SH4 , not originally a SH game?

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SH4 , not originally a SH game?

Post by Anonymous »

(I looked around but couldn't find a topic or commet related to this, so sorry if its a repost or old news or whatever)

I kept reading how people refer to SH4 as a black sheep of the series or just don't like the game cause its not SH enough. Well after reading this paragraph It would make sense why people feel the way they do about SH4.


From Wiki Web Encyclopedia:

"However, Silent Hill 4 was not originally slated to be a Silent Hill game [1]. The Silent Hill team of designers planned for it to be an original concept for an original game not affiliated with any other franchise. After the general pre-production of the game, Konami decided that launching a new franchise was too much of a marketing risk, and instead opted to convert the game to a Silent Hill title. The connections to the second Silent Hill game, including the story of the serial killer, were added when the game went into full production."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Hill_4



Can anyone verify this? I would like to find a more official source for this but it does make sense about SH4 feeling...well not that SH-ish.
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Post by Mis Krist. »

I can't find the exerpt of the interview but it's been confirmed by Konami. They also wanted to go for more of an action-based game after they integrated parts of the Silent Hill story. Truthfully I can't blame Konami for this--by starting a whole new series they run the risk of pissing off fans waiting for a continuation of the next, and also what happens if this new series of theirs isn't a success? They stuck to what they knew would sell and tweaked it a bit. I also get confused as to why people think RE4 was better than SH4--these are the same people who say that SH4 was too action based and then praise RE4 as if it's God. RE4 is MORE of an action game than SH4 and apparently that one's amazing?
Last edited by Mis Krist. on 25 Jan 2006, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by amphreded »

Yep, it's meant to be a totally new serie until Konami decides that making it a SH title would have less risk of bad sales.
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Post by Orestes »

Yeah, I posted this ages ago before the forum got hacked so it's been wiped. I think there were several people who posted it before me too.
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Post by Heather_Mason »

Krist. wrote:I can't find the exerpt of the interview but it's been confirmed by Konami. They also wanted to go for more of an action-based game after they integrated parts of the Silent Hill story. Truthfully I can't blame Konami for this--by starting a whole new series they run the risk of pissing off fans waiting for a continuation of the next, and also what happens if this new series of theirs isn't a success? They stuck to what they knew would sell and tweaked it a bit. I also get confused as to why people think RE4 was better than SH4--these are the same people who say that SH4 was too action based and then praise RE4 as if it's God. RE4 is MORE of an action game than SH4 and apparently that one's amazing?

I totally agree with you, while RE4 may have alittle better graphics, and alittle more free roam, sort of, Silent Hill 4 still proves to be a far more superior Survival Horror game...
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Post by Anonymous »

Silent Hill 4 was....ok. Still, it pissed me off that you only spend a little bit of time in Silent Hill. You mostly just visit those alternate demensions. Silent Hill, the town itself, was my favorite part of all the games.
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Post by GioGio »

I heard this news way back. From what I remember, The Room was just another game and Konami deceided to add it to the SH series.
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Post by Eileen Daja »

It was my sister and I sitting down and playing it for the first time that pretty much made us wonder "is this really a Silent Hill game?" sure, the disc, the menu and the box said it was, and althought I throughly enjoyed the game, it just didn't have the same feel to it as the others. At least with knowledge that it wasn't orginally made for the series, I can honestly say I'm not really all that suprised whatsoever.

I would have enjoyed in SH4, a little more time to roam Silent Hill itself. I agree with Deadshell, it's pretty much Silent Hill town that was the best part.


(And kinda of made sense to be there what with the game series and title, etc :mrgreen:)
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Post by Chris Sunderland »

Yes in Pre-Production,but when they were actually working on the game,it was Silent Hill. :wink:
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Post by Anonymous »

No, SH4 wasn't originally intended as a SH game - but please stop bringing this up among your reasons why Silent Hill 4 "sucked". They changed it to make it fit, OK? It's not like it's THAT radically different...
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Post by emptimass »

It was changed, put together at the end to be a SH. Didn't have the
same aura of the other games, but it fit. A story that takes place
outside of SH yet still ties to it. I loved the game. When I played
SH2 I shit you not I always wondered about the newspaper clipping that I had
found in the trash out side of the apartments. Then there was another reference
to Walter in the elevator. This seemed somehow significant to me even back
when SH2 first came out. I was very happy that they(even at the last minute)
chose to ellaborate on the story.
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Post by Jedah »

emptimass wrote:It was changed, put together at the end to be a SH. Didn't have the
same aura of the other games, but it fit. A story that takes place
outside of SH yet still ties to it. I loved the game. When I played
SH2 I shit you not I always wondered about the newspaper clipping that I had
found in the trash out side of the apartments. Then there was another reference
to Walter in the elevator. This seemed somehow significant to me even back
when SH2 first came out. I was very happy that they(even at the last minute)
chose to ellaborate on the story.
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Post by emptimass »

Don't forget Walters’s grave that you can see in the room with the other graves that James jump downs to.
Of course not. It was almost as if they had set themselves up for a story later.
Makes you wonder if there has been any references to anybody else in
any of the other games that will lead to a story for SH5.
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Post by Pojo »

I've always wondered exactly how much of SH4 is from the original game, and how much is just tacked on to give it the Silent Hill title. I guess that's why it just doesn't feel right, the areas are far from the claustraphobia of the other titles, and I guess that explains the camera angles too.
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Post by Anonymous »

The only thing that changed between Silent HIll 4 and the concept is the title.

It was always part of the same continuity. It was a side-game.
They had no plans of putting 'Silent Hill' in the title and instead would let players learn about that through documents and obvious characters(hence all the ties to past characters, like Frank, Nurse Rachel, and Walter Sullivan to connect it), but Konami insisted they put "SILENT HILL" in the title to increase the sales. Room 302 become Silent Hill: The Room, and eventually Silent Hill 4: The Room, now fully adopted into the line of games.
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Post by Littlestardweller »

I remember I posted a topic asking for proof of whether it was originally not to be an SH game or not and Vivisect found the interview where it said that it wasn't going to be an SH game.
I'm not sure where that article is now though, sorry.

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Post by Jedah »

I found the interview.

GW: So the series is getting larger, gaining more momentum, and was coming out on a yearly basis, right?

Akihiro Imamura: Well, keep in mind SH4 was not originally suppose to be a Silent Hill.

Akira Yamaoka: We did see a significant increase in popularity after the first game and even more so after the second. Originally the intention was not to make SH3 a direct sequel to the first game. In fact, the scenario was completely different, but fans seemed to want to tie up some loose ends, so we tried that, even though some on the staff did not agree with the decission.
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Post by MapDark »

may sound weird .. but I would've enjoyed the room if it has stayed . the room .. and NOT silent hill : the room


I was not able to enjoy it because of the fact it did'nt feel SH-ish enough
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Post by Anonymous »

They might have changed it to make it fit, but I still think it doesn't count as a real SH game.

Probably will play it, if I can finish 3.
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Post by Cherry Bomb »

To be fair, I don't think they really had the discs practically in the retail boxes before they changed it to fit with Silent Hill. Perhaps in the very earliest stages it was something else, but it definitely was a Silent Hill game for years before it was released.
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