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This Week on the Nintendo Channel: More E3 interviews
The Nintendo Channel receives another helping of E3 interviews this week, highlighting big Wii titles such as Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Rabbids Go Home, and, the feel-good story of the year, Tatsunoko vs Capcom. We're pumped for the we-never-saw-it-coming localization. How about you?%Gallery-32421%
Interview: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories producer Tomm Hulett
When it was first revealed, we gave Silent Hill: Shattered Memories a bit of a cold shoulder. Gone was the established story that had first introduced us to the world's creepiest town, reinterpreted with altered characters and a new otherworld that ditched darkness and rust in favor of jutting glaciers and vaguely menacing snowflakes. Thankfully, our experience with the game at E3 revived our expectations, even if it was at the expense of whole memories.We later had the opportunity to speak to producer Tomm Hulett, who elaborated on why we should call Shattered Memories a re-imagining -- and not a remake:You're making Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and you're tying it to the first game. Harry Mason is back, but you're calling it a re-imagining, you're not saying "remake." Is that a bad word?Right, that's a curse word. [laughs] By re-imagining, like you said, we've got the premise of the first game: you're Harry Mason, you're looking for your daughter Cheryl. Beyond that we've changed and updated it, so it's an entirely new experience. If you've played the PlayStation game to death, you still have no idea what to expect for Shattered Memories. We did that because, on the Wii, maybe there's a lot of people who haven't played any Silent Hill games, so it wasn't really fair to say, "Here's the sequel to Homecoming, enjoy yourself." But then, returning fans, they've played the first game, they've played Origins, they've seen the movie, and they've played Silent Hill 3 and it all kind of revolves around the events of the first game. So they wouldn't really want to play a remake and so, by re-imagining it, there's new content -- if you've never played it before, of course, it's new to you -- but then, there's also this extra layer of new content if you're returning, because you get to experience all these things that are different from what you're expecting. And that really fits the theme of Silent Hill, which is this place where your reality is subjective and you don't know what to expect. We've built that into the game if you're a returning fan.
E3 2009 highlights: The Nintendo roundup
Nintendo E3 2009 checklist: Mario? *check* Zelda? *check* Metroid? *check* Are we missing something? Head past the break to find out!
Hands-on: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii)
"I've heard 'Shat-On Memories.' That's a good one," remarks Shattered Memories producer Tomm Hulett, taking the complaints from the so-called "unreasonable" Silent Hill fans in stride. Remaking -- or "re-imagining," rather -- a horror classic is no easy task, least of all when the leading platform's scariest trait is its abundance of minigames. Calling it a re-imagining seems appropriate, with familiar characters and themes returning in unfamiliar ways, but that belies the fact that the upcoming Wii title (PSP and PS2 versions are also en route) is the freshest and riskiest Silent Hill game to come along in years. Conveying an intense, unnerving experience in the din of E3 is like reciting a poem behind an airplane barreling down a runway. The packed show floor, filled with colossal sub-woofers and eccentric excessiveness, couldn't be a less ideal place to play a survival-horror title. And yet, despite the copious distractions and some truly awkward sensor bar placement, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories managed to fool us -- if ever so briefly -- into thinking we were skulking around the world's least hospitable and most perplexing town. %Gallery-49995%
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is ... mom-friendly?
Not even Silent Hill is afraid of the Wii's casual audience. Speaking to Joystiq during E3 2009, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories producer Tomm Hulett described the game as being very much a true franchise entry (and we can attest to that!), but one that would enjoy the benefits of a wider audience and an intuitive control system on the Wii."For the casual gamer, we say this like it's strange, but casual gamers go to horror movies," he explained. "There's a reason that we all started playing survival horror -- it was new and different and, 'Oh, it's like a scary movie that I play.'" According to Hulett the game's control system, which thrusts the Wiimote into the role of a flashlight, is intuitive enough to accommodate ... your mom. "I've had my mom try it out and she only plays Animal Crossing, but she can walk around as Harry Mason and run from creatures. It's really easy to pick up and play. If there's a casual gamer who enjoys going to the movies and seeing The Ring, they can go to the store afterward and buy Silent Hill and have a horror experience at home."Well, as long as they don't pick up The Room. That's a different kind of horror experience at home.%Gallery-49995% %Gallery-65287%
Overheard@E3: Silent Hill will hate me
At the start of Konami's Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, a psychiatrist performs an evaluation on players, prodding them with some fairly personal questions. Answering the "Do you roleplay during sex?" question is probably one of the tougher ones to answer truthfully in full view of other E3 attendees. (Hell yes, if you were wondering. Also, stop that.)This was the discovery made by one young lady, who appeared to be answering some questions (another example: Do you think of other people during sex?) unfavorably and nervously. With the cursor hovering over another negative answer, she quickly looked around her and exclaimed, "This game is going to HATE ME!"
Joystiq impressions: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Click for full-size scares! Although it was probably the most impressive looking game shown at Konami's Gamer's Night 2009 event last week, the "Wii-imagining" of Silent Hill, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, was sadly not playable. It's a shame, too, considering how natural the game's motion controls appeared in the on-stage demo; seeing them in action made us really want to try them. We were left to watch the footage of the Climax-developed title and imagine what it will be like, roaming the streets of the snow-covered town, flashlight in hand and camera phone at the ready to catch the unexplainable and unnerving. Fortunately, it was a fairly meaty bit of footage that provided a good idea of what to expect from the game when we finally do get our hands on it.%Gallery-49995%
New Silent Hill: Shattered Memories details
IGN has posted a preview of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories so glowing, you'd swear it was radioactive. Aside from the effusive praise, there are a few details to be gleaned from the eyes-on preview. The psyche profile system revealed earlier this week is further fleshed out by the preview. Lead character Harry Mason will actually start the game in a psychiatrist's office, where players will have to fill out a form. The choices you make on the form, as well as other choices in the game, will affect other parts of the game.Harry's phone acts as the hub of all the game's information, containing the map, voice mail, text messages and a camera. The camera can be used to take pictures of certain areas, revealing ghostly images in the finished photos. The article cites a moment when Harry takes a picture of a strange swingset, only to see his missing daughter, Cheryl, show up in the photo. Once the picture is taken, Harry receives a voicemail from Cheryl ... creepy. In an interesting twist, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories features no combat whatsoever. When you're face to face with a freakish monster, the only choice is to run. Another change, the rusty, hellish Otherworld has been changed into a frozen, icy one instead. As in Silent Hill: Homecoming, the transition to the Otherworld takes place in real time as buildings freeze over and columns rise out of the ground. The preview assures us the transition is "breathtaking," but we'll reserve judgment until we can see some video.It certainly sounds like Shattered Memories could be shaping up to be a decent entry in the series, even despite the somewhat radical changes to the staple conventions. At least one thing isn't changing though. In IGN's interview with Climax -- a good read for anyone interested in the title -- it is confirmed that Akira Yamaoka will once again provide the soundtrack.Source - IGN: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories PreviewSource - IGN: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Interview
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories also heads to PS2, PSP
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories was unveiled for Wii last week by Nintendo Power, but it seems it won't be exclusive to Nintendo systems. This "re-imagining" of the original Silent Hill will also be going to PS2 and PSP, and as today's press release details, all three versions will be out sometime in Autumn this year.Gamers who played the original will have their memories slightly shattered upon picking up this new version -- characters won't be found in the same spots and new clues, dialogue and gameplay paths will serve to jumble things up. Another major change is the new "psyche profile," which monitors the player's reactions. Based on these reactions, alterations are made to the game's "visual elements" and the protagonist's actions as he encounters other people and creatures. The psyche profile system sounds interesting, but a bit difficult to fully grasp without seeing in action. Perhaps future gameplay videos will provide better insight into this new feature.
Nintendo Power reveals Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for Wii
We're not exactly sure if titling the "reimagining" of a classic game "Shattered Memories" is going to instill much hope in its fans, but that's what Konami is doing with Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for Wii. The not-a-remake of the first game in the series is revealed in the May 2009 issue of Nintendo Power, which contains a 10-page cover feature on the Climax (Silent Hill: Origins) developed game. (Oh, and it's not an April Fools joke -- we confirmed this news with the magazine.)GoNintendo has scanned parts of said article and provides some details, such as the Wii Remote's use in interacting directly with environment-based puzzles. Subscribers to the magazine are beginning to get the issue now, and Nintendo Power tells us to expect an update related to the game next week.
