How rare is Snatcher, really?

[sheath]

Baloo I agree that the game have very little to no replay value after you've beat it the first time. It's not a title that I would consider revisiting now. Where I disagree with you is the number of units pressed for the North American market. In my opinion your assertion that only 5,000 units were produced is a little too low considering that the game was developed and produced by Konami, a well known publisher even back in the day. A production run of only 5,000 units for North America? No, I have to respectfully disagree with that opinion. It may have sold poorly but in my opinion there were definitely more than 5,000 units produced for the console.

Wasn't Panzer Dragoon Saga only like a 30,000 run? According to the Wiki the first run was only 6,000 and retailers didn't even meet pre-orders. 5,000 Snatchers would have meant a rental only release at best.

[SpaceFlea]

If I had a dollar for every time someone said, "Game such 'n such only had 5,000 copies," I would have a lot of dollars.

5,000 Is THE number everyone quotes when boasting of a game's rarity. I'm sorry, but I can't help but laugh every time I see that number. It tickles me pink. Not that it's necessarily false, but the number has become so cliche that it's lost any meaning. Just like the word "rare."

[Iron Lizard]

Is there some sort of minimum run like they Nintendo would do with cartridges?

[Black_Tiger]

It doesn't matter what the number actually is, if it could somehow magically be determined to be accurate (which it can't be). Some people would think that the game is suddenly easier to find while others would think that it is now all the more "R@RE". When in reality nothing would have changed at all. The clowns who work the collectible market will take any number that is reported though and use it jack the price of the game even further. Whether it is 500 or 100,000, there would be a line in every BIN-only listing saying how there are "ONLY" so many copies confirmed to exist.

[Baloo]

Is there any way we can even make a guesstimate of how many copies of Snatcher there are? I have a hard time believing there are as many copies of Snatcher as there are PDS when comparing eBay listings.

[SpaceFlea]

Well, we can keep a running total of known copies.

Let's begin: 2

[SEGA.GENESIS1989]

Sheath, yes the game initially did recieve a limited print run. However, I always like to deal with information based on fact rather than conjecture.

The only way we would get clarity on the exact number of units produced was if we got an official statement from Konami regarding the matter. Considering that we are dealing with a game that was released for the SEGA CD on or around 1994, I imagine there exists a document somewhere detailing the amount released for the consumer market.

Baloo, let me be clear that in no way am I criticizing you as an indidual. But what I am questioning is the veracity of the statement that the game is rare. I hope no offence is taken.

[sheath]

Choose facts over conjecture?! You radical you.

I really would be surprised if I could have just walked in and rented a game that only had 5,000 pressings though.

[Baloo]

Baloo, let me be clear that in no way am I criticizing you as an indidual. But what I am questioning is the veracity of the statement that the game is rare. I hope no offence is taken.

Ahh, no offense taken. I never thought of it in that way in the first place, haha. It's all good dude.

[SEGA.GENESIS1989]

Choose facts over conjecture?! You radical you.

I really would be surprised if I could have just walked in and rented a game that only had 5,000 pressings though.

And to think, I wasn't even shortlisted to recieve the Nobel Peace Prize!

Ahh, no offense taken. I never thought of it in that way in the first place, haha. It's all good dude.

Great! I'm always a little careful when citing a difference of opinion on a given subject matter. Cheers great Baloo!

[xelement5x]

I also have a copy of Snatcher, I bought mine a couple years ago before prices began exploding on Sega CD stuff. I think it's kind of rare, but obviously not as rare as other games for the Sega CD like Radical Rex. I think that Snatcher had less copies than the 30K touted for Panzer Dragoon Saga for a couple reasons.

1) A small print run seems feasible for CDs, they're much cheaper to produce than carts
2) Konami was a 3rd party and probably recognized the niche somewhat and did a smaller press to hedge their bets on units produced/sold
3) Sega CD was also still pretty niche compared to the "success" of the Saturn, hence a smaller install base to market to as well

What seems probable to me is that a solid 20K units at least were made and sent out to normal distributors. Some of them sold, but the ones that didn't and weren't bargain binned probably got destroyed for contractual reasons so the retailer could get some cash back.

Also, since people mentioned that this is the kind of game you play once and get rid of, what's to say that a lot of the copies up on eBay aren't just the same copies being bought, played, and then resold? Just trying to play the other side here.

[bultje112]

please define limited print run. I think it had a relative good print run simply because it was konami and the game was huge in japan and the sega cd was going to be it's version in the west. another reason why I think ti had a good print run was because it was released in europe, where sega cd had failed hoirrbly. I own a pal copy. not even games like lunar were released in europe.

[Zz Badnusty]

please define limited print run. I think it had a relative good print run simply because it was konami and the game was huge in japan and the sega cd was going to be it's version in the west. another reason why I think ti had a good print run was because it was released in europe, where sega cd had failed hoirrbly. I own a pal copy. not even games like lunar were released in europe.

Konami ran full page (and even multipage(?)) magazine advertisements for Snatcher and their PR made sure all magazines had mulitple mentions of the game. All major retail outlets in the United states stocked the game. Conjecturing that it was limited is pretty baseless.

[AlecRob]

Sega CD was also still pretty niche compared to the "success" of the Saturn, hence a smaller install base to market to as well

Didn't the Sega CD actually sell better than the Saturn in the US?

[Barone]

WHAT!?