The future of Silent Hill films?

[DistantJ]

Cause it's totally to do with the nationality and all that.

[Silent Fantasy]

Although according to Droo Shattered Memories sold pretty well. Which if that's the case really just supports my original argument that quality matters with these games, and Konami needs to step up and deliver great titles more consistently if they want the series to continue.

I completely agree with this. Considering this is one of their main franchises of like 3 or 4, they need to keep it alive and actualy invest in it. Konami is not alone in this though. Too many companies are rushing products out or doing half assed work. The Silent Hill titles to me, though having some rough spots, have faired well. Can't say the same for their financial success though, not that Silent Hill has ever been a power house in that department.

Hulett sucks, get him away from anything SH related... I want any future games to be made by a Japanese development team, just to see if they can get this series back on track.

This screams ignorance.

[Skele]

^It's not ignorance. He's worked on Origins, Shattered Memories, and Downpour, and i don't care for any of those 3 games tbh. Did he also have a hand in the HD collection as well? We all know how great that turned out.

"Cause it's totally to do with the nationality and all that."

It couldn't hurt. We've given Western Dev's and what, a European (?) dev team a number of chances, and so far, the games have been very hit or miss. I'm not saying the Japanese would definitely have success, but i'd feel a little more hopeful than i do now. Right now i have no faith that this series will ever get back on track.

[alone in the town]

I'm not saying the Japanese would definitely have success, but i'd feel a little more hopeful than i do now.

I hate to be the one to break this to you but there are plenty of terrible Japanese developers.

[KoRn_Child]

I do think the Japanese have a unique flavor of horror that the series has been missing recently, and I'd like to see it come back. But it isn't a necessity for me, and their are plenty of Western devs that could do the series justice. Climax did it already, and honestly I wouldn't mind them getting another crack at the series.

[Yuki]

I do think the Japanese have a unique flavor of horror that the series has been missing recently, and I'd like to see it come back.

I'd go so far as to say that it's probably because you're not exposed to it as often as you are Western horror.

[teosoleil]

I do think the Japanese have a unique flavor of horror that the series has been missing recently, and I'd like to see it come back. But it isn't a necessity for me, and their are plenty of Western devs that could do the series justice. Climax did it already, and honestly I wouldn't mind them getting another crack at the series.

Yes. This. After Shattered Memories, I'm wondering what certain members of Climax can cook up...

[Droo]

A joint venture between Climax and Kojima Productions on the FOX Engine would make my nipples hard.

[KoRn_Child]

I do think the Japanese have a unique flavor of horror that the series has been missing recently, and I'd like to see it come back.

I'd go so far as to say that it's probably because you're not exposed to it as often as you are Western horror.

Actually, I'm probably exposed to it more often because I prefer Japanese horror to the Western stuff, and actively seek it out.

[teosoleil]

In general, though, I think the specific mindset on what is scary in the West is specifically different from the mindset in the East, all due to the cultural viewpoints on fear and scares, not just the common trend in movies from either area.

[Yuki]

In general, though, I think the specific mindset on what is scary in the West is specifically different from the mindset in the East, all due to the cultural viewpoints on fear and scares, not just the common trend in movies from either area.

This is what I meant. You're surrounded by Western culture because (I'm assuming) you don't live in Japan. Of course it's going to seem novel to you.

[teosoleil]

In general, though, I think the specific mindset on what is scary in the West is specifically different from the mindset in the East, all due to the cultural viewpoints on fear and scares, not just the common trend in movies from either area.

This is what I meant. You're surrounded by Western culture because (I'm assuming) you don't live in Japan. Of course it's going to seem novel to you.

Agreed.

I think that, at this point in time, J-horror atmosphere has given way to the grandiose gore-feasts of American horror. Not ignoring all exceptions to this, though, but it seems that today this is what fills the content of most "horror" media, if that makes sense.

[Skele]

"I hate to be the one to break this to you but there are plenty of terrible Japanese developers"

wow... you don't say?

Anyway, the west has had the series for 4, or 5 games, and the series has been pretty bad since. I'd like to see it make a return to Japan, but that doesn't mean that the game will be successful, nor is it certain that there's even a development that wants to take on the project.. it'd just get my hopes up if this happened is all.

[Silent Fantasy]

It's had 4 or 5 bad games only according to you. Not everyone feels that the series has fallen from grace as much as some like to think.

[The Adversary]

SILENT HILL 4: THE ROOM wasn't a very good game, and it definitely wasn't revered by the "true" fans when it first came out. Meaning, of course, that the beloved Team Silent isn't as perfect as people seem to remember it being.

[SilentWren]

SILENT HILL 4: THE ROOM wasn't a very good game, and it definitely wasn't revered by the "true" fans when it first came out.

This.
I joined the fandom (in any measurable capacity) about the time 4 and the first movie came out. I very distinctly remember the impression of 4 being; "this is a horrific blasphemy." But now all the TS cheerleaders draw the line at Origins. I know one's tastes can change with time, but it gives the impression that they just want to love TS and hate Tomm.

Besides that, I loved 4 & Origins both. I hate those people who want to cherry pick certain points just to further their own agenda. Why not judge every game on it's own without allowing these weird semantics to get in the way? It's not doing either side any favors. Everyone should just chillax.

[silenced angel]

I also dislike when people say if you like the TS games and believe that the newer devs haven't been able to match the standards of TS, then you're just someone who is not willing to accept the new developers and you must be someone who hates Tomm Hulett and will never move on, so then you must hate SH.

It's like we're just thinking in black or white and that's pretty much all that is.

Anyway, if there's another SH film, I think it will tell a different story in the same town, and I hope for a more psychologic story, maybe adapting one of the games, or like mixing elements from the remaining games in the series I don't know... handled well it might be a worthy experience.

[AuraTwilight]

I also dislike when people say if you like the TS games and believe that the newer devs haven't been able to match the standards of TS, then you're just someone who is not willing to accept the new developers and you must be someone who hates Tomm Hulett and will never move on, so then you must hate SH.

That's only because the vast majority of them are. Not all of you, no. But the voices of the Japanophile Tomm-haters are drowning you guys out.

[SilentWren]

^That.

I mean, not to get off topic or anything, but most of the new game dislikers have a pretty severe antagonism towards Tomm and/or Devin. And by "most," I seriously mean like 99%. If there is that 1% of said group that doesn't blame specific individuals for their perceived decline in the series...they are church mice compared to fans like TwinPerfect. Nobody knows how read another person's mind.

[DistantJ]

Nice to hear people acknowledging Silent Hill 4's incompetence. Might have had some good ideas (but then so do the new ones) but it was, for the most part, very very disappointing back when it came out. I remember playing Origins and being pleased at how it was a return to form.

Sometimes I think the developers understand the series more than we think they do, and that we sometimes add credibility and canon that isn't there, based on the stuff that moved us in SH2. If anything, SH2 was telling us that Silent Hill was all about variation on a theme (and SH4 only further reinforced that). At the time, fans complained, which was why 3 continued on from 1 instead, almost leaving SH2 as this series' Halloween III, but now we all say 2 is the best, and Origins and Homecoming tried to please both sides, to continue the SH1/3 story, look and feel but also to incorporate elements of SH2. We didn't like that either. Shattered Memories decided to go completely new, and then we complained about that. So Downpour tries to be both new and traditional, incorporating a lot of 'best of' parts of the series while doing something completely different with it at the same time. We seem actually relatively satisfied with Downpour in comparison to the previous three when you throw aside it's technical issues, but still, a lot of people aren't happy with this one either. Now they also have the burden of having to please several different camps of fans - those who want more of Alessa and the rust, those who want more originality, and new fans who want to see more Pyramid Head etc. It can't be easy. Team Silent would have just as much difficulty. I'd hate to see what their Silent Hill 5 or 6 would have been like after how 4 was.

I say go for it with more SH movies. As long as they dare to be different and do the whole 'scary otherworld, surreal monsters' thing it's still Silent Hill to me. As long as it still stands out and dares to be different, doesn't play to cliches or expectations.