11 years later... No sequels...

[HeadlessFritz]

Anyone else desperate ?  It looks like Chrono is dead, at least in Square-Enix.

We've shown them that our fanbase is the strongest (CE, CT resurection, CT remake project...), we've bought their ports three times (maybe four times eventually considering PSN) as well as their toys. What else can we do ? Terrorism ?

[Kyronea]

Um, no.

Right now, as has been stated before, Square-Enix are concentrating their strategy on certain IPs, such as their huge moneymakers--Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest--as well as a few others including potentially a couple new IPs.

The fact that Chrono Trigger  saw a sudden release on the DS, with all new content that tied it into Chrono Cross to boot, suggests quite highly that there is some interest at Square in releasing something new in the Chronoverse. It's possible that they may pick it up again in the near future.

On the other hand it's also possible that Chrono Trigger DS just didn't sell enough copies to make it worth it to them. It sold...790,000 I believe, which sounds like a lot but really isn't, compared to best sellers like New Super Mario Bros.

And yet...they still keep C&Ding Chrono fan projects...the fact that they keep doing that suggests there's enough interest on their part in wanting to make something new, but not enough to actually get around to doing it.

Really at this point we can't do much of anything anyway. We're not Japanese, and Square doesn't care anywhere near as much about North American or European customers as they do their core Japanese customers, as they keep proving with their release of extra story content for Kingdom Hearts(that they then go on to reference in their releases in NA and Europe as if we should know it already or just find out from elsewhere, which we wouldn't have to do if you'd just release the extra stuff in NA and Europe where it WOULD be profitable...)

So what we do is irrelevant. It's how the market in Japan pans out that'll matter.

[ZeaLitY]

Haha, we just had to go and fucking make our own, didn't we?

[Iyellalot]

Thank god for RPGMaker.

[HeadlessFritz]

On the other hand it's also possible that Chrono Trigger DS just didn't sell enough copies to make it worth it to them. It sold...790,000 I believe, which sounds like a lot but really isn't, compared to best sellers like New Super Mario Bros.

We're talking about half of the original's sales. Isn't that good enough for a port with minimal changes ?

I must say, I wrote this topic after taking a second look on CE (youtube walkthrough) ! I know it has been said several times, but I'm really amazed by all the effort that was put into this hack. I think it would be great if it could at least pull a comment or two from one of the key people of the series. As Kyronea said, Square probably don't care about what happens outside of Japan, and I don't even know if Masato Kato or Hiromichi Tanaka can read english.

I'm kinda losing hope, especially about the IP focus anouncement that excludes chrono.

[Xenterex]

We're talking about half of the original's sales. Isn't that good enough for a port with minimal changes ?

maybe, maybe not.  One of the particular disadvantages of having a product from another nation is the amount of information that we get.  So it sold X number of copies... okay, what does that mean in relation to how much it cost them to make that in the first place?  How much did those copies sell for to offset those costs?

If all games used roughly the same budget or all sold for close to the same prices (at all times,) then maybe that 'X units sold' would be a more useful number.  Part of my guess is that something like Cross costed a lot more than another project, and despite having "high acclaim" state side, it didn't get the compensation to offset more than just the financial costs compared to other productions.  And it might not just be Cross, but other experiments that SE does, or those they work with, simply not panning out sufficiently.

It could also be that they think the market for such a game isn't right currently, let alone having the man power and commitment needed to create that basis for a new project for the chrono-verse.

Personally, I think SE could gain quite a bit if they take the dimensional aspect from Dreamers/Cross to merge Crono elements into their successful franchises and work to glean renewed interested in that IP and then do a smaller project before building up to a new series entry blockbuster. 

[Crono666]

On the other hand it's also possible that Chrono Trigger DS just didn't sell enough copies to make it worth it to them. It sold...790,000 I believe, which sounds like a lot but really isn't, compared to best sellers like New Super Mario Bros.

Yeah but let's be realistic. There was no way that Chrono Trigger DS was going to outsell New Super Mario Bros.

[tushantin]

On the other hand it's also possible that Chrono Trigger DS just didn't sell enough copies to make it worth it to them. It sold...790,000 I believe, which sounds like a lot but really isn't, compared to best sellers like New Super Mario Bros.

Yeah but let's be realistic. There was no way that Chrono Trigger DS was going to outsell New Super Mario Bros.

Aww come on!

On one hand, we've got a plumber saving the world with the power of mushrooms.

On the other hand, we've got a samurai kid with hair as if advertising Set Wet styling gel, with the power of hottest chicks and Demon Lords, destroying the greatest threat in the universe.

Your pick!

[Mr Bekkler]

That's biased, man. On the one hand, we have a company's flagship series' newest entry, on the other hand we have a port of a fifteen year old title that's already been released several times and is available for free for anyone who can comprehend a google search. So no, you should not expect CTDS to have done better than NSMB and therefor yes, CTDS's sales were extremely impressive in context.

[Kyronea]

Though 666 does have a point...I probably should have picked something else as my example...NSMB sold, what, twenty-eight million copies and the next thing on down the list sold ten?

[tiny260]

Why not just pitch an idea for a Chrono Game set IN SPACE? After all, EVERY game becomes instantly a million times better when placed in space, so just mention the word to Square Enix and it'll jump on it like hungry dogs at a steak.

...at least, that's how it works in my little world. Then again, this same world has trees that grow golden teeth and baby elephants made of chocolate, and even as I type this sentence I question both my sanity and the relevance of this very post in this topic, and on top of that I contemplate my sleeping patterns, as being deprived of said sleep is obviously my main problem here.

Wait, what was I talking about in the first place?

[Licawolf]

xD Pax, as much as I like chocolate baby elephants, I think you need to sleep 

Why not just pitch an idea for a Chrono Game set IN SPACE? After all, EVERY game becomes instantly a million times better when placed in space, so just mention the word to Square Enix and it'll jump on it like hungry dogs at a steak.

Obligatory TV Tropes reference 

[Manly Man]

Well, another Chrono game in space actually kinda makes sense, if you think about it. Lavos came from space, so there's going to be a sort of homeworld, unless they were somehow created in space.

[Mr Bekkler]

or created BY space!

[chi_z]

I wouldn't be against a space installment. what else could you possibly do after time travel and multiverse? perhaps mitsuda could collaborate with daft punk for a few cut scene tunes?