigger, as well as a 2D Gundam fighting game. Hit the jump for the proof. Read more…

Retro enthusiasts and JRPG lovers alike will be pleased to know that in a press release issued today, Square Enix revealed that the DS remake of Chrono Trigger will be hitting stateside on November 25th, 2008.

Complete with the DS’s touchscreen functionality, Chrono Trigger DS will feature brand new dungeons and arenas that weren’t in the 1995 classic. Hit the jump for Square Enix’s full press release. Read more…

See that tiny text? DS! Irrefutable proof… of a sort

Reports have surfaced that the SNES critic/fan-favorite RPG Chrono Trigger may be making its way to Nintendo’s ever-successful DS by Winter in ‘enhanced’ form. Just how enhanced, altered, or improved it may be, is still undetermined has been detailed here. As of now, all we have is a scan from the Japanese Jump magazine. Read more…

One of the flat-out coolest endeavours I’ve seen in awhile comes from “hattoriyaro,” who’s using a specialized program to turn the individual notes of MIDI music into complex animations. Among his creations are several dedicated to classic video games from Megaman 2 to *ahem* “cult classic” Cheetahmen. Hit the jump for videos and more information on how it’s done. Read more…

Some developers draw inspiration from a particular genre. Electronic Arts built up some of the most successful franchises in the sports world, Id Software concentrated mainly on first person shooters like DOOM and Wolfenstein, and Lucasarts grew its fan base by creating excellent adventure games. Square Enix falls into this category as well. Their area of expertise is the RPG. Read more…