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16
Site Updates / Breaking Down the Doors of Destiny, Vol. 1: Outreach to Mitsuda
« on: February 17, 2011, 03:16:27 am »
Yo, everyone! While you're still taking in the massive collection of fanwork assembled in the latest Mega Updates, drop Magus22 and justinstcharles some feedback in this news thread -- they're gathering questions from the community to ask Yasunori Mitsuda next time they try contacting him. If anyone can do this, they can, since they've had contact with Mitsuda's assistants (in Magus22's case) and with THE MAN himself (in justinstcharles' case).
Hey, with an iron will and a little Tweet, anything can happen these days!
Hey, with an iron will and a little Tweet, anything can happen these days!
17
Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Chrono Cross Arrange Album due this year?
« on: January 28, 2011, 05:36:51 am »
Could someone kindly help me find Yasunori Mitsuda's Facebook page? There's a thread at GameFAQs with a link to a French website where Mitsuda says he wants to do the impossible.
EDIT:
I think this is a fan-driven FB page devoted to Mitsuda. Tossing it here anyway.
EDIT:
I think this is a fan-driven FB page devoted to Mitsuda. Tossing it here anyway.
18
Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Chrono Trigger Mobile Teaser Site Opens
« on: December 19, 2010, 05:37:12 am »
Apparently Square Enix knew ZeaLitY's in the middle of a site update and wanted to rush this teaser site through just in the nick of time. Well, one can dream anyway.
http://www.square-enix.co.jp/mobile/sem/chronotrigger/
Courtesy of the fine Andriasang, although they don't have too much info yet either: http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/18/chrono_trigger_teaser_site/
Looks like a cell phone port, but my money's on an iPod/iPhone/iPad release in the West. Since Square Enix is doing some (minor) graphical updates for Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy IV, maybe Dark Matter will be a little flashier this time around?
What are everyone's thoughts on the possibility of this being the mysterious other half of the Chrono Cross PSN announcement?
http://www.square-enix.co.jp/mobile/sem/chronotrigger/
Courtesy of the fine Andriasang, although they don't have too much info yet either: http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/18/chrono_trigger_teaser_site/
Looks like a cell phone port, but my money's on an iPod/iPhone/iPad release in the West. Since Square Enix is doing some (minor) graphical updates for Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy IV, maybe Dark Matter will be a little flashier this time around?
What are everyone's thoughts on the possibility of this being the mysterious other half of the Chrono Cross PSN announcement?
19
Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / PocketGamer says Chrono Trigger will be announced for the iPhone (unconfirmed)
« on: November 11, 2010, 08:02:35 pm »
According to "a source," we'll see an iPhone version of CT. I think it's within the realm of possibility, and we know how Square Enix likes to cash in on previous games again and again to pad its profit margin.
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/iPhone/The+Rumour+Mine/feature.asp?c=23752
Let's see...SNES, PSX, DS. If it's true, this will be the fourth iteration of the game I've bought. Will I ever learn?
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/iPhone/The+Rumour+Mine/feature.asp?c=23752
Let's see...SNES, PSX, DS. If it's true, this will be the fourth iteration of the game I've bought. Will I ever learn?
20
Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Tribute Album by Justin StCharles
« on: September 04, 2010, 03:59:54 am »21
Site Updates / Fangamer.net Kicks off its Chrono Trigger Fanfest!
« on: June 24, 2010, 09:45:07 pm »
If you needed yet another excuse to geek out over Chrono this summer, Fangamer's got your fix! The cool peeps over at Fangamer.net have launched a site that will track their playthrough of Chrono Trigger - complete with daily video updates - over the next month, from June 25 through July 23.
They're inviting everyone to submit their own fanworks in every format imaginable during this celebration of Chrono fandom, and rumor has it Fangamer will even be selling Chrono-themed paraphernelia in an expansion of their previous work in Earthbound merchandising. Check out Fangamer's blog to learn more about the organization and its history. Stay tuned for further details as they roll in!
22
History, Locations, and Artifacts / Standards of Living: Guardia vs. Medina, years 600~1000
« on: May 23, 2010, 06:51:06 pm »
EDIT: Phrase "lifespan" changed to "reign" per alfadorredux's observation. Makes more sense now, hopefully.
Between the years 600 and 1000 in Chrono Trigger, we have a point of comparison between the lifespans (or at least length of reign) of Guardian monarchs and Medina monarchs/Maguses/whatever.
Guardian monarchs go from 21 (XXI) to 33 (XXXIII) during that period, for an average monarch reign of 33 1/3 years.
Medinian leaders go from Ozzie I to Ozzie VIII, at least considering one timeline, for an average reign of 50 years. It should be noted, however, that Ozzie VIII was originally numbered Ozzie XIII in the beta, which would lower Medinian leader reign to 30.76 years on average. I wonder why Square Enix found it necessary to change such a small detail?
I suppose that as time progressed, lifespans (and perhaps the length of a monarch's reign) progressed as well, so the average lifespan in both nations was probably an evolving quantity. Maybe a natural log formula could be devised based on the evidence we have as a ballpark estimate on standards of living progression. Also, exogenous events that we don't know about (wars, famines, plagues) could have produced very short lifespans for intervening leaders in one nation or another.
Uh...discuss.
Between the years 600 and 1000 in Chrono Trigger, we have a point of comparison between the lifespans (or at least length of reign) of Guardian monarchs and Medina monarchs/Maguses/whatever.
Guardian monarchs go from 21 (XXI) to 33 (XXXIII) during that period, for an average monarch reign of 33 1/3 years.
Medinian leaders go from Ozzie I to Ozzie VIII, at least considering one timeline, for an average reign of 50 years. It should be noted, however, that Ozzie VIII was originally numbered Ozzie XIII in the beta, which would lower Medinian leader reign to 30.76 years on average. I wonder why Square Enix found it necessary to change such a small detail?
I suppose that as time progressed, lifespans (and perhaps the length of a monarch's reign) progressed as well, so the average lifespan in both nations was probably an evolving quantity. Maybe a natural log formula could be devised based on the evidence we have as a ballpark estimate on standards of living progression. Also, exogenous events that we don't know about (wars, famines, plagues) could have produced very short lifespans for intervening leaders in one nation or another.
Uh...discuss.
23
Dream Splash III - Chrono Break [2010] / Chrono Break: The Videogame Scriptment
« on: May 09, 2010, 07:43:02 pm »
Link to the most ridiculous Youtube playlist you've ever seen inside!
I'm kinda crazy.
It must have been around this time in 2004 or 2005 that I came across the leaked "scriptment" for James Cameron's Avatar. JRPGs and even some action games were trending toward more cinematic forms at that point in time, and I wondered whether game writers did something similar during development, and what form the "game scriptment" might take. After a miserably failed attempt at creating my own IP late in high school, I decided to return to fan fiction as an exercise in developing creative writing skills. I thought it would be neat to try my hand at a "videogame scriptment" -- whatever that might entail.
I started out fully planning to do a scriptment for Xenogears Episode IV, since it was obvious by that point that Xenogears was a dead franchise. While I made some appreciable progress in scenario development and writing a short test scene, some roadblocks sprung up, the most important being the implosion of the Xenogears fanbase and its general reticence toward fan interpretation of Tetsuya Takahashi's work. At the same time, Dragon Quest VIII came out, and I was like: "Dude! How nostalgic!" (and you can probably guess why). My Chrono kick quickly led to discovering Chrono Symphonic, and I was like, Duuuuuude. Xeno was quickly put on the back burner, and I drafted the "Prelude" section of the Chrono Break scriptment in December 2005 or January 2006.
I didn't know where the heck I was going with it, but by the end of that section I had a dude traveling through time, which of course brought up questions of theory I wasn't prepared to handle. That's when I began following the Chrono Compendium in earnest. It was, just...this huge resource, and even though I was too stubborn to succumb to Time Bastard theory at that point, I never would have made it as far as I did without all the quick character, political, and geographical records stored here. I blasted out six "chapters" between 2006 and 2007, when I finally registered at the Compendium forum. Ironically, it was the first Dream Splash! that drew me in irrevocably.
By November 2007 I was at a crossroads -- the Chrono Break scriptment was approaching its crowning crescendo on Zenan Bridge, in the middle of the Medieval storyline arc, and yet game modding was seriously beckoning thanks to swift progress on the Chrono Cross Model Project. I knew that if I stepped onto that bridge with Schala and Glenn, I'd have to finish the damn thing -- all of it, at least one full non-branching script -- and put everything else aside to make that happen. In the end I went with Magus Unmasked and let Chrono Break slide into oblivion.
It wasn't a bad decision at all in retrospect, because the work has some deep flaws -- spelling errors that embarrasinlgy creeped into this presentation being the least of those. Getting into the minds of female viewpoint characters and writing them effecitvely has always been a great challenge for me, probably owing in no small measure to my sexist heritage. The reader can really tell that I was using the "spaghetti on the wall approach" here: first Schala's a freaking ninja, then an introspective emo who could probably compete with Squall Leonhart, and then finally coming into something truly human through her interaction with Cyrus, Glenn, Leene, and Alistair's kids. Schala was really Alice in Wonderland, and I worried sincerely that her human voice and pre-eminence as a viewpoint character would be drowned out amidst all the awesome people she was going to be surrounded with in later chapters. She (or rather, I) had some catch-up work to do in terms of her character development, and I'm not sure whether the whole thing would have collapsed by the time Magus was to make his sterling debut.
My point in presenting this is, pre-eminently, to highlight how "art begets art," and how one medium can flow into another. The impact that music has on my writing will become obvious from the get-go, but in addition to some introspection on my earlier writing I want to describe how movies, pictures, famous artworks, etc., guided me along the way. This post is getting long, but I think I'll start with a reply describing how fanart and movies inspired the characterization of both main characters and prominent NPCs in this "videogame scriptment."
NOTE: Provided anyone gets to Chapter 2 before I can comment on it, I wanted to put a TRIGGER WARNING (oh, that sounds so appropos considering the franchise, doesn't it?) on everything after 6:40 in Chapter 2, Part 1. The real-time button press cinema sequences were inspired by Resident Evil 4, but I didn't realize that the in-close nature of these scenes can unnervingly simulate real assault experiences. I think even a written description of Schala's struggle against "the Creature" is probably worthy of such a warning, considering complaints levied against the game Heavy Rain recently. I didn't really appreciate the cultural effect these kinds of sequences could have in a videogame until recently, but I'm not sure I would have re-written that part of Chapter 2 even with such knowledge; the whole point of that sequence was to show just how bad Guardian citizens have it in this new timeline. Still, a warning would be appropriate.
24
Kajar Laboratories / Yo, help us make a Dream Splash banner!
« on: April 13, 2010, 06:09:58 pm »
Dream Splash! 2010 starts this May 9. As with any Compendium event we've gotta kick this off in style, which means we'll need a cool banner image for the announcement. ZeaLitY might have more specific requirements, but judging from the 2007 banner looks like it'll need to be 500 pixels' width by 200 pixels' height. Looks like Z also asked for a thumbnail of 100 x 50 pix and a height-reduced version of the banner that was 500 x 100 pix. I'm not sure if anyone has plans yet to use the banner in situations requiring the smaller versions, so we'll play it by ear for now.
If you're not familiar with the Dream Splash!, well...
(actually, that's a link to the Dream Splash! description and the 2007 banner examples).
So, since Bruce Lee loves the Dream Splash!, that makes it awesome. Check out the previous two Dream Splash!s here (2007) and here (2008). They're carried out in their own forums as opposed to Kajar Labs proper.
To get the ball rolling I decided to try my hand at a banner design.
Surpassing my design will be EZ, yo! Why, I don't even have text in this thing! All ya gotta do is pick up your image editor and/or tablet of choice and get crackin'! If you're looking for in-game resources to use, just ask and I'm sure someone can hook you up if you ask here.
Oh! Theme! The exact title is up for grabs still I think, but the general concept is to explore fan ideas for how the Chrono series might continue. Anything from Chrono Break to Chrono Bacon* is possible; that leaves the possibilities wide open for this first post-C&D Splash! Obviously modifications to existing games are out, but beyond that the sky's the limit. For now I'll suggest "Zealous Dreams" for a title.
*
If you're not familiar with the Dream Splash!, well...
(actually, that's a link to the Dream Splash! description and the 2007 banner examples).
So, since Bruce Lee loves the Dream Splash!, that makes it awesome. Check out the previous two Dream Splash!s here (2007) and here (2008). They're carried out in their own forums as opposed to Kajar Labs proper.
To get the ball rolling I decided to try my hand at a banner design.
Surpassing my design will be EZ, yo! Why, I don't even have text in this thing! All ya gotta do is pick up your image editor and/or tablet of choice and get crackin'! If you're looking for in-game resources to use, just ask and I'm sure someone can hook you up if you ask here.
Oh! Theme! The exact title is up for grabs still I think, but the general concept is to explore fan ideas for how the Chrono series might continue. Anything from Chrono Break to Chrono Bacon* is possible; that leaves the possibilities wide open for this first post-C&D Splash! Obviously modifications to existing games are out, but beyond that the sky's the limit. For now I'll suggest "Zealous Dreams" for a title.
*
Quote from: Thought
Chrono Bacon: For when you REALLY wish that the hamburger you ate last night had had bacon on it.
25
Site Updates / Multiple vendors offering CT "Formation Arts" figures for pre-order
« on: April 09, 2010, 10:26:02 pm »
UPDATE: Turns out Marle isn't missing after all! Thanks to TheDarknessBeyondTime for the tip.
UPDATE: SEGA MAN tells us that only the four figures shown below are available in the US normally, whereas all 5 are in collections sold in Japan.
Our thanks goes to lockgar for alerting us that Entertainment Earth has made the Chrono Trigger Formation Arts collectible figurines available for pre-ordering. Looks like they'll start shipping in October. Woo-hoo!
Urban Collector and Bigbad Toy Store are also offering, so if you're interested in collecting some of these, you might want to check out multiple outlets and compare available prices and shipping terms. A user over at the Sideshow Collectors Forum nabbed some nice close-up shots of the figurines.
These are the ones shown off at the Square Enix Toy Fair booth a couple months back, and recapture scenes from Akira Toriyama's art for the game. Compendium forum members have noted that Marle is curiously absent. Hmm! Let's hope some more are in the works, and you'll get that Lavos action figure with spring-loaded spines you've always wanted since 1995!
UPDATE: SEGA MAN tells us that only the four figures shown below are available in the US normally, whereas all 5 are in collections sold in Japan.
Urban Collector and Bigbad Toy Store are also offering, so if you're interested in collecting some of these, you might want to check out multiple outlets and compare available prices and shipping terms. A user over at the Sideshow Collectors Forum nabbed some nice close-up shots of the figurines.
These are the ones shown off at the Square Enix Toy Fair booth a couple months back, and recapture scenes from Akira Toriyama's art for the game. Compendium forum members have noted that Marle is curiously absent. Hmm! Let's hope some more are in the works, and you'll get that Lavos action figure with spring-loaded spines you've always wanted since 1995!
26
Site Updates / 1UP.com Interviews ZeaLitY About the Chrono Compendium
« on: March 17, 2010, 09:44:19 pm »
Check...it...OUT!
Uber gaming site 1UP.com recently conducted interviews with representatives of fan communities devoted to "dead franchises," focusing on how fans keep these intellectual properties alive. The link leads to ZeaLitY's interview on Page 2 of the article, but also check out the heroic activities of Earthbound fans on Page 1 and Deus Ex fans on Page 3.
If I may interject a personal attitude that is probably shared by many others here: while the Chrono franchise is often considered a "dead property," it is my hope Square Enix will decide to resurrect it in the near future in whatever form it chooses, provided Masato Kato and Yasunori Mitsuda are on board for the project. The Crimson Echoes Memorial has over 300,000 hits less than a year following the Cease and Desist order received from Square Enix, and the "Magus Unmasked" patch ad for Chrono Cross continues to garner over a hundred hits on Youtube every day, over two years after its own release. You just don't get viral results like this with something that isn't extremely, extremely viable. Chronotorious has successfully sold all printed copies too.
And let's take the gloves off a moment and look at full-blown IP holder commercial results: according to VGChartz.com, Chrono Trigger DS managed to sell approximately 1 million copies. One...Million. And that's the third time Chrono Trigger has been released! I think the fans have voted sufficiently with their dollars by now.
In other news, let's all devote a moment of silence to "The Silver Lining", the recently C&D'd but awesome non-commercial effort by King's Quest fans to inject some new life into that long-untreated franchise. Chrono fans can certainly commiserate with Phoenix Online Studios, although they have the distinction of earning two C&Ds with the same project -- they survived their first when the IP holder recanted under fan protest, but received their second after the franchise shifted from Vivendi's ownership to that of Activision. But! As they say, the Dream of Zeal is Still Alive!
Hey, it's International Beer Day, so why don't we get wild why we're at it!?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-vSNc5u0Pw
Uber gaming site 1UP.com recently conducted interviews with representatives of fan communities devoted to "dead franchises," focusing on how fans keep these intellectual properties alive. The link leads to ZeaLitY's interview on Page 2 of the article, but also check out the heroic activities of Earthbound fans on Page 1 and Deus Ex fans on Page 3.
If I may interject a personal attitude that is probably shared by many others here: while the Chrono franchise is often considered a "dead property," it is my hope Square Enix will decide to resurrect it in the near future in whatever form it chooses, provided Masato Kato and Yasunori Mitsuda are on board for the project. The Crimson Echoes Memorial has over 300,000 hits less than a year following the Cease and Desist order received from Square Enix, and the "Magus Unmasked" patch ad for Chrono Cross continues to garner over a hundred hits on Youtube every day, over two years after its own release. You just don't get viral results like this with something that isn't extremely, extremely viable. Chronotorious has successfully sold all printed copies too.
And let's take the gloves off a moment and look at full-blown IP holder commercial results: according to VGChartz.com, Chrono Trigger DS managed to sell approximately 1 million copies. One...Million. And that's the third time Chrono Trigger has been released! I think the fans have voted sufficiently with their dollars by now.
In other news, let's all devote a moment of silence to "The Silver Lining", the recently C&D'd but awesome non-commercial effort by King's Quest fans to inject some new life into that long-untreated franchise. Chrono fans can certainly commiserate with Phoenix Online Studios, although they have the distinction of earning two C&Ds with the same project -- they survived their first when the IP holder recanted under fan protest, but received their second after the franchise shifted from Vivendi's ownership to that of Activision. But! As they say, the Dream of Zeal is Still Alive!
Hey, it's International Beer Day, so why don't we get wild why we're at it!?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-vSNc5u0Pw
27
General Discussion / IP Law and Fanworks
« on: March 01, 2010, 10:10:48 pm »
Oh, for fuck's sake!
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27441/Activision_Shuts_Down_Kings_Quest_Fan_Sequel.php
http://www.tsl-game.com/
!#&*&DHLAIUSD
Fans just can't get a break these days. For reference, this is an in-progress trailer (2006) of what would later become C&D'd yesterday. Ironic that the project survived one C&D only to be taken out by a second one.
I think I'll spend the rest of the night in a corner, silently chanting "The Dream of Zeal is Alive. The Dream of Zeal is Alive" while I try to be otherwise productive.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27441/Activision_Shuts_Down_Kings_Quest_Fan_Sequel.php
http://www.tsl-game.com/
!#&*&DHLAIUSD
Fans just can't get a break these days. For reference, this is an in-progress trailer (2006) of what would later become C&D'd yesterday. Ironic that the project survived one C&D only to be taken out by a second one.
I think I'll spend the rest of the night in a corner, silently chanting "The Dream of Zeal is Alive. The Dream of Zeal is Alive" while I try to be otherwise productive.
28
General Discussion / Game Theory
« on: December 02, 2009, 08:55:56 pm »
I keep wanting to start this thread with a cute anecdote about what "game theory" typically means in academia but I always end up with no time to make a nice introduction for it. So screw the intro, and here goes -- videogames have played a huge part in all our lives. In the same way that we are all armchair economists and armchair politicians, so we all have a little game designer inside. If I remember correctly we even have some DigiPen alumni here, and games will actually be what puts bread on the table for them.
There's so much ground we could cover in this discussion: ideas about different types of gameplay mechanics that haven't been tried yet; the balance between scenario design and player interactivity with the game world, and how videogame scenario design therefore differs from movie and book scenario design; where true Survival Horror went awry; 2D vs. 3D vs. immersive virtual reality; copyright law and the role of interactive fanworks; etc, etc.
But first I thought we might start off with something a bit more mundane, and that's the latest industry news ("latest" meaning I discovered it five minutes ago and I'm probably actually the last one to realize it), and that is that the videogame console as we know it is set to expire. That's right, Yoichi Wada himself gave the entire traditional videogame distribution model a Cease and Desist order.
How will the world change as a result of this likely evolution in the industry? Is it even all that likely?
As a matter of consumer convenience I welcome the idea. I think the last time I actually fired up a console was in 2006, since emulation on a computer is so much more convenient IMO. However, when I think of all the people who might be employed in physically manufacturing videogames currently, I'm given great pause: these people will likely be completely out of work in three to five years, or however long it's going to take for Wada's prophecy to pass. I wonder if rank-and-file game manufacturing and retail workers even know? And are their governments, academic institutions, and industrialists even doing anything to prepare them for the consequences?
So sad, that invisible hand. I might see if the game industry hires a lot of economists, that would be a fascinating career.
BTW, MCV appears to be the industry's main magazine...in the UK. Anyone know if such an animal exists focusing on other game markets, or is MCV the be-all and end-all?
There's so much ground we could cover in this discussion: ideas about different types of gameplay mechanics that haven't been tried yet; the balance between scenario design and player interactivity with the game world, and how videogame scenario design therefore differs from movie and book scenario design; where true Survival Horror went awry; 2D vs. 3D vs. immersive virtual reality; copyright law and the role of interactive fanworks; etc, etc.
But first I thought we might start off with something a bit more mundane, and that's the latest industry news ("latest" meaning I discovered it five minutes ago and I'm probably actually the last one to realize it), and that is that the videogame console as we know it is set to expire. That's right, Yoichi Wada himself gave the entire traditional videogame distribution model a Cease and Desist order.
How will the world change as a result of this likely evolution in the industry? Is it even all that likely?
As a matter of consumer convenience I welcome the idea. I think the last time I actually fired up a console was in 2006, since emulation on a computer is so much more convenient IMO. However, when I think of all the people who might be employed in physically manufacturing videogames currently, I'm given great pause: these people will likely be completely out of work in three to five years, or however long it's going to take for Wada's prophecy to pass. I wonder if rank-and-file game manufacturing and retail workers even know? And are their governments, academic institutions, and industrialists even doing anything to prepare them for the consequences?
So sad, that invisible hand. I might see if the game industry hires a lot of economists, that would be a fascinating career.
BTW, MCV appears to be the industry's main magazine...in the UK. Anyone know if such an animal exists focusing on other game markets, or is MCV the be-all and end-all?
29
Characters, Plot, and Themes / "The Ethics of Chrono Trigger" Livejournal article
« on: October 28, 2009, 03:09:50 am »
Thought this was neat-o:
http://newheiser.blogspot.com/2009/10/philosophy-and-ethics-of-chrono-trigger.html
http://newheiser.blogspot.com/2009/10/philosophy-and-ethics-of-chrono-trigger.html
30
Reality, Real-World Connections, and the Supernatural / Chronopolis as a Soviet-style "closed city"
« on: October 23, 2009, 12:56:34 am »
I just came across an article on Wikipedia about "closed cities" used for scientific -- often military -- research in ye olde USSR. I've always been curious that Belthasar's research facility should be called Chronopolis, the suffix having an obvious connotation with cities. For example, we're familiar with words like "metropolis" and "megalopolis." When I think of Chronopolis in terms of "metropolis" I feel kind of confused as to why there should be a top-secret research facility in the middle of a bustling and most likely well connected city. The "polis" makes more sense to me in the Soviet "closed city" context, where you'd presumably find a community of researchers living in an off-the-record location.
Perhaps someone familiar with Greek history and the proper meaning of the word "polis" can provide some evidence to disconnect Chronopolis from the closed city example, but I'm tempted to suggest a connection. There's the whole scary-sounding "Central Regime" that overshadowed Chronopolis, and Kato potentially has a proven fascination with top secret government thingies in his work on the NES Ninja Gaiden series, all three of which had scenarios related to the US CIA. It's possible Kato turned to the other side of the Iron Curtain for inspiration later on.
In Soviet Russia, does time travel you?
Perhaps someone familiar with Greek history and the proper meaning of the word "polis" can provide some evidence to disconnect Chronopolis from the closed city example, but I'm tempted to suggest a connection. There's the whole scary-sounding "Central Regime" that overshadowed Chronopolis, and Kato potentially has a proven fascination with top secret government thingies in his work on the NES Ninja Gaiden series, all three of which had scenarios related to the US CIA. It's possible Kato turned to the other side of the Iron Curtain for inspiration later on.
In Soviet Russia, does time travel you?