NEW SILENT HILL FROM HIDEO KOJIMA AND GUILLERMO DEL TORO

[Thursday]

There's a lot of stuff in that trailer that's a bit cliche and a bit over the top for what I'd expect from a silent hill game but it does them all so well and looks so good I forgive it.

Just a really good horror game would be nice at this point, and not just one from an indie studio.

[Mister Six]

There's a higher-res, louder version (with some Japanese bloke yammering over the start) here.

There's a lot of stuff in that trailer that's a bit cliche and a bit over the top for what I'd expect from a silent hill game but it does them all so well and looks so good I forgive it.

Yeah, I had two processes going in my head when I watched that. The background one was saying that it was all very OTT and not Silent Hilly, but the primary one was saying 'Fuck, that's a great idea!' over and over. The head-to-ball transition got my attention, but I was sold in the second setpiece - when I glimpsed the giant worm I felt a twinge of disappointment; coupled with the maggot things coming out of the wall, it looked like they were going with some very dull imagery. Then the worm turned into a giant, one-armed headless woman and that feeling of the deliciously inexplicable (or possibly just abstruse) that emanates from a good SH game. Plus, it's a condensed trailer - I imagine the full game will space things out a little more.

I do wonder if they've looked to Junji Ito for inspiration - all of the imagery there could've come from his comics. Those designs, and the splashes of colour from the toys, and the general vibe of things going completely apeshit in a very explicit (and more traditional) horror way are not terribly Silent Hill, I know, but the more I think about it, the more I suspect that this kind of drastic is what the series has needed since at least The Room, and possibly since SH3. Fear comes from the unknown, and the Silent Hill franchise (eurgh) is very much a known quantity now. Just the name brings to mind murky beige walls, rolling fog and distorted figures with a gross flesh texture wrapped around them. Even when Western designers are fucking it up with new ideas, you still basically know what to expect.

So this is probably the best thing that could have happened to the series - even if it isn't what people would necessarily want from a Silent Hill game. Because to want something requires expectations; expectations require knowledge, and knowledge destroys fear. Or, at least, the kind of fear that fuels Silent Hill.

(BTW, if you haven't, please do read the Silent Hill 1 plot synopsis I linked to on the previous page - it's great!)

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I was going to say much the same. I don't envy anyone the task of making a new SH game. The series can't keep rehashing what's gone before but, at the same time, too much change and it's not Silent Hill any more. It's a very delicate line to be walking. However, if it can manage to recapture the feel of the best games - being scared to move forward but feeling compelled to do so - then I guess the aesthetics aren't really that important.

I played a bit of the teaser last weekend and, while clichés abounded, it has successfully whetted my appetite. Between it and this new trailer, I wonder if the whole game is going to be first person.

[Mister Six]

I hope they can work the handheld wobbly can style into it. Or have it as an option, at least. Might seem weird one you're in control of the character, but it adds a lot to that trailer. Was it SH2 that pioneered the film grain filter in video games?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Was it SH2 that pioneered the film grain filter in video games?

Quite possibly. I remember whatever games magazine I first read about it in mentioning the graininess in a way that implied it was unique at the time. All games looked grainy to me back then, but that's because I played them on a half broken old telly.

Another thing about the PT demo is that there's no combat. Interesting if that's going to be carried through into the finished game.

[Mister Six]

Was that really a playable demo, do we think? I'm still pegging it as a pre-rendered concept trailer at the moment.

[Thursday]

I thought they'd already said the main game might be 3rd person.

[Bored of Canada]

I've only just come to terms with the fact that I'll never be buying a PS4, despite being a huge Souls fan and a huge Silent Hill fan. So I've just thrown in my hopes of ever getting the opportunity to play PT for myself and have just been watching a Let's Play of it.

It looks brilliant. I like the idea of it so much and I'm disappounted this is a tech demo type thing and the actual silent Hill will be noway near as unique and bizarre as this. If the full game started off entirely with you walking through that same hallway over and over again without randomised order of events happening to you for an hour or two and then it opened into something else and kept that groundhog day style concept, it'd be such a bold and interesting game. I like the less is more mentality behind it a lot. I sort of have the same feeling I have with Phantom Pain about this. I like the original demo thing more because it'll almost certainly be shorter and more focused, and wrings so much more out of it because of it.

I mean, these are only my guesses obviously but still!

[Lost Oliver]

Well I'm considering buying a PS4 just to play this demo. It looks incredible! Some great posts on here that have really whet my appetite. Has there been on more news on a release date etc?

[Ignatius_S]

Well I'm considering buying a PS4 just to play this demo. It looks incredible! Some great posts on here that have really whet my appetite. Has there been on more news on a release date etc?

Kojima recently said it would be 2016, but that's obviously not a guarantee. Prior to that, there were reports that it would be towards the end of next year; although I thought that sounded more plausible than not, am not sure what the sources were for that.

Other than that, there's been nowt –  we don't even know what platforms it'll be on.

[The Boston Crab]

I still haven't finished this. Too much, basically. I can't handle it.

[Benjaminos]

I SAID, LOOK BEHIND YOU

<turns PS4 off immediately>

[Thursday]

Haha you fucking mimsys

[Ignatius_S]

Being reported that Kojima will be leaving Konami...
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/kojima-expected-to-leave-konami-after-mgs5-inside-/1100-6426024/

[Rev]

It's a very weird one this.  He'd said that he was throwing in the towel after the new Metal Gear game, but that he expected Konami to continue it after that, which is ordinary enough.  That they've acted so quickly to scrub his involvement from the promotional stuff for the new game smacks of some sort of contract breach, or at the very least a sour relationship in which both sides need to be careful about how they act.

Given that nothing has been seen of the Silent Hill game itself so far - the demo being its own thing - it seems very unlikely that this will ever come out now.  I can't say if that's a shame or not, because I've no idea what it was ever supposed to be.

[Rev]

They've taken his name off this now too, so if something does come out, I doubt it'll be the kind of thing we were initially excited about.

Bugger, Silent Hill really did need someone to crash in and take the wheel, but it looks like this will be a company job after all.

[Mister Six]

It'll definitely come out. They wouldn't cut something with this much buzz and dev time. But yes, it'll probably not be representative of his original plans.

[Thursday]

Don't know I always thought it was more Del Toro than Kojima. P.T was probably not going to be representative of the full game anyway, so it's difficult to know.

[Ignatius_S]

They've taken his name off this now too, so if something does come out, I doubt it'll be the kind of thing we were initially excited about.

Bugger, Silent Hill really did need someone to crash in and take the wheel, but it looks like this will be a company job after all.

Going by reports, it looks like Konami has removed Kojima's from all marketing/online presence including material that's only just been released (e.g. for The Zone of The Enders HD), which doesn't bode well. However, I think the key thing is the company restructuring was going to be a factor – would Kojima want to work in the new structure?

It'll definitely come out. They wouldn't cut something with this much buzz and dev time. But yes, it'll probably not be representative of his original plans.

Possibly, but there are many examples of games well into production getting cancelled. LucasArts is arguably an outlier because of its situation, but around and after the Disney deal, there were plenty of reports about games that got cancelled and in some cases (I think there's at least three that have been touted) were about to go gold, or were nearly there. Obsidian developed an Alien RPG that was about to ship when Sega cancelled the project – with that one, I think the reason was that Sega no wanted 'that kind of game' done for that IP.

Don't know I always thought it was more Del Toro than Kojima. P.T was probably not going to be representative of the full game anyway, so it's difficult to know.

But will he stay? If he was drawn to the project because he could collaborate with Kojima, how much of an attraction remains? As mentioned above, Konami is restructuring and all its studios are being amalgamated – even if Del Toro isn't bothered by not working with Kojima, there's a lot of upheaval going on and that's going to affect output.

[Rev]

We don't know the extent of del Toro's involvement as the thing originally stood either.  I'd assumed that he'd only be involved at the beginning and end of the project, to be involved in the planning and then eventually sign-off on it, leaving the bulk of development to people more famiilar with games.  It's entirely possible that his work was already done, but it may now be steered in a direction that he didn't originally agree to.  The question here is how far they all got with it before recent developments - and I suspect it'll be evident if/when it comes out.

[Mister Six]

Possibly, but there are many examples of games well into production getting cancelled. LucasArts is arguably an outlier because of its situation, but around and after the Disney deal, there were plenty of reports about games that got cancelled and in some cases (I think there's at least three that have been touted) were about to go gold, or were nearly there. Obsidian developed an Alien RPG that was about to ship when Sega cancelled the project – with that one, I think the reason was that Sega no wanted 'that kind of game' done for that IP.

Yeah, but Aliens is an uber-brand, and licensed out to the publisher. Silent Hill is one of Konami's tentpole franchises, and one with a lot of buzz building up around it. I doubt they'd get so far into production that they'd have a pretty elaborate demo and mocapped star actors, and then drop everything. More likely it'll get wrapped up as fast as possible to maintain what steam they have and get pushed out the door.

[wooders1978]

So they were only involved in that trailer then? Assume that's the case for Daryl from walking dead too?

[Consignia]

Looks like it's dead in the water:

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/27846/article/silent-hills-not-going-to-happen-confirms-guillermo-del-toro-pt-already-getting-delisted/

P.T. is being removed from the PSN store, so you might want to try and grab it before it's completely removed from history.

[Lost Oliver]

Gutting! Was gonna get my PS4 next month too. Twat!

Speaking of great games that never saw the light - was Shenmue 3 ever in production?

[Consignia]

Speaking of great games that never saw the light - was Shenmue 3 ever in production?

I don't think it actually got into development, but the whole story had apparently been researched and fully planned out.

[Thursday]

Unbelievable. Konami could at least clarify whether they'll still make another Silent Hill game, but they don't appear to have a PR department these days.

[Noodle Lizard]

Why delist P.T.?  Surely that's all done and cleared, would've cost a fair whack to make, so why get rid of it?

Hopefully some benevolent folk will find a way of preserving it, I'd like the chance to play it myself one day.

[VegaLA]

Norman Reedus confirms the bad news:

http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/27/silent-hills-hideo-kojima-del-toro-canceled/

[Thursday]

Why delist P.T.?  Surely that's all done and cleared, would've cost a fair whack to make, so why get rid of it?

Hopefully some benevolent folk will find a way of preserving it, I'd like the chance to play it myself one day.

Well I guess because it's promotion for something that's not going to happen. I guess they probably have to pay to have it hosted on the servers so it's not worth it.

I don't suppose removing the trailer at the end and charging for it would be a move they could make either.

[Consignia]

Not looking good for Konami in general at the moment:

http://www.siliconera.com/2015/04/27/konami-delisted-new-york-stock-exchange/