Gamestop reveals Chrono Trigger date, price?

by JC Fletcher { Jul 25th 2008 at 5:00PM }

Square Enix hasn't said anything official about the release date or pricing of the Chrono Trigger port yet. We held out hope for a budget price, since it's a port, and since the $20 price point for Arkanoid DS and Space Invaders Extreme, both new games, proves that Square Enix can charge less than $40 for a game now and then.

Not this time, apparently! According to a Gamestop listing (which is even linked from the site's front page), Chrono Trigger will come out December 1 at the familiar $40 price point. Not that Chrono Trigger isn't worth $40. Just ask eBay!

Tags: chrono-trigger, port, rpg, square-enix

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

samfish @ Jul 25th 2008 5:10PM

There's no way in Hell you're going to get me to pay more than $25 for Chrono Trigger.

Awesome? Yes. Is a DS port of an SNES game worth $40 dollars awesome? Hell no!

Matt G. @ Jul 25th 2008 5:19PM

Yeah, it's dumb that the port is $40, but it makes for a good Christmas present.

Tyson @ Jul 25th 2008 5:22PM

First!
Chrono Trigger is the best RPG ever, end of discussion.

Extra Cheese @ Jul 25th 2008 6:56PM

First! ... to tell you FAIL

Fiefdom @ Jul 25th 2008 5:34PM

GameStop so often invents release dates that I wonder if anyone has tried to pursue legal action regarding their being intentionally misleading. I personally wouldn't be surprised if the date is later found fallacious.

This may or may not be related, but would a release in the first two thirds of December be considered a winter release even though it would technically not yet be winter?

Steve Gano @ Jul 26th 2008 7:06PM

I'm a manager with 'em and I can tell you its most likely not an official release date. Anything first of the month is a placeholder date basically meaning "somewhere around then." Gamestop only puts a date for a game if they've been given Something to estimate when it'll be. They don't pull dates out of their asses, its based on something. If they made up dates we would be reserving Diablo III already, but since no dates given, no dice.

Kimiko @ Jul 25th 2008 5:38PM

$40 seems a little bit outrageous for no new content and no updated graphics.

aj @ Jul 25th 2008 8:35PM

Yeah, but they're putting the SNES game on the cart too. And try buying the SNES version for 40$.

So in a twisted way, it's worth it.

Nick @ Jul 25th 2008 5:40PM

I'd pay a lot more than 40 dollars for chrono trigger. Sure, it's mostly a port, but only mostly. There are still features that are added, dual screen support is always nice for menus. I mean, this game COSTS money to make, it's not like they just pressed the "port" button and it's ready.

nil @ Jul 25th 2008 5:47PM

According to one of the cool employees at my nearby Gamestop: If a game is dated the 1st of the month and the 1st does not fall on a Tuesday, it's a Gamestop placeholder. The company wants your $5 as soon as possible.

I'm hoping for a less expensive price tag, but I'll shell out $40 for it. It's cheaper than eBay and the devs make some money on it.

Luciox @ Jul 25th 2008 6:38PM

As someone who works at a gamestop -

The above is pretty much right =P

Cal @ Jul 26th 2008 2:19AM

This is especially true if the month is the start of a new season.

Makoto99 @ Jul 25th 2008 7:17PM

I've been playing the remake of FF4 the past 2 days. It's a great remake and incredibly fun, and it cost the same price as what will be a port with extra features but no real redevelopment?

I'll pass on CT .... just as easy to go hook up my SNES and plug in the cart if I really feel like it.

TJF588 @ Jul 25th 2008 7:36PM

Well, time to wait for it to drop to $30. Half-shame that DS doesn't have Grea-- Player's Choice(s) yet.

aj @ Jul 25th 2008 8:36PM

How long did it take to make Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen Player's Choice titles? Nintendo likes to ride the money train long and hard.

BPM [MSN: BPMdotEXE @ hotmail.com] @ Jul 25th 2008 7:43PM

Yeah, I'm gonna mark this up as placeholder (see Fiefdom's post above).

While it's not unbelievable that S-E would charge as much... I'd really hope they don't.

XDragon @ Jul 25th 2008 9:22PM

Um... common people, this is Chrono Trigger!
Try buying this for the SNES or PS1 and you'll see $40 is not unreasonable. We don't even know if thats the price but its easily worth more and even if YOU don't think so, it will sell crazy numbers at what ever price it is released for!
Don't get me wrong, if you own the SNES or PS1 version, then I could understand passing it up if the additional content isn't significant but this is a must buy for anyone who like RPGs.
Hell, its a must buy either way because its a portable version of CT. Ya, I know emulation is free but I wasn't including that because thats not the point of this.

Zealot @ Jul 26th 2008 12:07AM

http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-Chronicles-Chrono-Trigger/dp/B00005LOXE/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1217044536&sr=8-1

$17 at Amazon for a sealed copy of the PS1 Greatest Hits version, so Chrono Trigger DS isn't going to be the cheapest version on the market.

Bill McCai @ Jul 27th 2008 7:51AM

Are you sure you want to live like common people?

XDragon @ Jul 27th 2008 8:38AM

Good find; buy it cause once its gone, good luck.
The ebay factor on this game is nuts. Sure you'll find the odd place just trying to get rid of it because its an "old" game they don't want stock on, but anyone who knows what classic games are worth won't make that mistake.

Zealot @ Jul 27th 2008 7:25PM

If saving money is a commoner's folly, I'll gladly be seen as dull and peasantly for it :P

XDragon: Yeah, when this deal goes away, CTDS will definitely be the best option. The only reason I posted this is because I actually comb through Amazon pretty regularly for deals and price cuts and this has actually been for sale at roughly this price for as long as I can remember--if it was a freak occurrence, I'd be hesitant to use it as a legitimate example of cheap Chrono Trigger. Apparently there's a humongous stockpile of these, because as far as I know the ebay powerseller cartels are selling these for only slightly higher. Strangely enough, a SNES cart seems to average around $45 on ebay right now, which is almost at parity of a Squeenix-taxed DS game + actual sales tax. I'll be interested to see what happens to this after the release of the DS port.

Zealot @ Jul 27th 2008 7:30PM

*at parity with

Glargh. I think I also used "prefix" instead of "preface" in a post the other day. The humidity has really addled my spelling/grammar abilities.

I also should note that I feel a little bad for horning in on these discussions when I've never even played Chrono Trigger, but as someone who closely watches fluctuations in game values and retail prices, the issue of price point is kind of related to some of the information I've accumulated from lurking Amazon and Ebay.

lwelyk @ Jul 25th 2008 10:31PM

I bought it for the SNES last year for $35. Now they want me to pay $40 for the same game? No way. I'm waiting for a pricedrop. Or clearance.

Damian @ Jul 25th 2008 11:04PM

Actually it isnt just a port, it has touch screen controls as an option, all the movies of the ps1 version wihtout the lag of the ps1 version.

aj @ Jul 25th 2008 11:37PM

It's a port of a port!

Anvilfactory @ Jul 26th 2008 6:33AM

Siiigh. Persona 4 and this game in December...both 40 bucks. At least P4 includes a soundtrack (though I'd rather it be cheaper without one, haha). And erm, is new. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone pre-ordered it, causing it to go out of stock for a while! I'm praying that Circuit City offers a $10 gift card with this game, haha.

Anvilfactory @ Jul 26th 2008 6:33AM

Erm, it being Chrono Trigger, I mean.

Otty @ Jul 26th 2008 11:38AM

Wow...Square Enix just likes to keep screwing us... $40 for shovelware. yes it is a good game, but to pay the same as FF4 and DQ4 which are totally remade....crazy. And why in the heck are their DS games $40??? No one else charges that much!

I'll wait till all three of those games drops to $19.99...

Nightrunner @ Jul 26th 2008 1:09PM

I think gamers need to come to an agreement that they refuse to buy a direct port for $40 (although we all know that will never happen). The only reason Square is selling it for 40 bucks is that they know that people will buy it. Supply & demand...if the games doesn't sell well, they'll drop the price.

I'll probably wind up trying to grab a used copy further down the line, or getting the $17 PS1 version. I refuse to spend another $40 on a direct port DS game. Square already got me for FFT:A2, which is well produced game, but has some flaws (frustrating quests, idiotic NPCs, and the annoying Bazaar system) and really seems to limit you compared to the first game.

Anyway, the only way to get Square to stop overpricing is to stop buying their games. Unfortunately, we're spoiled as consumers and will buy things no matter what...look at the price of gas.

Steve Gano @ Jul 26th 2008 7:05PM

First of the month is absolutely a placeholder, but Tuesday has nothing to do with it. Games don't release on the same day of the week like movies/music do~
(Gamestop manager for over a year here)

Dr_W@dsy @ Jul 27th 2008 6:31PM

Meh

I'll care about price when Australia gets in-line with the rest of the world. DS games (new, at least) come in 3 prices here. $59.95 (57.16 US dollars) $69.95 (66.70 US) or the full price of $79.95 (76.25 US dollars)

I'll order it online, pay 40 us dollars (41.80 Aussie) and save myself 30 bucks.

Christopher @ Jul 27th 2008 11:39PM

"We held out hope for a budget price, since it's a port,"

Hah, this was a joke right?

It's good to see that Nintendo is just as apt to double dipping and greed as Sony is what with this and with Sony's recent release of PaRappa for $22...

Christopher @ Jul 28th 2008 8:51AM

Oh, just gotta say here too that this is why I'm glad that my PSP can be hacked to play Playstation 1 games I already own. I'm playing FF7 right now because I never finished it before and it actually looks better on the handheld. Higher resolution TV's are NOT classic games best friend. :-P