Has there been any talk of a Snatcher/Policenauts Revival?

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Lupin The Third
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Has there been any talk of a Snatcher/Policenauts Revival?

Post by Lupin The Third »

It seems to me that both of these games would be awesome additions to XBL Arcade and the PSN. That, or even a 20th Anniversary Edition (since fall of 08 marks the 20th anniversary of Snatcher's first release) that included all the versions of Snatcher, SD Snatcher, and all the versions of Policenauts to be released on PC, PS3, and/or 360. Has there been any talk of such an occurrence?

I still don't get why (with the exception of the couple of recent PSX re-releases) Konami is content with letting this awesome series languish in obscurity. Have there been any rumors or talk of a resurgence for the games through either DLC or a new retail release? I know Kojima has talked about "moving forward" (ie his code-talk for "I'm not interested") everytime he's asked about these games, but Konami hardly needs his approval to re-issue them...
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Re: Has there been any talk of a Snatcher/Policenauts Revival?

Post by Artemio »

As crude or cynical as my response might sound, I believe that it is mainly due to the money involved. There wouldn't be as much revenue for the invested buck in such a project... I mean, not as much as making another MG game. just look at the sales figures and if you were just a business man making these decisions, which would make more sense?
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Re: Has there been any talk of a Snatcher/Policenauts Revival?

Post by Lupin The Third »

Actually I have to disagree. What was the development costs on MGS 4...isn't supposedly over $50 Million (or somewhere in that ballpark)? Sure MGS 4 will be big, but it's also a huge risk to invest so much into a game. Snatcher and Policenauts could be released on XBLA and PSN for almost next to nothing....it seems to me that with the Kojima excitement that will generate from MGS 4 it's the perfect time to resurrect these two games, and Konami could do it for almost nothing. Obviously creating a 20th Anniversary Collection would be more costly than offering the games as DLC...but even a release like that would turn a profit in Japan alone.

I'm not saying it'll happen by any measure...but between the hype that MGS 4 will generate and the fact that Konami could play that up with a 20th Anniversary release of at least Snatcher...it seems like perfect timing, especially given the way downloadable games are taking off on the consoles. Oh, and let's not forget the Snatcher radio dramas that Suda 51 is doing...which is partially what got me wondering if there'd been any whispers of anything else related to Snatcher/Policenauts...
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Re: Has there been any talk of a Snatcher/Policenauts Revival?

Post by Artemio »

I understand your point. But there might be some things to consider. In order to release these games, they would need to:

For Snatcher, a Sega CD emulator or a full recoding of the game.

For Policenauts, the full translation and voice acting costs.. plus an upgrade on the limit of games on XBLA.. the game take quite some space even when compressed.

The theory they would sell is based on Kojima's name pushing them... but maybe considering how well Boktai did is a good pointer. As you might recall Boktai 3 was not reelased in this market, and Boktai 4 was even renamed fully in order to sell on a new platform... They didn't even marketed as a Hideo Kojima game (just the Kojima productions logo).

Just imagine how much more profit they'd make out of releasing the MSX or PSX game on the PSN.. I don't believe that XBLA for those would be viable with MGS4 as an exclusive.. at least for a while, but the simple investment on those games would bring way more income than Policenauts and Snatcher. I'd like them to sell better, but I don't believe they would.
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Re: Has there been any talk of a Snatcher/Policenauts Revival?

Post by Johnny Undaunted »

I can easily see the PC Engine version of Snatcher being released for the Virtual Console in Japan, seeing how Dracula X came out recently. I'm not sure about a corresponding release for the Sega CD version in America though, since the Virtual Console doesn't have any Sega CD support yet (otherwise, we would've already seen games like Sonic CD).
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Re: Has there been any talk of a Snatcher/Policenauts Revival?

Post by Lupin The Third »

Artemio wrote:I understand your point. But there might be some things to consider. In order to release these games, they would need to:

For Snatcher, a Sega CD emulator or a full recoding of the game.

For Policenauts, the full translation and voice acting costs.. plus an upgrade on the limit of games on XBLA.. the game take quite some space even when compressed.

The theory they would sell is based on Kojima's name pushing them... but maybe considering how well Boktai did is a good pointer. As you might recall Boktai 3 was not reelased in this market, and Boktai 4 was even renamed fully in order to sell on a new platform... They didn't even marketed as a Hideo Kojima game (just the Kojima productions logo).

Just imagine how much more profit they'd make out of releasing the MSX or PSX game on the PSN.. I don't believe that XBLA for those would be viable with MGS4 as an exclusive.. at least for a while, but the simple investment on those games would bring way more income than Policenauts and Snatcher. I'd like them to sell better, but I don't believe they would.
True, Boktai is a good point. However in the case of Policenauts the game was supposedly fully translated and ready for manufacturing for the US market and Konami decided to cancel its Saturn release...there's even a version of the US Sega Saturn that has a screenshot on the back of the box showing Policenauts as one of the titles available for the system. I can't imagine that they just threw out the work they did...sure, porting and prepping these games for release via XBLA/PSN/ Wii VC would probably cost $100,000 or so....but even if distributed digitally for $10 each they'd recoup that cost with selling a mere 10,000 copies....I just don't see this quite as being quite as impossible as you seem to. Heck, if a couple of fans can translate the games and put out patches for them and even get the Pilot Disc working on the NDS I simply don't see why Konami can't/won't do it as well. Especially given the Snatcher radio dramas being worked on right now....
Johnny Undaunted wrote:I can easily see the PC Engine version of Snatcher being released for the Virtual Console in Japan, seeing how Dracula X came out recently. I'm not sure about a corresponding release for the Sega CD version in America though, since the Virtual Console doesn't have any Sega CD support yet (otherwise, we would've already seen games like Sonic CD).
Absolutely...though I think given the make-up of the Wii userbase (ie mostly non-gamers/casuals outside of Japan) I just think such a release makes more sense on PSN and XBLA. But I don't see why it couldn't happen for all 3...
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Re: Has there been any talk of a Snatcher/Policenauts Revival?

Post by Artemio »

The only problem is that the rumor that the game was translated is just that, a rumor. There is no official statement of advances in the work, anywhere. It was probably just a fan created thing to make the cancellation of the US version even more of a legend.

The person that worked on the mock up manual said it was just for promotional purposes and there is not much more than that as fact.

Also, you are forgetting that getting something up, like time pilot on XBLA is cheaper, gets more revenue and is easier to deliver at all levels.

Again it is not that I wouldn't love that it would happen, it is just arguing about something that is out of our hands and makes little sense as a financial decision.. even if we'd love that companies worked for the fans alone, and for a minority at that. People want Metal Gear not Kojima games. people want action, not text driven adventures.

And yes a couple of fans are working on it and that is enough. Buit that couple of fans care, and Konami doesn't. That makes all the difference. And just to make a point straight, the pilot disc is not "working" on the NDS.. it is a labor of love and recreation of the first scenes of the game.. hence the author's reference to a Pilot Disc like experience. Again that takes caring about the stuff, caring enough to sacrifice time and resources. And a company is about making money. If at some point bringing the games means real money, it might happen. If there are projects that promise to do better...

I know this sounds completely cynical, capitalistic and opposed to being idealistic. But man, that is just what the game industry is about in the end. There is a place for idealism, just look at Hotel Dusk, Sam & Max and similar games. But selling a mere 10,000 copies is a feat for them.
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Re: Has there been any talk of a Snatcher/Policenauts Revival?

Post by The Spoony Hou »

I really doubt they translated Policenauts... Konami would have relased it then.

I remeber reading that Kojima said he would only let they translate the game if he could supervise it, but he didn't have time to do it.
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Re: Has there been any talk of a Snatcher/Policenauts Revival?

Post by 8bitsonic »

The Spoony Hou wrote:I remeber reading that Kojima said he would only let they translate the game if he could supervise it, but he didn't have time to do it.
That sounds mighty peculiar. Kojima directed every last port of Policenauts, but he suddenly wasn't able to supervise the translation? Who knows what was the real reason...
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Re: Has there been any talk of a Snatcher/Policenauts Revival?

Post by JimboKudo »

Artemio wrote:I know this sounds completely cynical, capitalistic and opposed to being idealistic. But man, that is just what the game industry is about in the end. There is a place for idealism, just look at Hotel Dusk, Sam & Max and similar games. But selling a mere 10,000 copies is a feat for them.
That's just how the world works. No matter how much we wish otherwise. Policenauts will most likely stay an alternative gamer's game. I think that the only semi-popular Anime style adventure game is probably the Phoenix Wright series, but that's it. Maybe some day, the world will get out of the action games and into story driven games once again, but it seems doubtful, since adventure games are never really the most graphically astounding. That means that most people here in the USA would probably be put off by that fact.
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