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"While rumors have been going around all day regarding Silent Hill series composer and producer Akira Yamaoka leaving Konami, OSV has received official confirmation from Yamaoka himself. This is huge news for the gaming industry, as Yamaoka has been one of the biggest critics of the Japanese gaming industry. It will be interesting to see what he does if he decides to work freelance in the gaming industry."
A 35 year old man, known only as "Jan H.", recently caused a blackout at the Sophia Hospital in the Netherlands because he thought he was in a Silent Hill game.
While no one was seriously hurt during the 45 minute blackout, Jan caused a great disturbance in the hospital. Elevators became stuck and workers had to manually respirate the patients in the intensive care unit.
Later in court, Jan claimed he had suffered a psychotic break in the hospital which led him to believe that shutting...
A few months ago it was announced that Konami teamed up with Jeff Schiefelbein to create an attraction based on the Silent Hill series. Well the attraction is currently open at Sinister Pointe, California. Destructoid talks with Jeff Schiefelbein about creating the attraction and gives us a look at the disturbing things that will be inside...
"Konami's Silent Hill Homecoming will not be released in Japan. On the title's official home page, the Japanese company has announced that the domestic release of the game has been suspended.
No reason was given for this decision. "Please look forward to future titles in the series," the announcement notes."
It's a topic that has come up on various gaming sites recently... Many so-called "survival-horror" titles of this generation (such as Dead Space and Resident Evil 5) are taking more action-oriented routes to attract a larger audience, thus losing the "survival" aspect that many older horror games were known for.
But is survival horror slowly disappearing? Or is it simply evolving and adaptaing to suit a more mainstream audience? And if that's the case, is this change for the better?
Bit of news for our readers from abroad -- the sixth Silent Hill title has been dated for February 27 in European territories.
Additionally, Castlevania: Judgment will be coming out the same day.
The internet has been buzzing with news that Australia might finally get an R18+ Rating for video games, with 91% of Australians in support of the new rating. With the issue getting more and more publicity in Australia, big names are starting to back the push for an R18+ rating to be introduced into the country.
Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia chief, Ron Curry, supports the introduction R18+ rating, saying that "to have such a high quality narrative (such as Silent Hill)...
"When we spoke to Atari about its reaction to the ban and plans for the game, the representative mentioned that they hoped to get Konami to tone down the high impact violence scenes so that it could be reclassified as MA15+ and allow the game to be released in Q1 2009. We'll let you know as soon as Atari is able to confirm these plans."
That's right folks. Another week, another round of new video games being released. Kotaku's put up a list of games we can expect to find on Super Tuesday this week. Among these are Age of Booty and WALL-E for the Mac. The good ol' mystery boys aren't quite dead yet either, as Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft makes its way to the PC this week as well.
We all know Silent Hill's iconic enemy has never had an 'official' name, though he is popularly known as "Pyramid Head" or "Red Pyramid Thing" by the fans and game-makers alike.
But that seems to have changed for Silent Hill: Homecoming.
A scanned page from the official guide reveals that Pyramid Head now has a new name ... "Bogeyman"!
Discuss in the Silent Hill: Homecoming forum
By now we all know that Silent Hill: Homecoming has been refused classification in Australia. But why? Was it the violence? The gore? The horror? What makes it different to the other Silent Hill games that were all approved of a rating?
GamesonNet have got their hands on the OLFC's report that explains why the game has been banned. Go to the source for the full article.
"Well it seems the long awaited Silent Hill Homecoming title has received the cold shoulder from Australia's OLFC and Refused Classification.
This is yet another game to face the OLFC that has failed to pass due to their antiquated rating laws, where their highest rating for games is just MA15+, making many adult themed games, (no, not sexually based games) unable to gain classification.
Sure, some are then edited and then resubmitted, but why should they be. It's as if the world develop..."
At its 2008 Holiday Press Event in Manhattan, video game publisher Konami announced it's Fall/Winter 2008 lineup for North America, bringing games to all game systems and release dates.
"Following up on some reports coming out of Leipzig, the company informs us that the time frame for the North American release is still September, and Europe will apparently need to wait until later in '08.
We have also been informed that Valve's Steam digital distribution service is "the only method of distribution" for Silent Hill: Homecoming on the PC. Konami currently has no plans for a retail box version, which certainly is an interesting strategy."
Uh huh. That's right. The rumblings rang true, Silent Hill fans. Fan favourite Pyramid Head (probably the most demented fan favourite in any game, if I dare say so myself) is set to return in Silent Hill: Homecoming. More than that, PC gamers will have the opportunity to experience the game, presumably this fall or winter.
Tale of Tales recently interviewed Takayoshi Sato, the Character Designer and CGI Creator of Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2, about Silent Hill, the evolution of the series, and what he thought of the American movie.
He also discussed his role in Team Silent and what it's like being an artist.
Go to the source for the full interview.
"Last night Konami offered a rather large group of gaming journalists the opportunity to finally get some hands-on with Silent Hill: Homecoming. We were second in line and found everything to be in working order; the eerie sounds, intentionally grainy visuals and unsettling environments are coming along nicely and even the new dodgy-slashy combat system works better than we thought. If you were around last month you'll remember our three-day blowout of Homecoming - it looked like this:
Day ..."
A while ago The Collective (now known as "Double Helix") announced the game Harker, a survival-horror set around the classic tale of Dracula. The screenshots looked promising enough, but an entire year had passed with little more information released on the game. And now we know why... Harker has been put on "permanent hiatus" so that Double Helix can focus on Silent Hill: The Homecoming instead.
Silent Hill V is no longer be planned to be called Silent Hill V as Konami have decided to do a minor revamp on it and adding an extra word to it. This extra words being Homecoming, to make the new named title if you haven't guessed already, Silent Hill: Homecoming!
In addition to this Konami have claimed that the horror spoof, Silent Hill: Homecoming will come arriving to Europe at the end of September for both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
"Since its a survival horror game would you say Silent Hill 5 is the scariest narrative in the series so far?
I think when we talk about Silent Hill and a "scary" story we are talking about two different things. Overall, the game's scares will be the biggest we've had, and that's not just jump scares - the eerie feeling of dread will be heightened because the designers can really immerse you emotionally through amazing environments and wild-looking demons. However, story wise, Silent Hill has..."
When Westerners think of Japan's technology, they automatically think of how advanced it is in comparison to their own. Well according to Konami's sound director, Akira Yamaoka, that just isn't the case.
Yamaoka has recently been working on the new Silent Hill 5 game - The first game in the series to be developed by Westerners. And as a result, he believes that when it comes to developing games, Japan is falling behind America! Apparently Japanese game developers are in trouble.
(go to...
"Silent Hill 5 is under large rumors lately because of the lack of communication between Konami and the fans. Electric Shock magazine have had the chance to speak with Masashi Tsuboyama, the cheif director, about the next Silent Hill game.
DP: rumours of Silent Hill 5 have been spreading but lack of official word is causing some doubt in the fanbase. Can you state if you are officially developing Silent Hill for next generation consoles?
Tsuboyama-san: Konami are yet to release an offici..."
"Printed rumors claim that Silent Hill 5 is coming to PS3 and Xbox 360, but it looks like Wii will be left out of the loop. And it's not because of horsepower, but because of the antiquated perception that it's only a family console.
"While Nintendo Wii sales are very high, and I applaude Nintendo for their sucess, I dont think Silent Hill is a game that would be sold on Nintendo Wii as much as a game like Zelda would worldwide. This by no means says we will not consider the idea but the ge..."
"According to Yamaoka, Silent Hill 5 will more or less resemble Silent Hill 2 " in the terms of the way the player is directed and the characters' behavior." There's also a strong chance that the game will be losing the camera angle used in Silent Hill: Origins. "I like it and agree with the choice for the [PSP], but I don't think that's the camera angle we want on a home console," said Yamaoka. "That way you don't see enough of the surroundings that really mean a lot to the player in Silent H..."
![Box shot of Silent Hill: Homecoming [North America]](http://i.neoseeker.com/boxshots/R2FtZXMvUGxheXN0YXRpb25fMy9BZHZlbnR1cmUvTXlzdGVyeQ==/silent_hill_homecoming_frontcover_small_J7ITKMAiX4UKrni.jpg)