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New Silent Hill soundtracks available to give your eardrums nightmares
Halloween is still a couple weeks away, but thanks to Sumthing Else Music, you can start getting in the spirit now with newly-released digital soundtracks from some of the more recent Silent Hill games, including Silent Hill: Downpour and Silent Hill: Book of Memories. While the Silent Hill series used Akira Yamaoka's creepy, clashing chords up until Silent Hill: Homecoming, it was Daniel Licht who composed the scores for Downpour and Book of Memories. Licht also composed last year's Dishonored, as well as the Showtime television show, Dexter, so the spookiness is strong with this one. Fog machine and bad dreams sold separately.
Rumor: Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka leaves Konami
Aeropause claims that Akira Yamaoka, the man responsible for Silent Hill's evocative sound, has apparently left Konami after 16 years and is currently vacationing in Europe. Fans of the survival-horror series would rightfully claim that Yamaoka, whose work has been a constant in the entire series, is inextricably linked to Silent Hill. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories producer Tomm Hulett told Joystiq in an interview back in June that Yamaoka's music "adds a special element, it's kind of the atmosphere of the town." He continued, "If Akira's music isn't there, it just doesn't sound quite right. And I'm sure that there are people out there who could emulate the sound and try to get it close, but there would be something missing." We've followed up with the publisher for confirmation and comment.
Silent Hill Origins confirmed for PS2, world reels in shock
Of course, the world's just being polite. Though Konami's official announcement of a PlayStation 2 version of Silent Hill Origins is welcomed, it arrives about as unexpectedly as that surprise birthday party you planned for yourself once. That might have been more enjoyable if you had any friends, but then you're far too busy clobbering jittery, faceless nurses in your free time.Incidentally, that's exactly what you do in this game. Casting some light on the spooky town's black history, Silent Hill Origins for PS2 aims to impart the "chilling, suspenseful and fear-filled experience that handheld gamers encountered" to those who prefer considerably larger screens. "This is their chance to learn more of the mystery and mythos surrounding Silent Hill that's been hinted at in earlier games and made the series such a success," said Anthony Crouts, VP of marketing and ineffective secret keeping at Konami Digital Entertainment. We'll share further details as soon as they come shambling out of the foreboding mist.
Silent Hill Origins PS2 port confirmed
It's not just Ratchet & Clank's handheld outing that is getting the PS2 port treatment, Konami have confirmed that Silent Hill Origins will also be available on the PSP's bigger, more successful, brother later this year. There's no mention yet of any added extras for the PS2 version, though the controls will be "updated". We should hope so too!The PS2 version is still currently in development, with nary a release date in sight. Those of you who actually bothered to buy the PSP game can commence your bragging now. Imagine how your PS2 owning Silent Hill fanatic friends will feel when they excitedly rush out to buy the game, only to be told that you've completed it. Haven't played it? You're probably part of the reason it's coming to PS2 in the first place, then.
Retailers listing Silent Hill Origins for PS2
We told you last month that we thought you'd soon hear more about a PS2 version of the PSP's Silent Hill Origins. Though we still haven't gotten official word from Konami, the rumor has now been corroborated by a few retailers, making a port seem all the more likely.GameFly and Amazon both have listings for the game, although they've currently got it set at opposite ends of March. Heck, the two sites even have box art (seen at right). Now, Konami, would you please just announce the thing so we can start stocking up on Depends? ... Wait. No. We mean Game Fuel. Yeah. Game Fuel. You know, so we can play all night because we're not scared at all. Yeah, that's the ticket.
Zero Punctuation visits Silent Hill's origins and dies inside
Yahtzee's got a soft spot for the Silent Hill series, a soft spot that had a steel spike jammed through it during Silent Hill Origins. Believing that the game was nothing but a fan-service cash-in he declares the series dead after his experience with Origins and Silent Hill 4: The Room -- but he's leaving a spot in his blackened heart for redemption with Silent Hill 5. So prepare yourself for a four minute Zero Punctuation rant that even our resident Silent Hill fanboy declares, "Wow, that's one of [Yahtzee's] best yet!"Find this week's NSFW trip to Silent Hill by Yahtzee after the break.
Rumor: PSP Silent Hill being ported to PS2
So get this: Konami made a (by most accounts) pretty good game called Silent Hill Origins for the PSP, and according to a Kotaku tipster, the company will be moving the game to the PS2 in March 2008! Making a port of a decent game from a well-regarded franchise for a system with 120 million units sold worldwide, can you believe it? ... Yes, so can we.As we said, this hasn't been confirmed by Konami, but it seems like one of two things would be happening right now. Either they are porting SHO to the PS2, or they've seen this story on the internet, fired the guy in charge of thinking of things like this and are in the preliminary stages of porting SHO to the PS2. Either way, we'd bet that you'll hear more about it soon.
PSP Fanboy review: Silent Hill Origins
The franchise of Silent Hill has generally fallen under the responsibility of Konami's Japanese development team, Team Silent. This team was actually split up between Silent Hills 1 and 3, and Silent Hills 2 and 4. If you're knowledgeable about the SH universe, the first and third titles tell an ongoing story about the town, Alessa, and the lineage of Harry Mason. The second and fourth were more abstract concepts, the second game exploring what exactly the town of Silent Hill is and the fourth was just a bit more wild in ideas, loosely connected to Silent Hill by the villain: Walter Sullivan. The fourth title wasn't originally a Silent Hill game, but that's moot. Now the US team Climax has taken the effort to bring the Silent Hill universe to the PSP with Origins, a tale preceding Harry's quest in the first game and meant to tie together the stories of the games and the story of the movie -- that is, focusing on Alessa once more.With that giant narrative introducing you into the land of Silent Hill, how does Origins stack up in the franchise? It's regrettable, but it finds its way near the bottom of the pile. However, don't dismiss the game -- it's a really good Silent Hill game, but Climax approached it the way American film generally approaches sequels (Saw): more of the same, with little innovation or thought outside of the box. If you're a fan of SH, you'll enjoy the game for its familiarity but will sigh at the lack of much new. If you're new to the series, you'll probably really dig the game. Let's go a little further into this and help you decide.%Gallery-3228%
TGS07: Silent Hill: Origins video is beauty incarnate
A couple months ago, Andrew said Silent Hill: Origins is one of the best-looking PSP titles he's seen so far, and this new trailer just released during Tokyo Game Show only confirms that. We still can't believe Konami has been able to create such an amazing looking game on the PSP. The video shows Travis driving his rig when he's attacked with some pretty disturbing mental images causing him nearly to careen off the road. We're not exactly sure why the rest of the video is shown playing on a PSP, which makes anyone with less than 20/20 vision struggle to see it. Perhaps Konami really wanted you to know this amazing game is running on the PSP? Either way, Silent Hill: Origins is shaping up to be a no-brainer for any PSP owner, and the song was a great choice, too!
Keeping Silent Hill players in the dark
Konami's upcoming Silent Hill Origins game is surrounded in mystery. Plagued with troubled development, the title has gone through a phoenix-like resurrection of sorts, quickly becoming one of the most anticipated titles on the platform yet again. A new interview with Kikizo doesn't reveal anything new, but it does reiterate the focus of the franchise. Oertel explains, "You're going to a town that has multiple shifts in reality with people that have their own kind of dementia. How do you put a realistic spin on that? By it's nature it needs to be somewhat vague." Supposedly, multiple endings will help create a sense of impenetrable mystery.True to the franchise, Origins is all about atmosphere and tension. Although the development team is trying to explain even more of the lore, don't expect the answers to be clear: "We want to take advantage of that opportunity to explain some things - not everything."While we love being teased, we can't wait to get some more information on Origins. Until then, don't forget to check out our updated gallery.%Gallery-3228%
SGD '07: Silent Hill Origins
Once thought to be dead, Silent Hill Origins has managed a spectacular return, not unlike the villainous stars of this survival horror title. See new images of the game in our gallery below, and check out the game's incredible intro sequence, courtesy of Gamevideos.com.%Gallery-3228%
Silent Hill interview confirms development troubles
In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Silent Hill: Origins producer William Oertel confirmed previous rumors that the game met serious problems during its production. The solution, it appears, was to switch development teams altogether. "Game development isn't an exact science, and sometimes you need to go back and adjust some things. In this case, it has been for the best. It was decided that moving development to Climax's Portsmouth office would be best for the game, and that introduced delays."As evidenced by the most recent video footage, the game has certainly come a long way, and we're excited to find out more. It's clear that Origins is in good hands, with the producers understanding what makes a Silent Hill game so unique. "As I'm fond of saying, Silent Hill is an exercise in subtlety, and therefore the changes seen in this game, compared to previous games, reflect that."[Via PSP GadgetZ]
PSP Fanboy Theatre: Volume 17
PSP Fanboy offers the latest and greatest movie and game trailers, formatted for the PSP in this new weekly feature. Check it out every Saturday. PSP owners can download files wirelessly via m.pspfanboy.com. Instructions: Save all movie and thumbnail files to the VIDEO folder. These high resolution 480x272 videos require firmware 3.30 or above. (Note: OE custom firmware will also play these videos.) Silent Hill: Origins [PSP] Download MP4 (3.9MB) | Download JPG The following videos are featured after the break: Surf's Up, Crush (PSP), Chuck & Larry, Pokemon Launch
Brutally violent Silent Hill gameplay vids
Hope you didn't just eat lunch. Silent Hill: Origins is back, and it looks better than ever. Turn off the lights, get your security blanket, and snuggle up to these devilishly violent videos of the game in action. The game seems to have moved away from its Resident Evil 4 inspired camera, while gaining some context sensitive action buttons. Of course, none of this analysis will really matter as you watch this bone-chilling footage.Remember, kids. You have to be 18 or older to see footage from this obviously M-rated game.
Silent Hill Origins rises from the dead
Silent Hill: Origins had seemingly disappeared from the public eye, with many (including ourselves) fearing its cancellation. The game showed early promise, with impressive graphics and Resident Evil 4-style gameplay. However, it wasn't long until there were reports of troubled development: Climax, the game's developer, laid off numerous employees. Then, it was conspicuously absent from Konami's Gamers Day.Well, looks our fears were unwarranted. Game Informer has a new exclusive preview up: "The kicker was that even though the game was on a much smaller screen, our hands sweated and heart pounded as if we were playing a full-on entry in the series. If you're sensitive to scary content you'll probably not be playing this with the lights out and headphones on like the game recommends. With that said, it looks like Climax is on the right track with Origins."We're incredibly relieved that the game has taken a turn for the better. Check out Game Informer for more screenshots and videos.[Via NeoGAF]
Is Silent Hill canceled?
Konami's Gamers' Day has come and gone. While PSP gamers are certainly happy by the surprise announcement of an exclusive Castlevania, there is one game that was suspiciously missing: Silent Hill: Origins. The game had a very impressive debut, but ever since rumors of troubled development came about, the game has mysteriously disappeared from public eye.Hotly anticipated games like Metal Gear Solid 4 were also absent from the show. Is Silent Hill: Origins canceled? Has the release slipped out of this year? There are tons of unanswered questions right now. Konami's website notes that "major announcements" are coming tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll know for sure soon enough.[Via IGN]
Rumor: Silent Hill Origins in trouble?
Our eagerly-anticipated Silent Hill Origins may be in a little bit of trouble. The game's developer, Climax, recently laid off 14 of its workers in order to "integrate into a single management structure." (Source: Gamespot) According to Kotaku (you should already put on your "doubt" visors), the main reasoning behind the lay-offs was to "salvage the disastrous development of Silent Hill Origins for the PSP." The article continues to state that "the game had been cut extensively... shriveled down to a handful of much smaller levels and three to four hours of gameplay... Konami was understandably disappointed... and employees were told there were "no assurances" that the Origins project would continue."While it would be disastrous if this rumor were true, I'm going to take a leap of faith and say it's untrue. The Kotaku report states that a working engine wasn't made available until June, which sounds false considering the game's incredible graphics engine (which was playable). Secondly, I highly doubt the folks at Konami would allow for a high-caliber project like this to fall apart, especially with their other high-profile PSP titles coming down the pipeline. Lastly, a developer in supposedly as much trouble as Climax wouldn't also be working on another high-profile game: Oblivion for the PSP. Climax is a relatively prolific developer: a few layoffs most likely won't affect the future of any of the games in development.[Via PSP-Vault]
Silent Hill Origins gameplay footage [Update 1]
PSP Fanboy once wrote: "So how about a port of Resident Evil 4? The new over-the-shoulder camera style would be perfect for the handheld!"Well, we might not have Resident Evil yet, but it looks like Silent Hill Origins will fit the bill just nicely. This first gameplay video (delivered by Playstation Portable.de) leaked from the floors of the Games Convention in Germany doesn't show off any enemies, but it shows some particularly nice graphics (the fog looks great), atmosphere and familiar controls. Hopefully we'll discover more nuggets of gameplay over the course of the convention, so keep it locked in to the Fanboy.[Update 1: According to PSP World, the game will offer "a cinematic experience comparable to the previous games, but framed within interactive moments." That sounds a lot like Resident Evil 4's button-mashing cutscenes to me.][Via IGN Boards]
Silent Hill Origins - Comic-Con interview
The exclusives keep on hitting the PSP. Konami showcased Silent Hill Origins for the PSP and GTtv caught up with Producer William Oertel to find out more about the game. You can just watch the video embedded above, but here are some of the more interesting details he points out: It's a prequel to the original Silent Hill, not a remake. "[The main character] is an interesting character... he's a little bit more physical... he's not too emo." "It's going to be a much more personal experience than playing on the console." The barricade system modifies controls so that it changes constantly, making it much more interesting and dynamic. "It's a huge game." It seems like Konami's placing a lot of effort into their PSP efforts, and they have to be commended for that. This game, along with Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, show that the company knows what it's doing.
