The utterly insane cost of Snatcher on Ebay. Justified?

Ok so first off apologies because I assume this subject is frequently mentioned ad infinitum but I just wanted some advice from you guys because I keep hearing that the Konami game Snatcher for the Mega CD is literally worth getting the system for on it's own. Now I collect PAL Mega Drive and Mega CD games and have what I regard as a decent collection but for years I've been wanting to get hold of a copy of Snatcher but have been put well and truly off by the fucking insane prices it regularly fetches in Ebay sales. I'm talking PAL copies of it being sold, in good condition it must be fairly said, for an average of £200+! I have never played the game but understand that it holds almost cult status amongst it's fans and indeed that people would prefer that creator Hideo Kojima made some sort of sequel to Snatcher all these years later rather than yet another increasingly bizarre Metal Gear Solid title. So my questions are is it genuinely expensive because not many copies were produced by Konami back in the day or is it more down to fan hype driving the price way, way above anything that it realistically should be? Or is the game so damn good that it is absolutely worth every penny of that ludicrous price tag? Finally should I be considered mentally ill for even considering for one second buying a good condition copy of Snatcher for £200 regardless of it's quality? Please help!

Is it a great game? Yes it is. It was one of the few Sega CD purchases that I've held onto over the years. That said, would I pay £200+ (about 320.00 USD) for a copy? Not a chance in hell. Unfortunately, Snatcher was one of those titles that was released for a system without a huge install base (compared to the Genesis and SNES), and had a low production run, making this title extremely sought after. Personally, I wouldn't pay more than £50 for it, but chances are you'll never see that on an auction site. I'd say keep an eye out here and other forums if you want a genuine copy, otherwise, just get an ISO and burn it.

I used to have a "pay now or pay later" mentality in regards to pricey games - but I'd say it isn't worth it if you're just interested in owning an authentic copy. I would honestly make the suggestion of playing the game first, burn a copy or emulatioasdfjklasdf, and decide if the game itself is worth the price tag. If you enjoy it, that is reason enough to pursue it - but if you don't at least it wouldn't have cost you an arm or leg to find out. Of course you could just resell it but I guess I'm considering time and aggravation.

Bottom line, don't follow hype - I do think Snatcher is a good game but with the facets available to you to give it a once-over before diving in; decide what the merits are - Otherwise wait till all us are 80 years old, whipper snappers won't give a damn about these games and they'll all probably be worth dirt.

(Except SNES games. Which exponentially increase in value and a copy of Super Mario RPG is predicted to be worth $100,000.00 by the year 2074).

Thanks for the advice guys. I agree that my best course of action is to play it some other way and then decide if I like it enough to pursue the cost of a physical copy. I paid £100 for a good condition copy of Shining Force CD not so long ago and, already being a huge fan of the Shining Force series on the Mega Drive since childhood, love it to bits and consider it worth every penny I paid. Time will tell if Snatcher is worth a similar investment.

Snatcher is good but it's not worth over £100 at all.

I've just been looking into this myself. All this stuff was cheap as chips when I first started collecting more seriously about six years ago.

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Originally Posted by cleeg

I've just been looking into this myself. All this stuff was cheap as chips when I first started collecting more seriously about six years ago.

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Yeah so I've noticed. My own theory into the extortionate prices being charged nowadays for what would be considered retro games was always that it's because the market for retro video games as a whole has really taken off in the last few years but with prices reaching the truly insane heights they have you have to start to wonder if it's down to something else entirely. However if I as a SEGA Mega Drive/Mega CD collector think I've got it bad at the same time I really do sympathise with the prices that a NES or SNES collector has to contend with these days. As has been mentioned the prices certain NES/SNES titles are going for, and not all of them 'classics' by any stretch of the imagination, has reached the levels of lunacy. The trouble is though that the one true fact of a free market is that something is only worth what you're willing to pay for it, so in that sense I suppose that us as collectors are the number one cause for the prices getting as crazy as they are now. It certainly makes you think.

Snatcher wasn't really worth the $50 or $60 paid for it upon release. The cliche recycled story and cumbersome menu driven "gameplay" makes for an ultimately time consuming and unfulfilling experience.
I started to replay a burned copy last year, but got bored of it.
It's ok, and impressive to see the top quality production values. Maybe worth the $12 or so I got for trade in credit at Electronics Boutique.

This is stolen from a friend's FB post but essentially sums up my thoughts as well:

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Collectors see the prices going up and buy fast and hard to get the games they want for their set, always spending "just a bit" more than the last high price. Over the long term prices continue to go up, and people wind up paying more and more. Also, the fear of prices continuing to rise causes people to jump sooner rather than later and amplify the spiking

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Snatcher is definitely a victim of this, along with a lot of other games games in the rare to uncommon level, if it's good or has any hype at all going towards it then prices are even worse. That said, it's a fun game and if you want to play it my opinion with most stuff anymore is burn it and try it out for a bit. If you really love it then consider revisiting a purchase.

If I were to buy it, Snatcher would be a game I'd play once, then put on my shelf where it'll gather dust for a few years. Considering how much it goes for, you don't get a lot of value or longevity out of it. It's more of an experience than a game. I'd honestly rather buy some expensive Saturn shooter if I had a bunch of cash to burn on one game. At least it would have gameplay and replayability.

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Originally Posted by zetastrike

If I were to buy it, Snatcher would be a game I'd play once, then put on my shelf where it'll gather dust for a few years. Considering how much it goes for, you don't get a lot of value or longevity out of it. It's more of an experience than a game. I'd honestly rather buy some expensive Saturn shooter if I had a bunch of cash to burn on one game. At least it would have gameplay and replayability.

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Understood and thanks for the advice mate. I'll definitely wait until it's price drops now (if it ever does) after all this feedback or just invest in something else.

This looks like a pretty sweet deal: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SEALED-S...item232f401708

I don't think it's generally selling at the £200+ price point. Sellers are trying to get that but as far as I can tell it's not really going past £150 in open auctions. Still expensive though.

Is it worth it? Hmm, I don't know. It's one of my all time favourite games, and I was obsessed with it when it was released, but at the prices it current commands I'm not sure it's worth it unless you're a big Kojima or visual novel fan.

The thing about Snatcher is, being that it's essentially a digital comic, it's very linear and the entire game hinges on a twist so once you've found that out it kinda takes out the magic of really playing it again, the shooting segments are also pretty boring.

It also isn't very long either.

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Originally Posted by Gogogadget

The thing about Snatcher is, being that it's essentially a digital comic, it's very linear and the entire game hinges on a twist so once you've found that out it kinda takes out the magic of really playing it again, the shooting segments are also pretty boring.

It also isn't very long either.

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Gotcha. Definitely something I should try before I buy. Thanks for the info.