TWO New SH Games In Development??? (New SH Game Rumours)

[KiramidHead]

I prefer the organization of the forum as opposed to a chaotic comment section. And the anonymity here is nice as well. I mainly just haven't been around as much because there wasn't a whole lot of Silent Hill related stuff to talk about anymore, and I was one of the few who wasn't all that jazzed over PT.

[NanayaShiki]

Though, if I'm being honest, I wish I had picked literally ANY name other than "NanayaShiki" of all things when I made this account. lol

[Vixx]

Though, if I'm being honest, I wish I had picked literally ANY name other than "NanayaShiki" of all things when I made this account. lol

It can be changed! DM me your preferred username and I'll make the switch!

[NanayaShiki]

Oh man, I'll have to think about what I'd want it to be. I've had this name here for like 11 years now. lol. I'll let you know if I decide to change it to something.

[KiramidHead]

This was actually my first forum.

[tbonesays]

Social media is too slap-dash. The Facebook group for this site for example doesn't have nearly the same sense of community as we had (have?) here.

Seeing how many posts a member has, being able to easily quote stuff, seeing an icon for any topic that has new replies. Forums are just the superior discussion method if you ask me.

God, I miss this place from back when it was hopping and over just an hour away you could miss so much content being posted.

I'm glad we still have some stalwarts here though! <3 I'm so glad to be back on a more regular basis.

Social media by definition is for casual passing interest. For FB in particular I spend more time clicking the see more links than I do reading the posts. Real insight comes from a forum, reddit at the minimum.

Glad to see this much smoke rising out of Silent Hill Guess I had better get busy playing it.

[Tabris]

It seems these rumors are catching more and more momentum. Sadly, I have such little faith in Konami to do these games any sense of justice that I just can't even begin to be excited about it.

The newer Metal Gear and Contra games haven't exactly helped either. Also their 'very special announcement' at E3.

And I also much prefer forums. It's not even being sort of 'old school' at this point. Social media just feels so shallow and chaotic, it doesn't hold a candle to the depth of discussion a forum is capable of. Social media in general is like a Dollar Store level of conversation to me. But I also, just kind of really hate most social meda, so I'm fairly biased against it hah.

[jdnation]

An update from Eurogamer.

Konami has officially commented on this rumor, saying they are looking to continue the Silent Hill Series, but have nothing to share right now.

Eurogamer also says that according to their sources, there has been an improvement in relations between Kojima and Konami over the past 2 years.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020 ... evelopment

[NanayaShiki]

Eurogamer also says that according to their sources, there has been an improvement in relations between Kojima and Konami over the past 2 years.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020 ... evelopment

I've been really skeptical of the Kojima rumors because it just feels so wild to me that after everything that happened they'd make up, but then I noticed who wrote that article, so I guess I at least trust that one lmao

It would really be crazy if, even if not on SH, Konami and Kojima worked together again.

Either way, I feel very confident that we're going to hear from Silent Hill within the next year or so and that excites me.

[Droo]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that Eurogamer article written by our very own Vixx?

[Caim]

Eurogamer also says that according to their sources, there has been an improvement in relations between Kojima and Konami over the past 2 years.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020 ... evelopment

Big if true, as they say. Everyone put on your rose-colored glasses, this forum will rise again.

If the games are great, we should see an uptick in discussion.

Alternatively, if they're terrible, we will see a GREATER uptick in discussion. So either way, win-win-win, we all win.

[MistahJ]

The soft reboot idea I'm all for (if done well of course) but I just can't get behind a Telltale/Until Dawn style Silent Hill. How would that work? Wouldn't dialogue and other button prompts sort of ruin the atmosphere? It might have a good story but I can't see it being particularly scary. I don't know.

[NanayaShiki]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that Eurogamer article written by our very own Vixx?

Yep, that's why I said I trusted it when I saw who it was lol

[Vixx]

Yup - it me!

To clarify, I'm not privy to info about the new games in development – no-one's spoken to me about that – but the rumour was substantiated by CJ at Rely on Horror, whom I trust implicitly. It's all very good news, particularly as we know Ito's involved in a new horror, too...

As for the Kojima rumour; I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't have heard it myself. To be clear, I have no inside scoop on whether or not Kojima IS involved in the reboot/new game, but if it transpired he was involved in a new project with Konami, it wouldn't surprise me. I'm not convinced he is, tho, I'm just told it's plausible.

Bonus tip not everyone knows: Yamaoka was on-board to score/SFX Silent Hills. If these new games do exist, jfc, I hope someone's tapped him to contribute too!

It's all pretty circumstantial atm, but looking good... fingers crossed, eh?!

[NanayaShiki]

For sure! Also, yeah, I don't know CJ myself but I've always considered his info a credible source. He seems pretty cool.

As for the Kojima thing, I'm going to not assume he's involved in anything just yet (well, I believe he could be making his own horror game) but even just knowing that bridges are being made between him and Konami is shocking information to me. If there's any building I wish I could be a fly on the wall at, it's Konami for sure. lol

[aj4x94]

I'm all for new games in the series as long as its given to a team that shows it some love but at the same time not retread SH2 for the millionth time. It's okay to have a protagonist that isn't amnesiac or has a dark past. Both Silent Hill 1 and 4 showed us that we can have a protagonist that's mostly there for us to experience the horror through while the setting is influenced by someone else in the cast.

I'm even okay with a Until Dawn style game.

And I've come to this forum literally every day since I signed up, so I'm glad to see some familiar faces on here again.

[Droo]

Fingers crossed, indeed.

I'm surprised at the negative response to this rumour on the Facebook Group though. People really don't seem prepared to even give Konami a chance at course correcting the series. :/

[NanayaShiki]

Fingers crossed, indeed.

I'm surprised at the negative response to this rumour on the Facebook Group though. People really don't seem prepared to even give Konami a chance at course correcting the series. :/

On one hand, people really like holding onto negative feelings and grudges. "Fuck Konami" basically became a meme at some point and as much as people complain about them, they obviously really like hating them. Even before the cancelling of PT and the Kojima falling out, basically everywhere but here decided that Tomm Hulett was responsible for all the wrongs in the world and drove him out of the series. Not counting this forum, the Silent Hill fanbase has been pretty toxic for like ten years now.

... on the other hand, though, Konmai DOES have a lot of mistakes to make up for. They've mishandled all their series and spent the past five years sending the message that they don't need the video game industry anymore, outside of milking it's properties for gambling machines and cheap phone games. I can't really blame people for being hesitant to trust them before we've seen who they've sourced to make the next game and what kind of time/budget/help has been given.

[Girl Interrupted]

Some exciting news/rumors floating around! I’ve learned there’s some truth to rumors so really hope we get some sound information soon. I won’t get my hopes up too high about Kojima returning but that would be something else.

Fingers crossed, indeed.
... on the other hand, though, Konmai DOES have a lot of mistakes to make up for. They've mishandled all their series and spent the past five years sending the message that they don't need the video game industry anymore, outside of milking it's properties for gambling machines and cheap phone games. I can't really blame people for being hesitant to trust them before we've seen who they've sourced to make the next game and what kind of time/budget/help has been given.

It’s so baffling to me how they went this route. Let’s hope they go all out for this soft reboot in an effort to make up for their huge letdown with the cancellation of Silent Hills.

Though, if I'm being honest, I wish I had picked literally ANY name other than "NanayaShiki" of all things when I made this account. lol

It can be changed! DM me your preferred username and I'll make the switch!

I may take you up on this offer! My username reeks of teenage angst. Lol

[jdnation]

I could believe that Kojima wouldn't mind establishing good relations with Konami again. I'm certain not everyone on Konami's board was against him, and in fact it was previous board members and the previous president who encouraged Kojima to build FOX and take on Silent Hill.

Kojima has also been on a 'positivity' streak, and this is all over Death Stranding. He got a lot of help from his connections through Sony and Del Toro, and also with the death of his mum during DS' development that was a factor in him appreciating life, he seems to be very appreciative of what he has, and in interviews he has refused to trash Konami and instead has said he is very grateful to them for the time he's been employed over there. So while I don't believe Kojima wants to work on more Metal Gear games, I'm sure he has no problem burying any hatchets and establishing more peaceful relations again. It is likely that other members of Konami, including old KojiPro staff also feel similarly and would encourage good relations.

As for Konami's gambling initiatives, I believe these have largely stalled, as a result of the entire gambling/slots/pachinko industry trending downwards. Younger people don't care about slot machines and pachinko, because these are seen as past-times for old people. In Japan the demographic problem isn't helping, but the trend is similar in casinos worldwide. The only stuff popular is poker and other more social gambling table games at the wheel, baccarat, blackjack and other things. Konami were possibly also betting on the Japanese government deregulating gambling but that never occurred.

So a tactic to try and get young people interested in slots/pachinko has been to utilize brands young people know - specifically from video games, and thus this is why you'll see Konami trying to use Silent Hill and Metal Gear to make pachislot machines. But it is looking like this has been largely ineffective. As the older generations die out, slots and pachinko will continue to decline.

That said, it doesn't mean that the random slot gambling mechanic has gone away completely or has no appeal to young people. It just has taken a different form in the mobile market with loot box and gatcha games. These are more entertaining, and there is no payout except for in-game items, anime girls, and clothing and bikinis for the anime girls (and guys). So the same gambling mechanics have never gone away and instead of video game brands attracting young people into casinos, instead the casinos are being put into the games. Hence the concerns and attempts at loot box regulation. So Konami is still doing well by applying their gambling tactics to mobile Free to play titles. Low investment, bigger returns. They have not been so successful on the console side.

Konami, however, does have an incentive to get back into traditional console games, and that's precisely to keep those brands alive, so even if the console game doesn't give them the higher returns they want compared to the higher investment, they could still leverage it in other ways where the traditional console game can drive interest in gatcha or other cheaper mobile spin-offs or more pachislot if they're still stubbornly dedicated to this, as well as licensing of other merchandise from toys to shirts to movie/TV deals.

So I could see a scenario where Konami could make a deal with KojiPro, and even co-develop this with Sony. Kojima gets a contract plan to keep his studio going whilst still having creative freedom. Sony gets to publish a PS5 Silent Hill title based on hype. Konami gets to keep the PC sales. If Kojima is also putting some of his money into it he could get a cut of both PS5 and PC. So this three-way investment could make it more agreeable to Konami. And while Kojima takes on the work of the larger mainline title, Konami could outsource another smaller SH title fit for mobile/Switch/PS4/Xbone that spins off that one and makes more money on the side, plus keeps any merchandising rights from the KojiPro title, even if they allow KojiPro to design toys/merch.

It's a win-win-win situation for everybody.

One big factor that might explain why Kojima could opt to do Silent Hills instead of a new horror IP, I feel, could be that he doesn't want the potential of Konami coming to him with a suit claiming that he is using ideas for his new horror IP that he conceived of while working under them, and this is always a sticky issue for creatives. So Kojima would have to reestablish good relations with Konami in any scenario again to get a horror game developed. If it a new IP, he may first have to show them what he's doing, so that Konami's lawyers can clear up and give the okay that he is doing things that don't infringe on anything he conceived while at Konami, which is difficult. So far easier to just have a deal with Konami where they license the SH IP to him, or hire him to create the title for them, and that way everything is kosher.

There was another rumor going around awhile back that also suggested that Kojima was trying to make nice with Konami again, but this wasn't sitting well with Ken Imaizumi, who apparently wants nothing to do with Konami again and this the rumor stated that this was the reason why he might be leaving KojiPro. But this is unconfirmed. I do hope Ken stays as he's always been a long standing member of Kojima's team.

I suspect that there are big things in store for Silent Hill in the future. Or at least something is being worked out. If Sony, Kojima, and Konami can come together, and if Kojima can also bring Del Toro and Junji Ito back on board, then I figure there's going to be a very big campaign for Silent Hill to return in a big way, and not just to games, but with Kojima and Shinkawa even saying they have aspirations to create manga, film and animation, and what Sony may be cooking as their PlayStation Streaming service with not just game-streaming, but also film, anime and episodic content based on game franchises aimed at the gaming audience, we could see the possibility of Del Toro and Kojima producing new Silent Hill short films or TV series and heck maybe even Junji Ito will do a Silent Hill manga.

Especially given what real-time game engines can achieve with next-gen hardware set-ups and high end PCs with raytracing, sets, props, monsters and areas built for games can be re-utilized as assets for live-action, or performance captured CG films, so we'll start to see more multi-media approaches to games, which will bring in more returns on the initial investment, and also drive subscription services with new content, thus there will be a growing convergence of talent that does both film/TV and gaming divisions with shareable digital assets.

Konami is certainly aware of this, and thus there is every incentive to get back together with the man who excelled in the cutscene department of their gaming division, and has contacts in Hollywood and Sony. Especially if they want that Metal Gear Solid movie adaptation green lit. Konami will want to buy back as much consumer good will and hype as possible, because if things take off, it will look very good for their bottom line. Money talks, and that alone is enough incentive even for the guard at Konami who disliked Kojima to work with him again.

And contrary to the false impressions many have over Kojima being some big-budget spender, nothing could be further from the truth. Death Stranding was made very quickly and has a lot of clever asset re-use, it's a very indy mid-tier game disguised by a very impressive quality of polish. And you can bet that neither Reedus nor Mads were costing him anywhere near what they normally get paid for their usual TV/film work. Actors do take on interesting projects for a much lower salary just for a chance to work with some creatives they like or take roles they otherwise normally wouldn't get.