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Kojima Pays Great Homage to Snatcher

Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 4:41 pm
by Silvertear
So, I was looking through MGS4 screenshots when I happened to find This little guy

Apparently, Metal Gear MK II is gonna be Snake's navigator...

Could this mean anything related to a Snatcher/Policenauts release?

Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 10:07 am
by Modnar
Thats fraking awsome, i hope they dont sully his good name though...

Has anyone seen him in the vid yet, its great but im not sure if he has a voice or he just acts as a communicator for Otacon.

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 6:30 pm
by Ozzye
I think it sucks, Can you imagine that little MG going after you through all the game.

At least we might not need cigarretes to make light. :)

Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2005 3:22 am
by Marc
I think it'd be neat if when you first start out in the game, the first thing Otacon says comes out in the same voice of MG from Snatcher, then Otacon goes, "Whoops, still must be a few bugs in there..." :)

I don't think they'd have a problem getting the Japanese voice actress back for that, but who knows where Lucy Childs is.

Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2005 6:49 am
by Junker_05
It'd be great if they made Metal Gear MkII Snake's um... radar person... thing. I'm sorry, I forget what it's called. Maybe Snatcher will be an unlockable in MGS4? Highly unlikely, but it's a possibility, right?

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 10:54 pm
by Kojima_Devotee
Well, Snatcher's too big to be a simple unlockable. However, since Metal Gear Mark II is such an important part of the gameplay and story, it's possible "Snatcher awareness" will increase. After all, it's much more prominent than the simple Policenauts clips from Metal Gear Solid - It just might spark some interest. However, at the most, it'll probably just increase Snatcher ISO downloads and eBay prices.

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 4:50 am
by Marc
Kojima_Devotee wrote:Well, Snatcher's too big to be a simple unlockable.
I too think it is unlikely, but it wouldn't be a storage problem. After all, the storage capacity of the next generation discs will be much bigger than current discs and, of course, CDs.

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 11:22 am
by Johnny Undaunted
Osiris wrote:
Kojima_Devotee wrote:Well, Snatcher's too big to be a simple unlockable.
I too think it is unlikely, but it wouldn't be a storage problem. After all, the storage capacity of the next generation discs will be much bigger than current discs and, of course, CDs.
Perhaps they'll include the PC-88 version as an unlockable in MGS4: Subsisstance Integral Edition. :p

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:47 pm
by link343
Its possible that Snatcher may be an unlockable because of the Blu-ray disks. Maybe it will be on a second disk if they come out with a special edition of the game. It could also have Policenauts also.

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 7:59 pm
by 8bitsonic
There's no excuse for Snatcher NOT to be a bonus feature...it's an excellent, full-fledged game. And with the audio compression methods we have today, the total game data shouldn't exceed about 150 MB.

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:26 pm
by Kojima_Devotee
With Subsistence getting translated versions of MSX's Metal Gear's, it's a good thought that Konami would consider Snatcher and Policenauts ports. However, the MSX Metal Gear's only needed text translations and "simple" edits - Snatcher and Policenauts ports will demand more. Including Snatcher and Policenauts in a Japanese version of MGS4 would be simple; Konami could use the PlayStation 3's backwards compatibility to include the PSOne versions of the two games. For the US and UK, it's much more uncertain.
Since the PlayStation version of Snatcher wasn't released, Konami would need to either re-record the voices or rip the sounds from the Sega CD version. (Assuming there are no legal repercussions.) In addition, portions of Snatcher would need to be edited out to coincide with the Sega CD release, but that might not be the case in the event of a re-recording. (After all, censorship is much more lenient thanks to GTA: San Andreas.) Simply put, an English Policenauts port would need "the works." Konami knows they have the Snatcher and Policenauts loyals with the inclusion of Metal Gear Mark II - They may feel it's unnecessary to port the games. Then again, they'll need something for the re-release of MGS4, and, with Snatcher themes so prevalent throughout the game, it's not completely unlikely that Konami will consider the ports.

Sorry for the huge post. :razz:

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 3:29 am
by Crowley
How do you pay homage to your own work?

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 4:33 am
by Marc
Kojima_Devotee wrote:...it's not completely unlikely that Konami will consider the ports.
You mean that Kojima will consider it. Anything related to his games, he gets first/final/all say on them. He's the reason Policenauts wasn't released even after all the petitions. Konami wanted to do it after they saw all the interest.

His excuse was that he doesn't want to "go back to it", but look at all the old games of his he's "gone back to" now. I think Snatcher and Policenauts are the only ones he hasn't. Although to be fair, he worked on Policenauts for 6 years total, when you count all the versions. That's more time than any of his other games. I think I understand his feelings, but he should also consider his fans, too.

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 8:53 pm
by Skycladiana
Unfortunately I've never had the chance to play Snatcher, but from what I can tell there's a possiblity that the game and the MG titles may belong to the same Kojima-continuity. I've also heard specifically about the mention of a "Metal Gear War" in Snatcher, supposedly having taken place in the past. Am I getting bad info, here?

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:15 pm
by Artemio
Skycladiana wrote:Unfortunately I've never had the chance to play Snatcher, but from what I can tell there's a possiblity that the game and the MG titles may belong to the same Kojima-continuity. I've also heard specifically about the mention of a "Metal Gear War" in Snatcher, supposedly having taken place in the past. Am I getting bad info, here?
they are not in the same universe, but do have mutual references. The timelines simply don't fit and events taht happened in one didn't in the other. But indeed, Metal gear Mk II is based on the late twentieth century menace, as stated by Harry:
Harry Benson wrote:"I took his basic design and his name from the Metal Gear menace of the late twentieth century, but quite unlike that Metal Gear this one was designed for peaceful purposes."

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 3:56 am
by Marc
The World War III mentioned in Snatcher might have involved the use of MGs.

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 9:41 am
by Skycladiana
Yeah, I realized early on the continuities don't match up exactly-- Snatcher's origin events take place in 1991 or 1996 depending upon the version. However, I'd read that the discrepency is due to Kojima's wish to make the game more current when it came out in different areas. Perhaps he's altering the timeline again with GOTP and plans to do a newer, bigger and more canonically correct version of Snatcher for the next-gen systems.

It was an advernture game, right? One that also featured light-gun support for Sega-CD, right? Imagine what he could do on the Revolution...

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 12:21 pm
by Artemio
Skycladiana wrote:Yeah, I realized early on the continuities don't match up exactly-- Snatcher's origin events take place in 1991 or 1996 depending upon the version. However, I'd read that the discrepency is due to Kojima's wish to make the game more current when it came out in different areas. Perhaps he's altering the timeline again with GOTP and plans to do a newer, bigger and more canonically correct version of Snatcher for the next-gen systems.

It was only changed for the release in English. All japanese versions are consistent in the dates.
Skycladiana wrote: It was an advernture game, right? One that also featured light-gun support for Sega-CD, right? Imagine what he could do on the Revolution...
Yes, only in the Sega CD version though. Problem is, at least in Konami's background history, these types of game do not sell. And in current releases you can notice the tendency, unfortunately. Not to be pessimistic, just stating the facts. I would love a release of some sort, but something new or a re-reelase. Wouldn't mind a sequel, but something new would be better.

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 12:35 pm
by Skycladiana
I'd just like something to come out that I could actually buy easily.

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 1:23 pm
by Artemio
Made a page I had in mind for a while, listing the references I found (and think I've found).

http://junkerhq.net/Snatcher/MGS4/

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 2:15 am
by Missing
Osiris wrote:His excuse was that he doesn't want to "go back to it", but look at all the old games of his he's "gone back to" now. I think Snatcher and Policenauts are the only ones he hasn't. Although to be fair, he worked on Policenauts for 6 years total, when you count all the versions. That's more time than any of his other games. I think I understand his feelings, but he should also consider his fans, too.
Kojima's such a push-over though, that if the response was great enough, the games would get a re-release. The Metal Gear fans are obviously a larger demographic than the few Snatcher devotees and the even lesser number of Policenauts fans. Very few have heard of them and fewer have actually played just one of them, let alone both. However, I still wouldn't say another re-release is out of the question for Americans and Europeans. Though they definitely could use a full-blown restoration beforehand. I mentioned in another topic that the game Surveillance reminded me of Policenauts. Well, that's exactly how I'd like Policenauts and Snatcher to look if Kojima were to restore it. Just give it a little more polish, since they obviously look out-dated by today's standards.

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 5:07 pm
by 87th
Technically Kojima did go back to Snatcher, twice. SD and CD-ROMantic were both had major differences from the original (each in their own way).

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 5:11 pm
by 8bitsonic
I don't count SD as a port of Snatcher, or even a remake. It's a brand-new, completely different game that only vaguely follows the original storyline.

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 5:20 pm
by 87th
I didn't mean to make that sound as if SD was. It was just a new part of the series. I consider there to be three parts in the Snatcher series- Snatcher (8-Bit Version), SD Snatcher and Snatcher CD-ROMantic (following games fit under this title).

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 6:31 pm
by 8bitsonic
I consider there to be three parts too, except SD is not included:

The 8-bit versions (PC-88, MSX)
The 16-bit versions (PCE, SCD)
The 32-bit versions (SS, PSX)

All have distinct, identifiable differences between them, and all have their advantages and disadvantages. Since there was only ever one versions of SD, it doesn't belong in this list.