Live at ConBravo: Chrono Trigger

We interrupt our world-wide trip with a trip through TIME. This week, we travel back to ConBravo! 2017, to our panel where we talked about the greatest game of all time (and greatest fandom?), Chrono Trigger! Why has this game remained popular over the years? Timing? Team? Time Travel? Let's find out! Next week, we're back to our regularly scheduled trip, and off to Turkey to talk about fans of Coffee! ## Episode outline ### Fandom Facts **Origins:** Chrono Trigger is a Super Nintendo JRPG released in 1995. It was developed by Square (notable for such other games as Final Fantasy) and its so-called "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi (the creator of the Final Fantasy Series), Yuji Horii (creator of Enix's popular Dragon Quest series), and Akira Toriyama (an artist well known for his work with Dragon Quest and his ongoing manga / anime series: Dragonball, among other things). It also featured music composed by Yasunori Mitsuda (the _Chrono_ series, Mario Party, Xenosaga) and Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy). To put it succinctly: The game follows a group of adventurers who travel through time to prevent a global catastrophe... that they will never personally encounter. It has since been released and re-released multiple times with the SNES and Playstation versions shipping over 2.65 million copies, and the Nintendo DS version having sold over 790 000 copies more than a decade later. **Size of Fandom:** Towards the high-end (and based on sales), somewhere between 2.65 million and 800 000. The [Chrono Trigger subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/chronotrigger/) has about 5000 subscribers **Changes in Fandom:** Interest in Chrono Trigger, by [Google Trends data](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=chrono%20trigger), is on the decline, but there was a large amount of interest in the early 2000s, and a spike in December of 2008 (the DS version was released in November 2008). **Around the world:** Using the same [Google Trends data](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=chrono%20trigger), interest n the game is particularly strong in North America, Brazil, Chile, Finland, Sweeden, and Australia. **Famous fan works:** Numerous fan made games which have been shut down by Square Enix. One of the most is Crimson Echoes which takes place five years after the events of the original game, and ties together events between _Chrono Trigger_ and _Chrono Cross_. **Where does fandom live:** Previously, fan-sites and forums [Citation Needed]. [Chrono Compendium has a community map](https://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Community_Map.html) which lists over 200 different English-language Chrono Trigger fansites and resources **Fanfics:** Fanfiction.net has over 850 Chrono Trigger fanfics (compared to over 640 for Chrono Cross), and Archive of our Own has over 120 (with 58 for Chrono Cross). There are however, over 14000 results for Chrono Trigger on DeviantArt. ## Where can you find us online? We are everywhere! Most notably though, we like to hang out in a few places on social media: - If you want to help us to create more amazing fannish content, become a patron on [Patreon](http://patreon.com/thenickscast); even as little as a dollar a month pledge really helps us out! - For all the latest updates, check us out on [Facebook](https://facebook.com/thenickscast) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/thenickscast) - To see the latest hijinx from our conventions or even our daily lives and adventures, check us out on [Instagram](https://instagram.com/thenickscast) - For our latest convention updates, *Let's Plays*, and other in-real-life video, [check out our YouTube channel](http://youtube.com/thenickscast) - We're also on [iTunes](https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/fanthropological/id1163621210), and [Google Play](https://play.google.com/music/m/Icmngxz7yhaoivdvivvf6q6c2pu?t=Fanthropological), and would love it if you could leave a review and rating! - if you want to reach us, and for some reason none of those work for you, try [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) - You can check out [our website](http://thenickscast.com); that will mostly bring you back to this stuff. - Everything is `thenickscast`, so if you can't find us, go on your social network and search for that! - ... You're still looking for ways to reach out? You can also use the hashtag `#fanthro` on Twitter! ## What is "Fanthropological"? How did you read this far without asking this question?! Fanthropological is an anthropological (ish) podcast where we bring the fan's-eye view to you! Each week, we take a look at a different fandom, dig up interesting background, trivia, and history, and try to get to why it is that people are a fan. We also try to highlight good causes related to that fandom, and find interesting things that fans have created to share those to the world. Each episode is about an hour. Ish. ## Who is "The Nickscast"? *We* are the Nickscast! Three products of late-80s / early-90s pop culture who love exploring fandom and everything geek ... who also happen to have been best buddies since high school, and all happen to be named Nick. Yes, we are super creative. Dare we say, the most creative. *Ahem* We are Nick Green, Nick Terwoord, and Nick Zacharewicz: We started the Nickscast as a labour of love, and as a place to entertain and to discuss our love of fans and fandom, and all that is shiny and interesting in that realm. It's what lead us to start our first podcast, our satellite podcasts, Fanthropological, and so much more. We want to help others learn more about different fandoms, and to create empathy with other fans: We dream of a world where other fans aren't "those Weird-o's", but just folks with different tastes. A world where fandom is full of discourse and analysis, and there are plenty of tools and resources to help. Fans building communities to do good in the world. *Because everyone's a fan.* ## Thanks Special thanks go out to the folks who came to our panel, and to [ConBravo](http://conbravo.com/) for having us! ## Credits ### Sources - [Touch Arcade - RPG Reload Play-Along: 'Chrono Trigger'](http://toucharcade.com/2017/07/27/rpg-reload-play-along-chrono-trigger/) - [Video Game Localization for Fans by Fans: The Case of Romhacking](http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jial.1.07mun) - [r/JRPG - Does Anyone Dislike Chrono Trigger?](https://www.reddit.com/r/JRPG/comments/59bnvw/does_anyone_dislike_chrono_trigger/) - [r/ChronoTrigger](https://www.reddit.com/r/chronotrigger/) - [r/JRPG - Why does everyone love Chrono Trigger so much?](https://www.reddit.com/r/JRPG/comments/67dbmv/why_does_everyone_love_chrono_trigger_so_much/?sort=top) - [r/JRPG - Why do you love Chrono Trigger?](https://www.reddit.com/r/JRPG/comments/3ndzp3/why_do_you_love_chrono_trigger/?sort=top) - [Wikipedia - Chrono Trigger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrono_Trigger) - [Wikipedia - Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrono_Trigger:_Crimson_Echoes) - [Silver Oak Online Casino - How to Pick the Perfect Video Game](https://www.silveroakcasino.com/infographic/how-to-pick-the-perfect-video-game/) - [GamesRadar - Why Chrono Trigger is one of the greatest games ever made](http://www.gamesradar.com/why-chrono-trigger-one-greatest-games-ever-made/) - [GameInformer - Why We Love Chrono Trigger After 20 Years](http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/04/06/why-we-love-chrono-trigger.aspx) - [VentureBeat - Chrono Trigger – “It’s not THAT good”](https://venturebeat.com/community/2013/11/11/chrono-trigger-its-not-that-good/) - [Kotaku - Why I Always Keep Coming Back to Chrono Trigger](http://kotaku.com/5978901/why-i-always-keep-coming-back-to-chrono-trigger) - [Youtube - Chrono Trigger - ProJared](https://youtu.be/rrhYxhruwsk) - [YouTube - Chrono Trigger Review: The 200th Episode! - The Completionist](https://youtu.be/Hfaa0CmnQjE) ### Music / Sound - All music and sound for this week's episode were provided by Nick Green! ### Artwork - [Glasses](https://thenounproject.com/term/glasses/132894) by [Anton Anuchin](https://thenounproject.com/antonwebium) used under [CC BY 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/) - [“Pendulum”](https://thenounproject.com/term/pendulum/366991) by [Rflor](https://thenounproject.com/rflor) used under [CC BY 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/) / Modified from original - [“Clock”](https://thenounproject.com/term/clock/1071830) by [AliWijaya](https://thenounproject.com/aliwijaya24) used under [CC BY 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/) / Modified from original