SquareEnix kills Chrono Trigger Fangame at 98% completion

[kupomogli]

I think they should leak the 98% complete game onto the internet as an unknown person who was beta testing it. That way fans will be allowed to play the title while Square-Enix won't be able to do anything.

[kaedesdisciple]

I think they should leak the 98% complete game onto the internet as an unknown person who was beta testing it. That way fans will be allowed to play the title while Square-Enix won't be able to do anything.

I think SE took care of that with the C&D letter. No matter which way the game leaks out, if it does, the owner is getting slapped with a minimum $150,000 lawsuit. Of course, IANAL, but I think SE would unfortunately win in that case.

[Rickstilwell1]

And if they have already gotten that far, they could just replace the Chrono characters' sprites with their own characters and names. They don't have to cancel the whole thing.

If it was designed to be good then it should be ok without Chrono and the other popular characters in it.

[Berserker]

And if they have already gotten that far, they could just replace the Chrono characters' sprites with their own characters and names. They don't have to cancel the whole thing.

If it was designed to be good then it should be ok without Chrono and the other popular characters in it.

That's actually a really good idea.

Square-Enix could still hit them with a lawsuit if they were feeling particularly over-zealous, as these big companies sometimes do, saying that it was originally based off of their intellectual property, or that it bears too much of a resemblance to their intellectual property etc. But at least then they (the fan-team) would have an actual case to argue, and probably win, provided that they weren't too careless, i.e. not doing much more than turning Chrono's hair from red to orange and changing his name to "Krono" or something like that.

[Clownzilla]

If the game is good enough why wouldn't Square consider buying it from the creator, polish it a bit, and release it for the DS or PSP? It won't happen but Square (and other companies in the same position) will miss out on some well developed games. How much love do you think was put into this game as opposed to a programming slave at Square with 5 other jobs on his schedule. Hmmm....

[Kitsune Sniper]

And if they have already gotten that far, they could just replace the Chrono characters' sprites with their own characters and names. They don't have to cancel the whole thing.

If it was designed to be good then it should be ok without Chrono and the other popular characters in it.

It would still require a Chrono Trigger ROM to work, so it's still IP infringement.

I don't like it, in fact I think it's fucking bullshit by Squeenix, but it's their property and it's their right to defend it. Even if they're fucking twats about it.

[Diosoth]

Fuck copyrights. that's all I have to say.

Fuck Square, too. They abandon things such as Virtual Console in favor of overpriced "ports" with little new content to justify the costs. Oh sure, FFVII got on PSN... in Japan. Don't think the USA will get that. We'll have to wait for the overpriced, barely-enhanced PSP or PS3 port. This also isn't the only thing they send C&Ds over- they shut down companies maning Cloud Strife swords. WHY?

It's their property, fine. But if they don't want the FANS doing something, then maybe they should do it themselves! Oh, right, they did... they put Chrono Trigger on the DS with a quickie extra dungeon tossed in, a new translation which doesn't enhance anything, and charged a fortune for an old game. And god forbig anyone ever badmouth a Japanese company for being outright lazy.

Id software encourages fan stuff. Running With Scissors and Valve do, too.

Epic Games, however, are also a bunch of motherfucking dicks. They send a C&D letter to a guy who made a CUSTOM TOY of a GeOW character. Seriously, Mike Capps, go fuck yourself.

Square was screaming "piracy hurt sales" 2 days BEFORE Chrono Trigger DS was released in the USA. A company that does that deserves to have their games pirated. Yes, I pirated CTDS, and I did so gladly. I will never buy a copy. Seriously, fuck you Square, I just admitted to STEALING from you. What are you going to do about it?

Nintendo certainly didn't shut down the Mother 3 fan translation. Which they could have, but as they have ZIPPO intention of releasing the game in the US, what would be the point? Well, aside from totally denying the US players the chance to play the game.

I'd like to see a group that gets these C&D letters ignore it. Time to test if big bad gredy Square has the balls to actually take it to court.

You can whine about how businesses only care about profit and not the fans all you want, but if they want the fans to like them, they can show some fuckign respect. If they spit on their own customers then they deserve to go out of business.

[roushimsx]

All I have to say is: "ha ha!"

Seriously, everyone's seen how hardcore SquareEnix is with protecting the Chrono Trigger copyright when they C&D'd the fuck out of the 3d remake of Chrono Trigger, what made these guys think that they were so special that they'd get a free pass?

If they were smart, they wouldn't have announced a damn thing until it was done. Instead, they just wasted a few years of their life on a project they'll never be able to finish. Good job!

[Daria]

I've been following this for the past few days. While the news doesn't really affect me, not that big on Chrono Trigger, it just validates my dislike for Square in general. It's a dick move and a big fuck-you to obviously hard-core fans of the series.

[Tupin]

I just find it funny that Square-Enix does this to a fan game, but Nintendo couldn't care less about the MOTHER 3 translation.

[JunkTheMagicDragon]

they had no choice, other than bringing the dev team in-house and make their work legal. barring that, square has to defend infringement of their copyrights or risk losing claim to the copyright in court.

don't blame square, blame copyright law if you don't like it.

personally, doesn't bother me.

[obesolete]

wow,

I haven't heard of this fan game, but I agree, why would they wait until the game was 98% complete before putting a stop to it? I used to be a big square fan in the nes/snes days, but not anymore.
I was not impressed with the ff7 phenominon nor anything after it the company produced.

When I saw that they had re-released Chrono Trigger it was obvious that they were looking for a cash grab. I paid my $80 for the snes cart when it first came out and it still works fine.

maybe I'm just old and crusty?

[Zing]

The stupid thing about trademarks and such, is that if the company doesn't actively "protect" its IP, then it can harm them in a future case where the infringement actually does hurt the company.

[udisi]

SE kinda had to do this too. If they let it go, it would set precedent for other pirates to argue if they pirated other SE works. They're really convering all their IP not just Chronotrigger.

[swlovinist]

I've been following this for the past few days. While the news doesn't really affect me, not that big on Chrono Trigger, it just validates my dislike for Square in general. It's a dick move and a big fuck-you to obviously hard-core fans of the series.

Completely agree. I just dont get why companies do this kind of shit. Its like Lucasarts going after a fan movie of Star Wars. This game was to honor and possibly generate sales for the company. I for one will just personally speak with my wallet and buy all square games used from now on. They lost a customer for this move.

[Nature Boy]

I just dont get why companies do this kind of shit. Its like Lucasarts going after a fan movie of Star Wars. This game was to honor and possibly generate sales for the company. I for one will just personally speak with my wallet and buy all square games used from now on. They lost a customer for this move.

You have to understand the whole "protecting their copyright" thing I think.

Obviously Mr. Homebrewer isn't going to put a dent into their pockets. But if they allow him to violate their copyright, they're *screwed* when someone else comes along, creates their own 'fan version' of Chrono Trigger and has the backing of, say, Atlus.

Atlus argues that Squenix didn't protect their copyright in the case of Mr. Homebrewer, so Squenix has therefore given up that right according to copyright law. Atlus wins, and goes on to make a *fortune* at Squenix's expense.

I can see someone then arguing "what would the odds be that an Atlus would *do* that though" and I'd have to reply "why would a Squenix *ever* put themselves at risk, even if it's minimal, with their IP?" Your IP is what makes your company unique - give that up and you're screwed.

[Leo_A]

It would still require a Chrono Trigger ROM to work, so it's still IP infringement.

I don't like it, in fact I think it's fucking bullshit by Squeenix, but it's their property and it's their right to defend it. Even if they're fucking twats about it.

Forgive me if I missed someone else saying this, but just make it be a patch for the Chrono Trigger rom. No ip infringement then if the end user is the one combining it with Chrono Trigger and it just happens to work...

[Jorpho]

Forgive me if I missed someone else saying this, but just make it be a patch for the Chrono Trigger rom. No ip infringement then if the end user is the one combining it with Chrono Trigger and it just happens to work...

The thing is, the developers put a rather explicit clause in their readme stating "Hey, this is illegal!" Never seen the likes of it before, and can't imagine why they needed to do that.

[kedawa]

So what's stopping the people involved from just finishing it and quietly releasing it?
I just don't see how Squeenix could do anything about it.

The same is true for any similar fan project.
They just need to be careful about what they publish on the web.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Forgive me if I missed someone else saying this, but just make it be a patch for the Chrono Trigger rom. No ip infringement then if the end user is the one combining it with Chrono Trigger and it just happens to work...

It's still illegal. Like someone releasing a crack for a valuable piece of software. The crack on its own is useless, and doesn't do any damage until it's actually used -- but it doesn't make it any less illegal.

So what's stopping the people involved from just finishing it and quietly releasing it?
I just don't see how Squeenix could do anything about it.

They can backtrack the owner of the site by going after the host, and get the guy's billing info that way. And work their way up from there.

It's not as simple as "ZOMG RELEASE IT NOW".