ifirit

Silent Hill 0rigins Update: New Trailer (Official #3) Released at Tokyo Game Show 2006 (Plus New Music!): A new trailer for Silent Hill 0rigins has been released for the Tokyo Game Show to attract potential buyers and distributors. The now third official trailer to be released by Konami Digital Entertainment features a design similar to that used for The Silent Hill Experience trailer, featuring a similar camera shift and swing between screens from the in-game action. It appears that Climax Studios, developer in charge of gameplay design for SH0, has embraced the more violent, action-oriented style that was it initially teetering on. The use of very quick actions and purely brutal carnage create a disturbing atmosphere of its own, suggesting that the game will exploit the brutal flairs that have only been subtly applied in previous titles. While this aspect does deter most fans because of the similance to other "all-gore, no scare" stylings of many horror genre pieces, it appears that Konami is maintaining the sense of subtlety by keeping the images at a distance while layering other images in the foreground (particularly the the meat hooks). This blend of the liminal and subliminal is trademark for the series and shows no sign of being lost through the involvement of a third party. Let's hope that the finished product gives us a new experience in terror and maintains its self-proclaimed title of "Master of Horror-Adventure." Speaking about the use of liminal and subliminal stylings, the new music featured in the trailer (composed by Akira Yamaoka with vocals performed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn) has an especially tender approach suggesting that there is a deliberate attempt to place the player at a distance from the particularly bloody and violent way that the gameplay is appearing onscreen. If one is to then couple this sense of visualization with the story, you may draw connections between the time Travis was institutionalized and the concept of forming a disassociation from people and society. I wonder how that will play out in the story. Anyway, check out this trailer, the awesome reinterpretation of the main Silent Hill theme, "Silent Hill," and everyone give a big welcome to Furin, webmaster for Silent Hill Origins, who has generously offered the trailer for download and who has recently become an affliate of Silent Hill Media. Konami Digital Entertainment - Tokyo Game Show 2006 Konami Special Site Konami Digital Entertainment - Silent Hill 0rigins Tokyo Game Show 2006 Trailer (Direct Stream / Broadband) Konami Digital Entertainment - Silent Hill 0rigins Tokyo Game Show 2006 Trailer (Direct Stream / Dial-up) Silent Hill Origins - Silent Hill 0rigins Tokyo Game Show 2006 Trailer (Furin's Mirror) YouTube.com - Silent Hill 0rigins Tokyo Game Show 2006 Trailer Major gaming sites and other Silent Hill Fan sites have yet to post this trailer on their sites, but when they do, I'll post the links here. EDIT: Almost forgot to post the lyrics to the music from the trailer, which is currently rumored to be titled "Hope." The last lyric in the song is some word ending in an "i" sound, like "die" or "fly." All I know is that it rhymes with the preceeding "why." EDIT 2: The official Japanese trailer has been placed on GameTrailers.com in various formats. Visit the page to download the trailer. GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill 0rigins (Japanese Trailer) (.mov file / 7.9MB) GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill 0rigins (Japanese Trailer) (.wmv file / 9.0MB) GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill 0rigins (Japanese Trailer) (.mp4 file / 5.8MB)

Silent Hill Rumor Control: SH5 To Appear At Tokyo Game Show 2006 (Autumn)?: According to many internet sources, a rumor has been spreading about the appearance of a game demo for Silent Hill 5 at this year's Tokyo Game Show. Granted, it's been more than 2 years since Konami executives have made mention of a Silent Hill game for the next generation of consoles, too little information has appeared about the game and the list of games scheduled to appear at TGS 2006 have had some inconsistency in listing SH5 as a hosted item. Even further to this rumor, SH5 is listed on these lists as a PlayStation 3 title, something that Konami has yet to confirm. Although, their history and placement of business contacts in the past have dealt primarily with Sony and their line of PlayStation products, Konami has always remained independent from the "Big 3" and garnered deals that best suited both the companies they deal with and themselves. Still, many people believe the Silent Hill franchise will remain under the PlayStation name. Still, Konami has a way of surprising people, so you never know. Silent Hill 5 Teaser?: A video has appeared on YouTube (again) claiming to be a video from the upcoming Silent Hill 5. Not much information is given, as the caption only reads "SH5_Test" and the poster has no other videos alotted to his/her profile. The poster boombooooom is listed as a person of 30 years of age living in Japan. Considering how Silent Hill 0rigins was leaked two weeks before it appeared at E3 2006, there is a possibility that this is a true teaser. However, by watching the video, you can see that it is mostly editted stock photage of an abandoned building, spliced between some distorted CG images. At the end, the official PlayStation 3 logo appears. While the images are professionally done and the video as a whole seems viable, I do not believe that this is a teaser for Silent Hill 5. Mostly because the mood and music of the video are laced by Japanese tones and sentiments. (It feels more like a video for Siren/Forbidden Siren than one for Silent Hill.) Likely, this is a project for the PlayStation 3 conceived by another company as a horror game under a different title. While, I'm excited about the possibility of seeing imagery from a Silent Hill game on PlayStation 3 technology, this does not seem to be it, at least not something that would take 2 years to make. Silent Hill 5 Trailer?: Please don't be fooled by this trailer on YouTube. It's completely fan-created by some fans in Spain and has nothing to do with the next game in the series. But, I'm disclaiming it now in the case that someone may confuse this as something real. (It's obviously not.)

Silent Hill 2 - "Promise (Reprise)" by 8: I have to compliment you on this piece that you've rearranged from Silent Hill 2. The style is a mixture of progressive rock screeches, industrial pop beats and flowing, pristine piano melody. The mixture seems to take a page directly from Yamaoka's book and even contains stylings from Billy Corgan and Trent Razor. The mood is lugubrious and the pace is slow, like walking without purpose on a cool, autumn afternoon. It's difficult to make such slow ambient pieces work, so it's a great pleasure and a huge compliment to give one's approval when someone achieves that. Yet, in spite of creating such a wonderfully distorted and appealing song, there are a few parts of its slip showing. Namely, there is some over-processing on the distortion (EQ effect) used in the style. This appears when the electric guitar screeches become higher in volume and generally listening to this at an overall high volume. As the ebb and flow of this aspect is an important part in the structure of the piece, it becomes important to address this upfront. While listening to this on headphones, the guitar distortions when arised in volume begin to cause some clipping, though not entirely abrasive. I would suggest that you spend some time refining the EQ of that particular track to really balance out the distortion with the clearity to preserve sound quality. In addition to tightening up the EQ on the guitar, I would also suggest that you tighten up the arrangement as well. The piece seems to be structured around the aspect of the guitar playing as if rising and flowing like the tides. As such, the individual rhythm of the guitar (timing) should reflect it better, particularly in the middle section where there are points that sound like verbatum useage of earlier portions of the track. As the rhythm of this track becomes more varied it will reflect on the mood in a greater way, adding tension and meaningful uneasiness. This seems to apply to the piece as a whole as well (apply the same techniques of rise and fall with piano melody to keep that section from sounding repetitive.) Though, I love the way that the percussion and bass develop at the beginning of the piece, establishing a singular and empty soundscape for the guitar to thrive, towards the middle and most importantly ending, the percussion is leaving one wanting much more. In other words, there are some holes in your soundscape that leave the piece sounding too desolate at times. The greatest source of this problem stems from the very constant rhythm of the percussion and bass synth. I can almost set my watch to that timing. One is almost asking for some variety in the percussion. However, one must be careful in adding variations, since an ill-timed beat or poorly constructed note can tear apart the established pace of the piece. So, in cases like this, its best to use discretion. Add variations to the percussion elements (especially that twitchy bass synth, which is subtle) as is softly done in the drum track from 2'30" to 4'09". If the variations prove ineffective, layer in other soft-beat instruments or rhythmic sound effects. Show that there is something thing worth paying attention to underneath the song as well as on top of it. It's difficult to give someone advise on a track that builds itself around the concept of a barren soundscape, because the addition of elements slowly fills that soundscape and changes it. However, to submit to OCR, a certain amount of that soundscape has to be filled. So it's a compromise of working to add as much variation, personality and tone to a song without deteriorating the soundscape. Yet, in this piece there is still room to provide increased numbers of elements without destroying the environment. So, in addition to working with what's already here, work to explore the soundscape some more also by adding in other elements and creating an interplay with the pre-existing ones. If you need a point of focus, then I suggest that you work on filling the middle section out more, by either adding some harmony to the piano, filling out the percussion, complimenting the guitar with other high frequency sounds or developing a midsection of pad work and accompaniment. So, let's recap. This is an incredibly awesome concept piece that establishes a mood and atmosphere fitting to its source, but has quite a fair amount of room to grow. Focus on clearing up the distortion issues on the guitar, tighten the guitar's ebbs and flows for added dynamism, fill out the percussion section (with discretion) at the middle and ends to develop the piece as a whole, and experiment with additional elements to complete the soundscape for a truly unique experience. This piece is at a great level of completion, but it needs that extra personal polish to make it exceptional. Peace, Love and Good Luck, ifirit

Bought mine (baseball T and normal T) before the web address change and continue to wear it every now and again. I do have to agree that ordering one size less than you normally wear fits better, since mine hang and bag in odd places (waist and sleeves). But, this probably just happens with normal wear.

I assumed that the Silent Hill Collection and the Silent Hill Complete Set were the same item and just browsed over them. (They also seemed like old news since other forum members here already made light of the European version.) However, looking back, I've realized that no news had been made about the Silent Hill Complete Set (Japanese Version). So,... *Ahem* The Silent Hill Collection / Complete Set Update: The Silent Hill Complete Set Released in Japan: Konami Digital Entertainment released the Silent Hill Complete Set on July 6, 2006 in Japan. This collection contained the Japanese versions of Silent Hill (PS), Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut (PS2), Silent Hill 3 (PS2), and Silent Hill 4: The Room (PS2). The games were all individually packaged and placed inside a solid black box. As a bonus for those who ordered online, they also received 5 collector's cards (one for each game and a fifth for the film) in addition to a poster for Silent Hill. Originally, Konami had promised to include a special projection light keychain with online orders, but that the release retracted it in place of the movie poster. The Silent Hill Complete Set was printed in limited quantity (not sure why exactly, because all the versions of these games are the budget releases) and many sellers have already sold out, including importers. So, the only place to get one on the internet is through EBay. (But, I've already checked and no copies are available right now.) The main differences between the Silent Hill Complete Set (Japan) and the Silent Hill Collection (Europe & Australia), aside from formatting, are that the copy of Silent Hill 2 in the European version is simply the first release of the game (not the director's cut), Silent Hill (PS) is not included with the set, and all three PS2 titles are set inside a single box. The European version's only unique feature is a special advertisement for the Silent Hill Experience included with the manuals. "The Silent Hill Complete Set" retails in Japan at 8,200 yen (~55 EUR, ~70 USD), while the selling price is 7,380 yen (~49 EUR, ~64 USD) online at KonamiStyle.jp. "The Silent Hill Collection" retails on KonamiStyle.se for 529 SEK, Swedish Kronor, (~57 EUR, ~74 USD). Other online retail prices may vary. "The Silent Hill Complete Set" includes: "Silent Hill (PSOne Books)" (Konami Ultimate Selection edition) "Silent Hill 2: コナミ殿堂セレクション" (Director's Cut / Konami Ultimate Selection edition) "Silent Hill 3 コナミ殿堂セレクション" (Konami Ultimate Selection edition) "Silent Hill 4: The Room コナミ・ザ・ベスト" (Konami The Best edition) KonamiStyle Special Post Cards (Online Orders only) KonamiStyle Silent Hill poster (Online Orders only) Konami Digital Entertainment - News - 映画「SILENT HILL」の原作ゲームソフトなど、「サイレントヒルコンプリートセット」を販売開始 (News Announcement) KonamiStyle.jp - Silent Hill (Home Page) KonamiStyle.jp - The Silent Hill Complete Set (Order Page) (Out-of-Print / Out-of-Stock) PlayAsia.com - Silent Hill Complete Set (Out-of-Print / Out-of-Stock) Zone-of-Gamers - Image Gallery - Silent Hill Collections KonamiStyle.se - Silent Hill Collection (Out-of-Print / Available) Amazon.co.uk - Silent Hill Collection (Out-of-Print / Out-of-Stock) Silent Hill Film Update (Japan): Online Retailers Taking Pre-Orders for Silent Hill Premium and Ultimate Box Editions: A large number of japanese online retailers have begun taking pre-orders for the first printing of Silent Hill in Japan. Dubbed "Silent Hill Premium Edition," this will be the first printing of the film on a 2-disc DVD set. (Yes, that's right a two disc set.) The first disc will apparently contain the feature film plus the bonus documentary "Path of Darkness: Making Silent Hill." The second disc will contain a game-to-film comparison video created by the Konami development team. In addition to the two DVDs, Sony also plans to include a Blu-Ray version of the film with the limited printing of the "Silent Hill Ultimate Box" package. The Blu-Ray disc will contain all the features of both DVDs. A custom case and booklet will also be available with the limited edition set and while available for the "Premium Edition." The "Silent Hill Premium Edition" will retail at 5,800 yen (49.99 USD), while the "Silent Hill Ultimate Box" edition will retail at 8,800 yen (~76 USD), although pre-order prices range from 5,177 yen for SHPE and 6,930 yen for the SHUB. Both special versions of the film will be available on November 22, 2006. You can find more information by tracking the collections by their catalogue numbers: Silent Hill Premium Edition: PCBE-52444 Silent Hill Ultimate Box: PCBE-52450 CDJapan - Silent Hill Premium Edition CDJapan - Silent Hill Ultimate Box YesAsia.com - Silent Hill Premium Edition YesAsia.com - Silent Hill Ultimate Box (Usually, I post other links as well, here, but decided against it since I've listed the catalogue numbers already and since no other sites list this information in English.) Silent Hill 1 Update: Silent Hill Original Soundtracks Available for iTunes/i-revo: Konami has officially released the original game soundtracks for the first three titles of the Silent Hill series for download. The soundtracks are available for purchase through the iTunes Music Store of Japan (AAC format) or the i-revo MUSIC ICE (WMA format). You can download the "Silent Hill OST" for 1,500 yen (~ 15 USD) and the "Silent Hill 2 OST" or "Silent Hill 3 OST" for 1,800 yen (~18 USD) (much cheaper than the cost of the original OSTs at release). Although, many fan sites have offered downloadable versions of the Silent Hill soundtracks in past, the discretion has always been that you needed to own the CD to download the files. With the first three CDs now out-of-print and only available from online auction sites (expensive) or third-party printers (being essentially bootlegs), it's very difficult to obtain the original soundtracks as CDs. However, now that the soundtracks are officially available for purchase on an online music store, fans can obtain high quality audio files of this great music without the hassle of first obtaining the hard-to-find CDs. ('Cause I know that noone has ever downloaded the music illegally. ) Konami Digital Entertainment - Music Downloads (iTunes Music Store) Konami Digital Entertainment - Music Downloads (i-revo MUSIC ICE) Silent Hill: The Novel With the popularity of the Silent Hill series at it's height right now, it's no surprise that Konami has gone so far as to novelize the first game. Considering that the "Silent Hill Play Novel" is essentially the same thing (although so much more since it includes "Cybil's Scenario"), creating a novel of the first game seems trivial. However, because Konami is trying to make the series accessible for more people, the novel acts as a way to experience the game for people who have been too afraid of horror games to play them or simply for those who like the story but not the gameplay. This adaptation of the game was written by Sadamu Yamashita and features new illustrations by Masahiro Ito (the series monster designer, Warning: Link Contains Non-Work-Safe Material), who, by the way, explains on his website what Silent Hill Cage of Cradle actually is: a multimedia comic featuring Lisa Garland before the events of SH1. (Awesome!) Masahiro Ito also states that it may be coming out in paperback form in 2007. (Sweet.) Anyway, back to the novel. The book is printed in paperback with a glossy sleeve and and a smaller glossy sleeve advertising, ironically, "Silent Hill Cage of Cradle." The novel is written in Japanese (obviously) in a traditional japanese format, meaning that the sentences are written vertically (start at the top and read straight down) from right to left. Throughout the novel, black-and-white concept and CG images from the game are interlaced, sparingly, with the pages to give an illustration of what is going on at that point in the story. The coolest part of the book is that there are 8 full-page drawings featuring reinterpretations of the monsters from SH1. There are 4 full color images and 4 black-and-white images. The full color drawings include: the hanged body that appears throughout the game, a group of Clawfingers (aka "Mumblers" aka "Child #4") emerging from the dark, the Incubus and the scene of the Incubator giving the child to Harry. The novel's black-and-white drawings include: Cheryl (anime style), the Split Head (aka "Lizard"), the Puppet Nurse (aka "Alchemilla Nurse") and Lisa's transformation in Nowhere. The novel retails at 933 yen (~9 USD) and has the ISBN number: 4-86155-815-8. If you'd like to view a sample of the book including the full-color illustrations, you can see it here. Konami Digital Entertainment - コナミノベルス「サイレントヒル」 Amazon.co.jp - コナミノベルス「サイレントヒル」 (新書) Yahoo.co.jp - コナミノベルス「サイレントヒル」 (新書) Alternatively, there is a novelization of Silent Hill (film version) available as well. It's written by Paula Edgewood. If you want you can track that book by it's ISBN number: 4-04352-208-8. Konami TV News Update: Official Konami Press Videos of Previously Released Silent Hill Material: Going back and looking up information on Konami's website, I began searching the video news archives for information on Silent Hill, particularly SH0 and SH5. To my surprise, Konami's TV News network has covered a large portion of this year's news on Silent Hill, no doubt thanks to the film release this year and the increased publicity. Unfortunately, all of the news is only available in Japanese. Anyway, here's a look at what they covered. - Silent Hill Film Premiere at Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, California (with Akira Yamaoka) / ifirit post Embedded Stream (Broadband) Direct Stream (Broadband) Embedded Stream (Dial-up) Direct Stream (Dial-up) - Silent Hill Film Screening to Konami Executives in Tokyo, Japan (with Akira Yamaoka) Embedded Stream (Broadband) Direct Stream (Broadband) Embedded Stream (Dial-up) Direct Stream (Dial-up) - Akira Yamaoka at the Chicago Premiere of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony / ifirit post #1 / ifirit post #2 Embedded Stream (Broadband) Direct Stream (Broadband) Embedded Stream (Dial-up) Direct Stream (Dial-up) - Akira Yamaoka at the Opening of Silent Hill Shocking House / ifirit post Direct Stream (Broadband) Direct Stream (Dial-up) Konami sure does love Akira Yamaoka, essentially making him the face of the Silent Hill series, despite the fact that this is really an ensemble effort between the writers (Hiroyuki Owaku, Suguru Murakoshi), designers (Masahiro Ito, Sato Takayoshi, Minako Asano), programmers (Akihiro Imamura, Norihito Hatakeda, Hidehisa Harada) and directors (Keiichiro Toyama, Masashi Tsuboyama, Kazuhide Nakazawa & Suguru Murakoshi), as well as all others involved.

Heather, the reincarnation, specifically says, Can't argue against a clear-cut statement like that.

Warning: Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3 & Silent Hill Spoilers Sure, I love questions about Silent Hill. No, Samael does not exist. Metraton is also an improper name to use for the god that resides in Alessa from the games. It's simply know as the god or "God?", sometimes as the Devil; it really has no name. Anyway, Alessa in the film universe is never clearly shown as having any sort of "special power" as she is in the games. Although it is not completely clear whether Alessa Gillespie's (Age 14) powers were derived from the god inside her, Alessa (Age 10) gained the power to change the world from an otherworldly being, manifeasted as Dark Alessa. The being has powers and an agenda of its own, but for Alessa (Age 40) all that she wants is revenge. The being (Dark Alessa) combined with Alessa to create the otherworld of Silent Hill (both the Smokey and Alternate worlds). Also as a by-product, by combining together, Alessa gave birth to Sharon. Dark Alessa (also known as the "Dark One") sent this incarnation of Alessa into the "real world" to spare her from the terror that they would enact upon the "church of Silent Hill." In the film, the cult has grown beyond a few individuals and actually has a church available to them. The first game had the cult performing their ceremonies in basements of buildings and in secret places beyond the view of the public. The film cult seems to actually practice out in public, thus, I label them the "church." Because most of the "church" was sent to the otherworld in the last burning, I don't know what has happened to church in the present-day, real world. (I suspect that because of Officer Thomas Gucci, all, if any, would be driven underground.) It could be argued that the manifeastation of Dark Alessa is the god, because it refers to itself as having many names and coming upon hearing Alessa's cries. However, that is never really made clear or even present. You can decide. Alessa (in the Incubator's form) dies at the end of SH1, she reincarnates herself (Alessa and Cheryl) as a baby, which she places in the care of Harry Mason. Harry then returns to his life in Portland to begin with Cheryl again. Because of an attack on him in his home several years later by a "religious fanatic," he entered into hiding by moving to another city and changing his name. And in the process, he changes his daughter's name as well. It seems that Heather whole-heartedly accepted Harry's decision at the time. So, Heather/Cheryl/Alessa continues to live a (somewhat) normal existence, living at home, going to the mall, doing chores around the house for some extra money from her father, etc. She has forgotten about her past and chooses not to think about it. Despite her previous incarnations and the presence of the god inside her, Heather has no manifeastation of "special powers." At least, until Claudia comes around. I know that you might be thinking that this in no way answers your question, but that's because you're asking the wrong question. The power that Alessa has and the power that exists in the town are two different things. The power of the land on which the town was built has pre-existed long before Alessa was even born. Alessa's powers extend only to making manifeastations of her thoughts, using her "special power" or the god inside her as a source of that power, whichever you believe. The town is inhabited by a power inate to itself. The early native americans that resided in the area held the place as sacred, believing that spirits inhabited the land, which may be the origin of that power. Also, these were not simply spirits of dead people, but spirits of all things: rocks, trees, water, etc. After the colonization of the area by Europeans, the land was built upon and this is the first appearance of the town. The town that was built was eventually lost (literally, "went missing") and a second town was built in its place many years later. The second town was named "Silent Hill" and was originally settled on the south side of the lake (where South Vale currently resides). South Vale's history then centers around the events of the Civil War era, being that Brookhaven was the prominent hospital and that the Tocula Prison Camp was used for P.O.W.s of the Civil War. Around the beginning of the 20th century, the mines were openned on the north side of the lake and as jobs were available, most of the residents moved to the north, closer to the mountains. This is where "Old Silent Hill" is located. This area became a prominent location and where most of the town settled. After the mines closed, however, the residents turned toward tourism for economic growth and began building a resort area near the north shore of the lake. The resort area was named "Paleville" and the stretch of town that connects Old Silent Hill to the resort is called "New Silent Hill" (includes Central Silent Hill), which will be featured in greater detail in the upcoming "Silent Hill 0rigins." So, from north to south, here's the geography of Silent Hill: Wiltse Mines -------------> X Old Silent Hill --------> X New Silent Hill ----> X Paleville ---> X X <----------Brahams Lake Toluca ----------> X South Vale ------> X Observation Deck -----------------------> X Pleasant River -----------------------------------------------> X North Ashefield and South Ashfield ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> X Okay, so the power that inhabits the land includes the area around Lake Toluca, between the mountains on the north and the swamps on the south. The power of the town itself is what causes events that occur in later chronological games. However, I must mention that the power of the town has become greatly distorted from what it originally was. Because of the answer I made above, I'll assume that your question is then, "why does the town seem to be spending time helping out dudes like James?" People like James, Michael and Travis are attracted to the town because it draws upon people who have a great guilt upon their conscience. The town draws out that guilt to "feed upon" (Note: this is not the correct term to use, but is closest in concept). Whether having that guilt brought up to the surface of the individual is benefitial for them is irrelevant to the town or the story in general. The idea is that the town uses its power to intice individuals to venerate the spirits that inhabit the land. (i.e. James sees manifeastations of his inner desires and experiences shifts in time and space to relive a traumatic event that then encourages him to perform the Crimson Ceremony.) The town sends out its power to call people in the surrounding area and has to an extent called people from other states, as people have been called to Silent Hill from as far as Ashfield. Please note that this does not imply that the town is conscious of this or that the land itself has a will of its own. The will of the town is determined by the people and spirits on the land. The greater the desire, the more strongly the town reacts to the individual or wish. Rose is simply acting as Sharon's mother. She loves her child and will protect her from any harm. Rose has not left the Misty world of Silent Hill, because the "Dark One" hasn't opened the door to allow her through. Whether this means that Rose is simply in another dimension than the real world waiting for the "door" to be opened for her to pass or that she has died and is stuck in some sort of limbo is not for sure. Whether Sharon, now posessed by the being of Dark Alessa, can perform the same powers as Alessa (Age 40) is not known either.

A lot of forum speculation exists that a "special version" of the home video release will appear at a later date this year. Many people even suspect that the release will contain special features that were seemingly left out of this release on purpose. While the prospects of this are viable in concept, especially IF said "special version" is released on a two-disc set, I have a greater suspicion that the release will not be in Region 1 (North America). Christophe Gans and his production company Davis Films are based in France. The lengths that he went through to obtain the rights, funding and freedom to create the film were very difficult and I'm sure tiring, considering how seriously he took fan and public critism. The hour-long documentary that was added to the home video release feels like it took as much effort to create as one could expect. My general impression is that he has filled any preceived obligation to an American audience, especially when you consider that his original intention was to create a film version of the second game as it was released in Europe. The project greatly expanded beyond it's original intention, making it a world-wide box office release. When you deal with numbers that range into the millions, it becomes difficult to satisfy the entire market at once. So, it becomes much easier to satisfy a single market of preferance, allowing the other markets to receive the trickle-effect. In Gans' case, that market happens to be France (Region 2). (You may not realize it, but Gans had previously released a director's two-disc cut for Le Pacte des Loups, aka Brotherhood of the Wolf, exclusively in France. So, it's not unlikely that he will do the same for Silent Hill.) It's not that Gans has anything against the North American market, especially seeing how the US was the first country to premiere the film, but it's just a case where Gans has a greater affinity for his homeland. In addition to this, you also have to consider the added factor of the Blu-Ray and UMD formats. If Sony were to release a "special version" of Silent Hill for DVD, it would also feel an obligation to release said "special version" on Blu-Ray and UMD as well, which is quite costly considering the slow pace that both formats are currently moving. This would mean a greater loss in revenue than gain from re-releasing a film simply to include MORE special features. Plus, you'd have to deal with a public that would critize a decision to re-release the film simply to include said features. ("I just saw/bought that film a few months ago on DVD! Why would I want to see/buy it again for just a few extra features?!") This could further diminish the prospect of sales for Sony/TriStar. If one were to simply consider this case in the absence of Blu-Ray and UMD from the market, I would be inclined to think differently, but seeing as how Sony is trying to push Blu-Ray as a new media format, I really don't see a prospect of having a "special version" of Silent Hill in the next six months. In short, I suspect this is probably the best that the US is going to get in terms of a home video release. If a "special version" of Silent Hill is going to appear anywhere it will most likely be in France or, to a greater extent, Europe. EDIT: Silent Hill 0rigins Update: Second Official Trailer, Gameplay Videos Released Online: Konami released the second trailer for "Silent Hill 0rigins" yesterday, August 23, 2006 during this year's Games Conference held in Leipzig, Germany. In addition, Konami held a simultaneous press-event in San Fransico, CA hosted by William Oertel. The twin events displayed the new trailer which featured a new vocal track for the game (YEA!!), as well as gameplay videos of the game itself in both an indoor and outdoor setting. At the Konami-sponsored San Fransico event, William Oertel was on-hand to address questions about the game with much more information about the progress of the game from the technical aspect and about the specifics of the gameplay itself. The trailer is the first video to show exactly how the game uses the first-person view as well as how the over-the-shoulder third-person view works. While the trailer uses more special effects, filters and atmosphere to express the specifics of the game, the gameplay videos give you a much more accurate picture of the current gameplay progress. Personal opinions aside, the game is following suit with the tradition of atmosphere and detailed environments, which are apparent from the video. Please note that there is a clear lack of "atmospheric effects" in the gameplay. The reason behind this is that the game takes place before the events in SH1, meaning that the fog that has previously encompassed the town has not taken over yet. (Although I realize this logically, a part of me is still urging for some type of atmospheric weather, being that the previous graphics engines for this were the best ever for weather effects. I'm hoping that an artistic direction will compensate for the lack of fog.) I must also point out that before you make complaints and remarks about the current gameplay of SH0, I ask that you view the interview with William Oertel conducted by GameSpot. The interview explains, in its own words, the amount of technical work needed to complete the game. Because this game is still a work-in-progress, there are issues that must be addressed. Yet, hearing from the producer himself that he plans to address all of these issues before game's release helps to subdue the initial frustration of the game's appearance. Also, Mr. Oertel has finalized the soundtrack to "Silent Hill 0rigins," being that it contains 14 individual tracks, four of which are vocal tracks and of which one is featured in this new trailer. You can currently download both the trailer and the gameplay videos from either IGN or GameSpot. Public downloads are available for low resolution videos of the trailer and gameplay videos, but membership registration is required to download the high quality videos and GameSpot's exclusive interview with William Oertel. Video files from IGN are available in both Windows Media Video (.wmv) and Quicktime's Movie (.mov) formats, while GameSpot only offers Windows Media Video. Konami Digital Entertainment of America - News IGN.com - Silent Hill 0rigins Preview / Videos GameSpot.com - Silent Hill 0rigins Hands-on / Media / Interviews PlaystationPortable.de - GC06: Erste Bilder zu Silent Hill Origins

Silent Hill Film Update: Silent Hill Released for Home Entertainment (DVD / Blu-Ray / UMD): I pretty much don't have to tell you guys that the North American (Region 1) version of Silent Hill has been released for home video on August 22, 2006 in DVD (Fullscreen & Widescreen), Blu-Ray (Widescreen only) and UMD (Widescreen only) formats. Although, many of the people who have viewed the film in theaters don't feel that the film is worth owning at the moment, I urge everyone to at least check it out again. (Granted many people disargree about the quality of the film, I find that it was just as exciting and fun as the first time I saw it.) The film itself has a little problem with the CG when on the small screen. Some of the monster scenes look clearly computer animated, almost "Clash of the Titans" animated. I'm not exactly sure why this is, because in the theater, everything looked very polished. Also, it is almost recommended that you view the film with surround-sound, since when played on a normal television set-up (2.1 stereo), the sound is dampened a little. Other than the craptastic job on the film's home video cover, any other complaints I have would be entirely subjective. However, one could complain about the number of previews for other films available on the disc. The extra "behind-the-scenes" documentary on the film, titled Path of Darkness and directed by Chris Sikorowski, is actually something worth viewing as well, because unlike the STARZ or BET featurettes, this documentary gives you a much more intimate and technical look at the making of the film. You'll clearly see where all $50 million of the budget went: the scenery, monster and costume design. As you may know the documentary includes the parts: "Silent Hill Origins"; "Casting Silent Hill"; "Building Silent Hill"; "Stars and Stunts"; "Creatures Unleased"; "Creature Choreography" I found "Stars and Stunts," "Building Silent Hill" and "Creature Choreography" to be the most illuminating parts of the documentary and really give you a sense of the scale of production involved to get this to the big screen. The run-time for Path of Darkness is 59 minutes. If you'd like to view clips from the documentary sections of Path of Darkness, particularly "Stars and Stunts" and "Creature Choreography," you can view them legally on MTV Overdrive. Click on Channels --> Movies --> "DVD of the Week: Silent Hill" to bring up the list of videos from the film. SonyStyle.com - Silent Hill (DVD / Widescreen) SonyStyle.com - Silent Hill (DVD / Fullscreen) SonyStyle.com - Silent Hill (Blu-Ray Disc) SonyStyle.com - Silent Hill (UMD Disc) imdb.com - "Path of Darkness: Making 'Silent Hill'" New Website for Silent Hill Launched: In addition to the release of the film for home video, a corresponding website has been launched as well. Although the site contains much of the same information as the official theatrical site, with the addition of information about and the ability to purchase the film for home video, the site does contain a page on the synopsis of the film (as printed on the home video case), a set of film stills (some previously released, some not) and a section of preview clips (Now Available), as well as a new game called "Control Your Fear." The flash-based game is a very simple maze puzzle that you navigate with the directional keys, cleverly based on the scene where Rose must travel to the Brookhaven Hospital basement. As you traverse the maze, you'll be treated to a set of clips from the film (Warning: Clips Contain Film Spoilers). Sony Pictures - Silent Hill Silent Hill Nominated for a Teen's Choice Award (Catagory: Thriller): Yes, this is the worst award ever. Yes, it did not win. Yes, the film is rated R. Yes, my heart has been ripped out of my chest. I just thought you'd want to know. Fox Broadcasting Company: TEEN CHOICE 2006 - TCA 2006 Nominees

I hate double posts, but this is exciting enough to break that restriction. Silent Hill 4: The Room / DanceDanceRevolution Extreme Update: Cynthia Music Video from DDR Extreme: The music video from DDR Extreme featuring Cynthia's character model singing Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's (aka Melissa Williamson) and Akira Yamaoka's remix of "Your Rain," "Your Rain (RAGE MIX)." The song was featured on the limitedly released North American version of the Silent Hill 4: The Room soundtrack, available only by pre-ordering the game. The video itself was released on DDRX well before the game, but few people knew what they were watching. Fortunately for us, a fan has uploaded the music video and offered it for viewing on YouTube. The video begins very much in the traditional Silent Hill manner with Cynthia singing in an alley from Building World from SH4. This is followed by a short montage of footage from the game itself shown in black & white. However, what proceeds that is somthing completely unexpected and will probably catch you off-guard. I won't spoil it here, but it's well worth checking out. Enjoy. YouTube.com - Akira Yamaoka feat. Elizabeth McGlynn - Your Rain (RAGE MIX)

I might as well throw in some more information, then. Silent Hill Film Update - Japan: For those who may not have been keeping score, the japanese release of Silent Hill was set on July 8th, with the premiere on July 2nd. And, since the film opening occured further away than the US release, Japan got to see a few more promotions than us. "Shocking House" Set-up in Japan to Promote Film: In Kabuki-cho Shinjuku, located in Tokyo, Japan, Konami (in conjunction with Davis Films) opened up the Silent Hill Shocking House on June 22, 2006. At the opening of Shocking House, which was a single room haunted house in which you could find actors dressed in familiar Silent Hill monster costumes (notably the "Red Pyramid" and the "Nurses"), Akira Yamaoka lead a procession of Japanese actresses dressed in caps and (provacatively short) nurse's gowns to a stage where they assembled for an audience. The opening marked the beginning of promotion for the film and followed very shortly after Akira Yamaoka's appearance at PLAY! and between sessions of recording music AND dialogue for the upcoming Silent Hill 0rigins. Silent Hill Shocking House was available for free public viewing from 11am to 6pm (UTC) running from June 22 to July 2 (the premiere of Silent Hill in Japan). Photos of the event abound on the internet (Warning: Panty-shots). And you can read more about it from a number of articles released online. However, to read about the event in full detail, including the other two female hosts for the event, you'll have to refer the Japanese article on Dengeki. Dengeki - News: 歌舞伎町に磯山さやかさんの悲鳴が響く！「サイレントヒル ショッキングハウス」開設 Famitsu.com - 映画『サイレントヒル』の恐怖をイチ早く体験！　"サイレントヒルショッキングハウス"が期間限定オープン！ QJ.net - Tokyo's Silent Hill Shocking House Kotaku - Silent Hill Promotion in Japan: Crazy, Sexy Scary! Horror.com Media - Silent Hill Special Event Held In Tokyo, Japan DemoNews.de - Silent Hill Shocking House: Der Albtraum in der realen Welt! Silent Hill at The Japanese Maid Cafe: As part of the promotion for the film that Konami and Davis Films were supporting, the Amusement Cafe Maid in Japan held a special luncheon featuring the Silent Hill theme. (For those who may not be aware, japanese maid cafes are restuarants and cafes that have waitresses, or waiters [called "butler cafes"], who dress in frilled, often skimpy, maid uniforms. Most are centrally located in the Akihabara district.) The luncheon which ran from June 26th to July 9th, feautured a special "Red Pyramid Curry" (curried chicken skewers served on a bed of white rice and curry sause on triangular-shaped plates, served with tomato juice and a skinless tomato). The waitresses dressed in short nurses' cap and gowns (again shortened for viewing pleasure). The walls were decorated with posters and banners from the film, while special coasters were used to serve drinks on (viewable in the photo above). Akira Yamaoka appeared in person on July 7, 2006 at the Amusement Cafe to promote the film. As a treat to diners and wayward guests, a special sneak-screening of the film was shown. Details of what exactly was shown are not available for the moment. However, hopefully, Akira tried the "Red Pyramid Curry." The original link to the flyer and article on the Amusement Cafe's website has been taken down, but I'll post the link for posterity. Amusement Cafe Maid in Japan - Silent Hill (Link No Longer Available) Dengeki - News: 『サイレントヒル』の山岡氏による映画公開記念トークライブ AkibaBlog.net - 映画「サイレントヒル」のサイレントヒル ナース喫茶が始まる Kotaku - Silent Hill: The Japanese Maid Cafe Volunteers Sought to Play Nurses at Silent Hill Opening: In addition, it seems that Konami/Davis Films held an open casting call for actresses who would cosplay as nurses for the japanese opening of the film. According to the article, the "volunteers," as none who participated would be financially compensated, would be asked to dress as nurses, march down the street to the Marion theater complex in Tokyo, and pass out flyers to incite streetwalkers to view the film. The volunteers would be able to keep their costume after the event and would also receive Silent Hill merchandise. Unfortunately, no news of this event having ever taken placed has appeared. Either the promotional event didn't gather enough volunteers to gain attention or that there was a problem with having people carry rusty scapels in an open street. If anyone knows what happened to this event, feel free to post it here. GameSpot - Scary Nurses Sought for Japanese Silent Hill Premiere ITmedia +D Games - KONAMI、映画「サイレントヒル」特設サイトで携帯アプリなどを配信 Silent Hill DX - Mobile Gaming: Konami Digitial Entertainment of Japan is set to release (if it hasn't already) a revised version of the "Silent Hill Play Novel" for cellular gaming devices, particularly cell phones. Not much information is available in English and it would be complete unlikely that it will release in the US, but if anyone in Japan would like to share some info, please do. All I can gather from links and other internet sources are that this game offers a card system similar to the original Silent Hill Play Novel for the GameBoy Advance, yet the cards are newly created/revised. The image of the title card with the words "Silent Hill Cage of Cradle" interest me most since it may be the official title of the game. Although links from the movie site direct you to the game page (and movie images are clearly present in the game page), I'm still not sure what the connection is between this version of the Play Novel and the official film. However, I figured that I might as well inform you guys of it. Also, the site http://573.jp was used to host some further information on the game and may still be used in some function on the cellular devices. Konami Digital Entertainment - Silent Hill GameWatch - ＫＯＮＡＭＩ、コナミネットDX「SILENT HILL 特設コーナー」設置 FOMA90Xシリーズ対応ゲームアプリ「SILENT HILL」も登場 GPara - コナミネットDXに映画「SILENT HILL特設コーナー」OPEN EDIT: Silent Hill 0rigins Update: Video Interview with Producer William Oertel: A new interview with producer William Oertel is available for viewing on GameTrailers.com. As previously known, William Oertel is producing the newest chapter in the Silent Hill saga with the help Akira Yamaoka and Team Silent. However, what you may not know is that William Oertel is the producer not for Konami Digital Entertainment of America, but for Climax Studios. The interview (taken from this year's "Comic-Con International" at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA) discusses most of the same details already posted in the last interview just after E3, however, they come directly from the producer's mouth. This gives one a sense that the creator has a very good grasp on the series and understands more than the average fan (and even the average hardcore fan, in my opinion), not simply in terms of story, but in the experience as well. Such sense comes from the way he discusses controls and camera angles, from level design to overcoming technical challenges for the PSP. He understands the technology and in traditional SH fashion is using the PSP to it's full advantages. This is a very critical interview to watch for those who may still not be convinced that this chapter should be made. In addition, it seems that many other gaming magazines have picked up the story as well and decided to conduct their own interviews. Luckily, William Oertel has not turned them down and is working to get out as much press on the game as possible. I'm sure there are those who are a little skeptical about such shameless propaganda, but there are a few things that one should understand about Oertel and Climax Studios. Climax Studios is a company that has been around since the Amiga and Commodore 64 days, however, most of the games that they have created since then have been licensed products, such as movie-to-game titles and sports titles (most notably, ATV OffRoad Fury 3 and ATV Quad Power Racing 2). This suggests that until recently, the studio has been struggling to obtain noterity in the gaming world, and with the recent string of original titles appearing in their development list, it seems that Climax is trying hard to break out of it's mold and become recognized as a serious game developer. Being such, Silent Hill 0rigins will be their first test to prove their ability to produce top-selling games. So, suffice it to say, they don't want to screw this up. ('Cause no one here wants to see this screwed up either.) GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill Origins - GT Interview (.wmv file / 18.7 MB) GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill Origins - GT Interview (.mov file / 18.3 MB) GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill Origins - GT Interview (.mp4 file / 10.5 MB) Game Informer Online - Silent Hill Origins - The William Oertel Interview ShackNews.com - Silent Hill Origins Interview Dread Central - Oertel, William (Silent Hill Origins) SH0 Newsletter, Concept Art and New Screenshots from Silent Hill US Official Site: For those who registered onto Konami Digital Entertainment of America's Official Silent Hill site, you were given a newsletter last month that revealed exclusive new information about the game as well as new images. The newsletter, which has been archived by SilentHillOrigins.com, is somewhat more personal that the average newsletter that one receives from most official sites. It discusses in brief the current status of the game and it's music, which has since been completed, as well as giving an open invitation to fans to submit their comments, suggestions and ideas to the developers themselves. (An incredibly generous thing to occur in these days.) In addition to this, the newsletter is looking for a new name, to coincide with the more intimate feel of the letter than its current "Silent Hill 0rigins Newsletter." To do so, please send your emails to travis.grady@konami.com and title your email "Answer My Question!" The new images that also appeared in the newsletter are currently available on the Official US Silent Hill site. To view them, you must be a registered member to the site (free to those over 18 years of age); click on Media, followed by Miscellaneous, then SH0. The images include some original concept paintings of two environments (one featuring a girl in a white dress, hmmm...), two images from PLAY! A Video Game Symphony in Chicago, two images from the recording session for SH0 with Akira Yamaoka and two new images from one of the game's settings, "Silent Hill Fresh Meats" (one of the stores from Silent Hill, viewed from the pre-production photographs). Images from the official site have also appeared in some forums. I'll post the links for those who cannot register on the site and for those who wish to download the images. Konami Digital Entertainment of America - Silent Hill SilentHillOrigins.com - Silent Hill 0rigins Update (Archived Newsletter) SH Lost Memories - Silent Hill 0rigins Concept Art'al (Archived Images) / Akira Yamaoka 01 / Akira Yamaoka 02 Japanese Text from "Silent Hill NEXT" Transcribed, Partially Translated: A fan of Silent Hill has managed to transcribe the Japanese text from the promotional video for Silent Hill 0rigins called Silent Hill NEXT. The author has choosen to remain ananymous, but it's not entirely important. The text appears in the comments section of an article featured on GamersReports.com on the same subject. I'll repost what was written for archiving purposes. The full article, as well as the comments can be viewed in the site below. GamersReports.com - Silent Hill NEXT Video Footage

I'm looking someone to DJ a wedding in Lexington, KY. The event will be held in mid-September and the hosts have asked me to help them find a DJ for the event. I know that some of the members here are budding and well-established DJs and there might be someone who would be willing to help us out. The event will cover the reception. I'm looking for someone who can work with a pre-selected list of CD music and who can make general announcements during the reception. Equipment will be provided, but if you prefer to work with your own equipment, accommodations can be made. Amatuers are welcome. The reception will last about five hours, free meal included. The hosts will pay $250 for services for the evening, negotiable based on experience. If anyone in the Lexington area is looking to earn a little extra cash, please PM me. Thanks guys and gals. If anyone would like more information, please feel free to ask. ifirit

I know that it's been a while and that this is probably really not the best update, but I figured I do it anyway to keep interest up. (Seeing as how Silent Hill 0rigins is still at least 6 months away with no updates yet and the Silent Hill DVD/Blu-Ray hasn't sparked much conversation. I still think that the film has more to it that what most people do.) Anyway, here's another... Silent Hill Weekly(?) Update: Video Footage of "Theme of Laura" from PLAY! A Video Game Symphony: I've kinda had this on my plate of things to post for a couple of weeks. I was kinda of looking around for a downloadable version of this file before posting it, but since I figured that it has already been more than a month and a half, a downloadable file would have already been available. Anyway, this is the video footage of Akira Yamaoka's performance with the Chicago Popland Orchestra conducted by Arnie Roth at the Chicago premiere. The performance on film is just as exciting as I remember it and have grown to love this performance of "Theme of Laura" much more that the original. It's just so very vibrant and organic when it's played live, especially by the composer. As far as the video quality goes, I would have perferred better, but considering the circumstances, this is as good as anyone would hope. The camera shakes a lot and goes in and out of focus on a number of occassions, but still it manages to capture the overall performance and highlights. Please note that the beginning of the performance was cut off. I'm not sure as to why this was. (Possibly due to the fact the camera operator is a known Final Fantasy fan and was simply waiting for the performance of "One Winged Angel" before realizing that this performance was worth capturing. Or simply due to the possibility that they didn't get the camera started in time, or even more possibly due to file size and quality constraints.) The file is hosted on YouTube, posted by imnickjamesbitch. (I know a lot of you hate YouTube, but if you only run a minimum of applets while surfing and wait for the entire file to load before playing it, you can minimize any complications that may arise.) Additional photos of the performance and the rest of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony can be found off Nick James' gallery page. Additional photos of Akira Yamaoka's performance can be found here, providing graciously by the.miker. I hope you guys enjoy it. EDIT: There is also a small video clip of the performance from the Stockholm concert available. However, it does not include Akira Yamaoka and is simply the orchestral version with an additional guitar player. Honestly, the performance Akira Yamaoka gave was much better. Anyway, enjoy.

I wouldn't recommend buying it. It'd be like buying a 'the worst of silent hill, in 5 different versions each, plus You're not here' album. Or rather...you've already got the soundtrack, it's just spread across your 4 game OSTs. Don't waste your money. That seems kinda harsh. I know that the selection may not have been the best in the world, but speaking for myself, found the remastered versions of the music to be refreshing, exciting and heartfelt. I know a number of people who would love to own a copy of the revised "Dance With Night Wind," "I'll Kill You" or "Magdalene." Besides, who knows what's going to be included in the soundtrack itself. Are there going to be full versions of the revised tracks, or will they be editted to flow together, like the first OST. (Which by the way isn't really an original soundtrack, but is actually an arranged album, since direct comparisons with the ripped soundtrack, will show unnoticed variations and additional accompaniments. Hell, it even says that it's an arranged album in the linear notes themselves.) Will there be bonus tracks on the disc? Unreleased tunes? Live performances? Audio commentary? DVD-Rom extras? Music Videos? CD-only web-access to additional bonuses on the website? The number of possibilities and benefits to owning the CD are astounding and heart-provoking. Just thinking about it makes me excited. Warning: Silent Hill Spoilers That part got to me as well after first viewing the film, but it was intended to be different from the original story. There are speculations as to why this aspect of the story was changed, but when one thinks about the change itself, it inspires one to think in about the cult in a different manner. One theory suggests that the cult is actually still based on the original cult from the game and that they do seek to bring "god" into the world, but through different means than the cult from the game. The theory states that rather than drawing "god" (or the "devil," whichever you want) into the world, "evil" must be driven out in order to make room for "god." Burning evil is the most common way of accomplishing this. Meaning that burning people is still a purification ceremony, but purifying to drive out evil rather than purifying to cleanse the spirit. (A subtle difference, I know, but still an important one.) However, what the cult views as evil is not truly what is evil and the cult is only able to drive away negative emotions, particularly sadness and revenge. Their prayers do not bring purity or goodness, but solely numb and disassociate one's negative emotions, such is a cult's nature. As such, this is how the cult is able to subdue the darkness that covers Smokey Silent Hill (a variation on the Misty Silent Hill since the movie makes the fog smoke and ash). They do not drive away Dark Alessa's power, but subdue it by numbing Alessa's anger and sadness. Dark Alessa thus needs Rose's help to pass through this numbing agent created by the cult in order to let Alessa's feelings of pain, sorrow and revenge penetrate the cult's prayers. Rose's feelings of duty and patronage cover over Alessa's feelings and allow her to be unaffected by the cult's numbing agent. (I'm not entirely sure if this is refering to the cult's faith or to themselves personally, or because of something else entirely. But something about the cult is making Alessa's feelings numbed.) The symbiote relationship that Dark Alessa creates with Rose thus penetrates through to Sharon's personality. The invasion of the church is a metaphor for the invasion of Sharon's soul. So, it isn't until the end of the movie that Alessa's soul is made whole. Which brings up some even deeper questions about what Dark Alessa's power actually is and why Sharon is sought out, because to me, it seems that Dark Alessa doesn't really need Sharon at all, but Rose, as indicated by the line, "Why me?" "Because you chose her, you chose Sharon." If Sharon was simply bait for Rose, why would Dark Alessa want Sharon back? (The only thing that comes to mind is that Dark Alessa simply was retrieving what was her's. It seems too simple an answer though.) All in all, evertime I start thinking about the film, the more I uncover and the more obvious it becomes that the film is hiding a deeper, fully conceptualize narrative made for fans to enjoy. Something I find great for fans, but bad for the general audience, since the experience isn't as well executed narratively as it could have been. A fault that I believe lies in the flow of the story. Still, let's see what other people think. Thread Weekly Update: Anyway, for today's weekly update, it's another Choose-Your-Own-Direction post. That means you guys choose what I post. But, to make things interesting, you guys choose a theme and I'll post based on the theme. So, choose one of the below, but choose carefully: 1) Leave (Traditional, Warm) 2) In Water (Sad, Thought-Inspiring) 3) Maria (Deceptive, Inticing) 4) Rebirth (Untraditional, Revealing) 5) Dog (Humorous, Irrelevent) 6) UFO (Unknown, ???)

Unfortunately, at the moment there is no official pre-production work available, which includes concept art and designs. According to my information, gathered from interviews, articles, journals and other sources, it seems that Gans conceptualized the entire visual aspect of the film solely from memory and his vision. This means that he gathered all the necessary team members, artists and staff based on their ability to follow his direction, meaning that he had no visual aids to guide his vision or to use as a basis for the other artists to follow. Even some of the artists themselves were at times confused about what to create due to the lack of references, as one member of the CG team sought out help from fans to provide visual references to create what Gans kept refusing as an incorrect design. However, I did say "at the moment." Although Gans himself did not create any visual references or aids for the film, the artisans underneath him did. Patrick Tatopoulos created many concept designs to verify with Gans on the look of the monsters, which he often does for many of his films and projects. Wendy Partirdge also has designs created before the final look of Rose's clothing was set. Of course as you remember, Rose had over 100 costume changes throughout the entire film. Patrick Tatopoulos currently maintains two websites for his projects and his company. He uses the company website to display finalized versions of his work as his portfolio and as a measure of what his team is capable of. His personal site displays all of his work, not just from his company, which includes concept art, progression reports and other pre-production materials. He has only recently gotten around to posting his work from Underworld: Evolution (his previous film), so it may take some time before he posts anything from Silent Hill. Check out the sites periodically to see when Patrick Tatopoulos posts his concepts. Unfortunately, I cannot find a personal website for Wendy Partridge, so I cannot determine whether or not she has posted her concepts from the film. If I do find anything, I will inform you guys. In the meantime, feel free to check out this interview (Warning: Link contains Film Spoilers) with Evan Jacobs, visual effects supervisor for Silent Hill and supervisor for Mr. X Inc. visual effects studio. These sites are also behind on posting their latest works on their sites, so don't expect anything soon on Silent Hill. The interview, however, shows some behind the scenes material of the film before and after CG effects and visuals. The interview, posted on Deathfall talks about the process that went into the development of the atmosphere and background design from the technical end. What's most interesting about the article is that it shows a side-by-side comparison of before and after CG effects footage of the film. You can also check on the other two visual effects production companies that worked on Silent Hill (C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures in Canada and BUF visual studios in France) in the future to see production material from the film, but I wouldn't expect to see anything in the near future. Don't worry, I'll keep you guys posted if anything comes up. Until then you guys can check out from fan-created pre-production materials, courtesy of the members of the Silent Hill Forum. Silent Hill Fan-created Storyboards Silent Hill Fan-created DVD cover Silent Hill Fan-created Red Pyramid Statuette Silent Hill Fan-created Grey Child Statuette Silent Hill Fan-created Red Pyramid PEZ dispensers (Okay, this one has nothing to do with the actual film, but it was made in response to the idea of marketing schemes for the film.) Silent Hill Film Update: Silent Hill DVD Announced + Cover and Details: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has finally announced the release date for the DVD, August 22, 2006. The film will be released in both wide-screen and full-screen formats both with 5.1 surround-sound audio. The DVDs will include a variety of special features, but no extended version. Retail price is expected to be $28.95. Blu-ray and UMD versions are also expected to be released. Check the thread linked below for additional details. Silent Hill Forum - Official DVD Release! - Details + Cover Art EDIT: The article originally appeared on DVDActive.com and has included all the details including news about the Blu-ray version, which is also set to be released on August 22, 2006 for $38.95. (A little high for a movie disc, if you ask me, but I suppose not terrible considering that the technology is still in its infancy.) The official special features to be added to the DVD and Blu-ray versions include: - Audio Director Commentary - English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround-Sound Audio - Deleted & Extended Scenes - Featurettes: 6 Part Production Diary ++ Silent Hill Origins ++ Casting Silent Hill ++ Building Silent Hill ++ Stars and Stunts ++ Constructing the Creepy Creatures from the Film ++ Creature Choreography Please note that these are the initial reports, although many fans are expecting much more out of the special DVD release, there's only so much room that can fit onto a DVD and the film itself is going to take up a lot of room on it's own. If Sony truly plans to give fans everything that they ask for, I'll suggest that they release the film on a two-disc set (one for the feature and the other for the special features). Still, the biggest change fans want right now is on the DVD cover art, which, by-the-way, has revived the Silent Hill poster contest among the fans for the DVD cover. So, if you feel that you've got a better idea for the DVD cover, feel free to post it here, or email it to Sony Pictures directly. DVDActive.com - News - Releases - Silent Hill (US DVD R1 | BR R1) Official Film Soundtrack Confirmed: Despite the fact that Jeff Danna had previously announced that he was unsure about releasing an official soundtrack from the film, this month he has now confirmed that he will be releasing the official soundtrack later this year. Specific details about the soundtrack are unknown at this moment, but Jeff Danna has said that he will not be including all the tracks from the film, but only the most prominent ones. I'll have to retrace my sources, as I've lost them for the moment. But, we can all finally breathe easier knowning that there will be an official film soundtrack. Silent Hill Premiere Report and Footage: The premiere was quite a long time ago, but I finally found footage from that event. This video has been provided by GameTrailers.com hosted on YouTube.com. Enjoy. GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill Premiere (.wmv file / 32.3 MB) GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill Premiere (.mov file / 30.8 MB) GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill Premiere (.mp4 file / 18.4 MB) YouTube - Silent Hill Premiere EDIT 2: Horror.com - Exclusive Footage: This article which was post on Horror.com on May 1, 2006 has somehow slipped out of the mainstream for a while. I'm surprised at this since the article includes video footage from the film's premiere along with a cast interview and 3 raw files of behind-the-scenes footage. Truly something that should have been on everyone's list of must-see events. (And, yes, I am aware that they caption Kim Coates' character as "Henry Townsend." It's a mistake on the production staff part, likely due to a misguided team member going off a rumor.) Anyway, enjoy this one, too. Horror.com - Silent Hill - Exclusive Footage

Just wanted to make a quick update before heading off to PLAY! A Video Game Symphony in Chicago. I'm getting the opportunity to meet Akira Yamaoka and there are countless questions that I've been wanting to ask him. (I'll post my questions and his responses here after I get back.) Anyway, ... Silent Hill: Bridge of Thread Update: Site Update and Additional Pages Posted: I just wanted to let you guys know that new pages have been added to the fan-fic comic based on the Silent Hill series. The comic stars David Garrett who becomes lost in Old Silent Hill after an evening out with his boyfriend that goes terribly wrong. Lead by his memories and by a drive to find his friend, David searches the abandoned town for answers that can heal his pain. The highlight on this topic is that it uses computer animation and drawing to create the comic, which gives it a much closer feel to the game series, while still giving the appearance of a comic. There are lots of things that give this comic appeal, all of which make it definitely something you should check out. Silent Hill: Bridge of Thread - Main Page Silent Hill: Bridge of Thread - Archives Page There's a couple of other things that I wanted to post, including some additional information and details about the upcoming Silent Hill 0rigins, but maybe I'll let Razumen tell you about that. (For those who watched the trailer, this marks the first official reprise of "Not Tomorrow" in an official Konami work, which is also the first game trailer to not feature original music for the game. Hmmm...) Oh, before I forget, Konamistyle of America has re-released certain T-shirt designs from Silent Hill 3 available for the first time in the US. Order one before supplies run out. EDIT: Akira Yamaoka/Silent Hill Live Performance Update: PLAY! A Video Game Symphony Concludes Premiere Performance and Interview with Akira Yamaoka: Well, having returned from PLAY! this weekend, I have to say that that was an experience to be had and as Mary once said, "We had [a] wonderful [time] together and I wouldn't trade it for the world." The concert was terrific and the meet-&-greet, though incredibly long waited for, was the most exciting part for me for reasons I will explain below. You can read up on the event in a post in the PLAY! Thread made by SleazyC, who put everything in a good context. (If I had known I was going to be seated so close to so many people, I would have made an effort to meet more of them. Also, StarZander is going to hate me forever, but I sat directly behind Koji Kondo and spoke with him briefly, congradulating him on his performance and giving him additional words of praise and fandom.) So, let's focus on the parts that are revelent for this thread: Akira Yamaoka. First off, the performance he gave was exceptional. As expected, the Chicago Poplands Orchestra performed accompaniment to Akira Yamaoka has he performed "Theme of Laura" from Silent Hill 2. The piece was rearranged for orchestra and Akira performed all the lead guitar parts with an additional guitar accompanist. Above the stage were three monitors which showed FMVs from Silent Hill 2 during the performance (with no credit to Takayoshi Sato or SatoWorks, thank you very much). In general, the performance was simply driving, expressive and much more of a rock performance than an orchestral one. The entire audience, especially myself, exploded in cheering and clapping as Yamaoka-san picked up the main melody. It appears that all the rumors about Akira Yamaoka having a rock-star mentality were true as he broke out into the first solo and then enticing the audience to cheer and "make some noise" has he continued to play. The biggest surprise of the performance was that he also played a section of the "lost solo" from "Theme of Laura" that appeared in the first Tokyo Game Show trailer for SH2, yet did not appear on the Original Soundtrack. I cheered extra hard at that. All in all, the performance was astounding and noone in the audience did not feel the excitement. Although, the concert as a whole was very exciting and memorable as well as skillfully performed and executed, I feel that that performance was one of the greatest highlights of the concert. Second, as part of the show, a full color booklet was available for $20 acting as the program for the symphony. The booklet contained information on each composer present at the concert with additional information on the game and musical selection for the concert. The section on Akira Yamaoka was to two-page spread showing images from Silent Hill 2 (all previously released) which talked about his compositional history at Konami and a small bit about the Silent Hill series. (The entire biography was about a paragraph long.) Although, I didn't purchase a program, as I had quite conveniently forgotten to bring cash or my ATM card with me, I did borrow my neighbor's for a short time. (A very nice guy for doing that for me.) The images that are most prominent are: James looking at the mirror at the Rest Stop, Angela from the opening FMV, Brookhaven Nurse (aka Bubblehead Nurse) concept CG image, Creeper (SH2 version) concept drawing, the Red Pyramid Thing concept CG image, and the FMV image from the prison cell between James and Maria. (If I can come across an image of the program, I post it here for archiving. Lastly and most importantly, the meet-&-greet session with Akira Yamaoka. Unfortunately, I was towards the end of the line (about 50 people from the end), so by the time I reached the table to meet the composers, it was well after 1am, so both parties involved were very tired and eager to get some rest. As such, the questions were limited to only recent works and the responses were very brief. My apologies to you and to myself for not showing enough tenacity to ask everything that I wanted to. However, despite that, I still feel the interview was enjoyable, because, I made Akira Yamaoka smile and draw attention to me simply by wearing my Silent Hill (film) T-shirt. At first glance, though I had been watching him the whole time as I was progressing down the line, he notices my T-shirt and begins pointing and smiling at it as though that were the first time he has seen a fan wear one. He begins speaking in Japanese and even nudges over to Yasunori Mitsuda to look, who does in interest. Needless to say, I was completely enamored. He begins: Akira Yamaoka: Ahh, Silent Hill! You like [that] movie? ifirit: Yes, I absolutely loved the movie. I loved what Gans had done to the original story. Did you really like what he did with the film as you've said in interviews? Akira Yamaoka: Uh-huh. ifirit: The film featured some really great adaptations of the music, if you had the chance would you be willing to work on a sequel? Akira Yamaoka: No, I wouldn't want to work on it. ifirit: Really?! Akira Yamaoka: Yeah. ifirit: You had a really great performance on stage, do you like doing that type of performance? Akira Yamaoka: Yeah, I do. ifirit: Are you going to be doing anything else like that soon? Akira Yamaoka: No, I don't intend to. ifirit: Lastly, are you currently working on Silent Hill 0rigins? Akira Yamaoka: Yes, I am. ifirit: Could you give me a sample? Akira Yamaoka: No, I'm sorry I can't. ifirit: Well, thank you anyway. And thank you for taking the time to speak with me and to meet with everyone. Akira Yamaoka: You're welcome. Short and bitter-sweet. Still, I am completely excited that I had the chance to meet and speak with the composer and (present) executive producer of the Silent Hill series. I'm even glad that he shook my hand, something I was not expecting him to do at all. Just the fact that I was able to make Akira Yamaoka smile and get Yasunori Mitsuda to take notice of me makes my head spin. In addition, Michael Salvatori also commented on my shirt and talked to me about how he had seen the film, never played the series, but still enjoyed the movie despite. He asked me to explain a little bit, but I was so nervous that the co-composer for Halo was asking ME about it that I stuttered and stumbled my way through my thoughts, leaving what I'm sure was a rather poor impression. (*sigh*) I'll post some pictures and other stuff soon, but you can go ahead and see some of them in the PLAY! Thread. (Too bad I couldn't find Nulion at the concert.) EDIT 2: Silent Hill 0rigins Update: Meristation Interview with William Oertel, Producer for Silent Hill 0rigins (Translated): An interview conducted by an online Spanish gaming magazine, Meristation, at the past E3 convention with William Oertel was posted on Friday, May 12, 2006. The interview was available only in Spanish and has not appeared in any other publications to date (likely because MGS is stealing all of the thunder away from Konami). Anyway, I've translated the article for you guys, as best I could. Meristation.com - [E3] Entrevista a William Oertel, productor de SH: Origins Apparently, SH0 is being produced independently from Team Silent and will not include any active development role other than supervising the direction that the American team takes it. This can be either good or bad news depending on those involved, particularly Scott Ciencin, writer for the Silent Hill comic series, known for descimating the series' reputation by reducing it to simple elements of gore and foul language. As previously confirmed by other gaming news networks, Akira Yamaoka is working on the musical soundtrack for the game, however no indication was given on sound effects, voice-over sessions or ambient music. I expect that Konami Digital Entertainment of America's team will be handling these seemingly minor affairs. No indication if Zero Limit Productions will be providing voice talent for this game either. (I really hope that they can bring back Liz Mamorsky and Jarion Monroe for this game.)

I understand your objections and the situation. But, it's important to make sure you provide a context when you post and/or repost an item. My problem wasn't in posting something you thought was cool and asking for feedback, but in the lack of an explanation of what it was, why it should be relevant or details of it's origins. Without a context or history to accompany the selected item posted, a level of quality cannot be determined, without actually opening up the item and judging for oneself. (This opens up a way for trolls to simply post poor quality, irrelevant or aggravating items.) The importance of this is to provide ALL surfers (dial-up & broadband) the ability to obtain the media based on an informed decision, not simply because it has a familiar name or subject matter. (A lot of great Silent Hill media has large file sizes or long connection times, so it helps people to understand this when they download beforehand. In addition, since many fans use freesites to post their works, the risk of contraction of viruses, parasites and other dangerous items is possible; so a little information and assurance makes good prevention.) I know that it can be hard to find the information that you wish on such a large thread, but I have constructed my posts (and in turn encouraged others to post in the same manner) on such items to be easy to find by adding headers and isolating the links on separate lines. I knew that the reappearance of posts and links would occur then and took measures to reduce the injury caused by the thread's size to help readers. Still, it seems that these efforts have not proven affective as many people still do not wish to search the thread, so I will have to construct an essential links list to help readers find out about the wealth of information on Silent Hill, forgoing all previous efforts to inform and persuade readers of context, history and details. In the meantime, please visit these sites for a wealth of information: Silent Hill Media (A site containing a HUGE collection of media directly from and connected to the games. Great collection of affliates.) Silent Hill - Lost Memories (An Eastern European site constructed in the same vein as "Silent Hill Heaven" containing information on the games as well as a great databased of fan-created projects and music.) Non-English site (Note: Silent Hill Heaven is still currently unavailable.) Silent Hill Fever (An index/ring of sites and other pages on the subject of Silent Hill.) Silent Hill Forum (A forum that specializes in all topics Silent Hill, well organized with a preview option that allows readers to preview a topic before reading. Any new or interesting information can be obtained from there first. Fan-projects also have a dominating force there.) And as always, my PM button is at the bottom of the post. ---- ---- ---- Bought it and MGS2 PC for the same price, but people should know the shipping is like $8 on that. Ouch. -steve That doesn't have the extra content like the Restless Dreams version does, does it? well for 4.99 it's a steal , so I think I'll get it regardless. Yes, the PC version of Silent Hill 2 contains the material for Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams, released for the X-Box and re-released for the PS2 on the Greatest Hits collection. However, the PC version sports two new features not found on the console versions: a save-anywhere feature and an FMV playback feature. Also, please remember to download the patches for the PC version to ensure correct loading for the program. And for additional fun, you can download the camera hack modification that allows you to completely control the camera, increasing your range of view and revealing previously unseen objects, like the dead man's face in the Woodside Apartment Complex, Marya's face at the top of the Alternate Lakeview Hotel, or Angela's fate at the top of the staircase in the Alternate Lakeview Hotel. Broken Notes Productions Update: Third Album, Sanatorium, Released (Chapter 1): The staff at Broken Notes (creators of the Silent Hill Fan Soundtrack and Broken Notes: A Tribute to Akira Yamaoka) and Macrabre Productions (headed by John Anthony Mathewson; register on OCR as "parjay") has released the first of four chapters of their long-awaited third (main) album of music inspired by/arranged from/remixed from Akira Yamaoka's Silent Hill soundtracks, called Sanatorium. The 11 track soundtrack has focused on using symphonic elements to create their fanworks, featuring symphonic versions of Silent Hill, Tears of... and Overdose Delusion as well as a new symphonic tribute told in six movements. As a bonus, two extra tracks have been added remixing the (imo) awesome Robbie theme, acting as an extension for the Japan-only released remix album "Silent Hill 4: Robbie Tracks." Entitled "RUSSIAN" and "POLISH," these tracks take the popular electronica stylings from the referenced nation and reconstruct the Robbie Theme in said style. The album, created by Jason Gervais, Christopher So, and Christophe Frutuoso and released on May 1, 2006, acts to create fitting tributes to an awesome composer (not simply for games), hoping to inspire others to create such outstanding and incredible arrangements as well as to provide fans and listeners with some great new music. As a precaution, the site has reported that the .rar files have not been working properly due to a naming error of the file. (If the file you downloaded has numbers appearing in the title of the file, please delete the file and download it again.) The site has changed the files to appropriately host the uncorrupted files, but if you see this problem elsewhere please notify the staff immediately. Also, One of the servers has been hacked into and files have been added on to it, so please use caution when downloading. If you see a hacking message appear, disconnect your download immediately and try again at later time. Currently, the site seems to not be having this problem, but in any case, be careful. Tracks can be downloaded individually (from one server) or as a package (from another server). Remember to please not hot link any of the tracks on the forums. Broken Notes Productions - Sanatorium (Chapter 1) 11-9-12-12-13-5 [.rar file / containing .mp3 files / 69.0 MB] Silent Hill Rumor Control: Silent Hill Next?: A video has appeared on YouTube on April 25, 2006 featuring an video that appears to contain a preview shot of a new Silent Hill videogame. The video was posted by "selfservice" and claims that it is exclusive footage for a new Silent Hill game called, "Silent Hill Next." The video itself shows small FMV clips from previous games, followed by some Japanese text (possibly about each title), then opens up to pan shot of a derelict kitchen until it faces a male character standing over a sink looking at a mirror. The video, running at 1:51, has a low-grade quality to it that suggests that it is not real, but a number of other details suggest that this is only an early build. The camera shaking is a very difficult techinique to do with a computer, yet feels smooth; the grain filter is the same one used for SH4, but has not been ripped from the game, because it was hand made during each scene. In addition, the video appears to be shown in a theater on a large screen. Although many people are claiming that this is for the next generation of consoles, the most likely case is that this is going to be a PSP release, if true. Currently, I can find no other information about this video, which suggests to it not being official, but I can't help feel that it could be. The only location where I can find this is from YouTube, although reports on the subject have appeared on [http://www.gamersreports.com]GamersReports.com, which also features some insight on the Japanese text in the video. (A Russian magazine, GameMag, has also posted an article on the subject, but I am unable to determine what it says.) GamersReports - Silent Hill NeXT Video Footage GameMag - Silent Hill 5?

Please, Kiyosuki, I understand if you feel that there is a lot of awesome and cool stuff out on the internet with items featuring Silent Hill, but this is getting ridiculous. If you spent the amount of time reading through this thread as you do researching those meaterials on your own, you'd probably be caught up on current events. It doesn't really take that long. I went through the entire thread already on Friday. This applies to all new people as well. Please, please, please read through the thread on your own. Many people spent a lot of time to construct this thread to contain a great collection of information. Yet, by continually re-posting these pieces of information, you make the thread disposable. Ignoring past remarks and posts out of apathy is not the way a thread should exist, and neither is it the way to conduct conversations. It goes against the entire site's mission statement. I know it's a lot of work (I blame it partly on the lack of a search page function on the boards), but this information was posted with great care for a reason. If I or anyone else were to just post a link without any context, much of the relevent and important information that we have now would not exist. So, please, Kiyosuki and everyone else on here, read through the thread, make searches on the boards, PM each other, just do something to form a dialogue with each other to better inform yourselves, before we lose the entire spirit of our work. Thank you. Warning: Silent Hill 2 Spoilers Although there is no hard evidence to support this theory, there is a number of suggestions to make the player suspect that Mary is in the trunk of James' car. Consider the endings. First in the In Water Ending, what is the last thing that James does before reading Mary's letter? He picks Mary up and takes here out of the room. In the Rebirth Ending, James says what at the end? He remarks about the way that Mary appears as if he where looking directly at her body. You have to ask yourself, "If Mary is actually there; where did she come from?" She wasn't in Silent Hill of her own accord (unlike her letter suggested). She didn't get there on her own. She wasn't living there, as some theories claim. The most logical option then is that someone brought her there. Thinking that, all fingers point to James. Still, the only thing James brought with him was his car and you can't see anyone in the passenger side (a quick check on the passenger side will verify that). So, the only place left to check is in the backseat or the trunk. But, James doesn't want to open his trunk, which raises my suspicions even more. (Also, I want to believe that if Mary were in the backseat, he'd notice it. James may appear dense, but not that dense.) However, I have to state my assupmtion that in order for this theory to work, it has to adhere to the theory that what James experiences in Silent Hill is real (or at least somewhat real) and not constructions of his psyche. In addition to this, I know that this theory could still waiver on the assumption that Maria could be in Mary's guise during the endings, as she does in the Maria ending. But, you then have to ask yourself questions such as, "Is Maria actually Mary?", "Is it a dream or daydream in James's mind?" or "Did Mary return from the dead, or did the Crimson Ceremony create Mary out of nothing?" Why would Maria pretend to be Mary if her fate is to make James suffer? Do we truly understand Maria's intentions in the "Letter from Silent Heaven" scenario? Is Maria so desperate to seek out a life outside of Silent Hill that she'd be the vessel from which James rebirthes his wife? Is it even real? This topic raises a lot of questions that extend beyond the scope of the game, so the theory that Mary's body is in James' car helps to circumvent these more difficult and speculative questions. In addition, you have to consider what Henry says about the Sunderlands from his examination of the photo of the South Ashfield Heights apartment complex. He states that both the superintendent's son AND daughter-in-law went missing in Silent Hill. If James had only killed Mary and left her in their home (as it appears so in the endings where James speaks to Mary after killing Marya), wouldn't Frank have known his daughter-in-law to be dead and only stated that his son went missing? If her body had been found, wouldn't someone have notified the next of kin? The most logical conclusion is that Mary's body was never recovered, indicating that she was either buried by James somewhere before his trip to South Vale, or that he took the body with him. (Morbid, I know, but not beyond James' actions, in my opinion.) As for hints in the game that Mary's body is with James, there are some subtle and subconscious hints. In the title FMV montage, we see a silohette of James carrying a human-shaped object up and carrying it toward the screen. The scene is suggestive to the idea that James is carrying Mary someplace. It could be symbolic of his carrying Mary when he killed her. Or of carrying the burden of her death. But, what's interesting is that the orientation of the direction that he moves, is the same orientation as if he were to pick something out of his trunk and carry it toward the staircase to the cemetary and the town. You can decide for yourself what that scene means, but it doesn't point against this theory. All-in-all, the theory is a partical solution to a difficult and lingering question, while not breaching the scope of the game. It is both poetic and thought-provoking, but not infallible, so it can go either way. Believe it or not, it's entirely up to you.

Umm... Haven't I posted links to this a few times already? It wasn't even that long ago. (I remember discussing it with parjay on here.) Oh, well, I guess that's another reason for me to compose an essential links list. *Ahem* The Making of Silent Hill 3 was released by PlayStation World magazine (a publication exclusive to the United Kingdom) on the bonus DVD in issue #37. I believe the magazine also featured information and a video as well for Metal Gear Solid 3, which makes it a highly popular item, thus very rare to find. (I've asked Eccles before if he had access to this magazine, but he claims to have never come across it.) Some fans have been kind enough to have ripped the video and hosted it on the internet, DUST (formerly Dustfungus) most prominently. The video itself was produced by WE Productions (a studio originally a part of FunTV France, later it's own production studio), the same company to have made the "Making of Silent Hill 2" documentary. However, the video was only released in PlayStation World as opposed to the Europe-wide release of "Silent Hill 2: Special Version." Technically, the "Making of Silent Hill 3" documentary is about the same as the one for SH2, but for some reason, a large chunk of the video is untranslated (on the original print). It has been speculated that this was simply a production error on the fault of the translator/scripter, and not an intentional ommission due to permission issues. The untranslated section has been roughly translated on the forums, which explains that Masahiro Ito's monster designs were inspired by religious paintings, not so much by the subject matter, but for the depiction of suffering and disfigurement placed in the background, particularly the inspiration for the Insane Cancer. There's a little bit of discussion on the bottom of my post here. Some discussion follows this post about the subject of Maria and her role in the "Born From A Wish" scenario. I highly suggest that you read through this thread to find out the information that you wish and to play the game for an upclose and personal experience. Having said that, Konami Digital Entertainment of America is having a sale on the PC version of Silent Hill 2 for $4.99 and the PS2 Greatest Hits Version for $19.99! (The both versions include the "Letter From Silent Heaven" scenario, with all endings, and the "Born From A Wish" scenario. The PC version includes a save-anywhere feature and FMV playback options as a bonus.) If you don't already own this game, now is the best time to do so.

F.Y.I.: Jodelle Ferland is appearing on Ellen today. Catch it if you can.

They could have, but Masahiro Ito, monster designer for SH1, SH2 and SH3, already left Konami. (It's undetermined whether or not he was fired.) Masahiro Ito currently draws and animates from his home studio. You can visit his website for more artwork from Silent Hill and other series. (Warning: Link contains material that is NOT WORK APPROPRIATE) Now that the film has been completed, I wonder who Konami has cut from Team Silent now. (It's part of the curse of Silent Hill for Konami to fire/let go of one of the primary creators for the series after the completion of a major project.) I wonder if it's affecting the series...?

You fail at silent hill. If your theory's true, Gans didn't understand the game at all. I'm going to have to back Kiyosuki on this one, because his understanding of both the film and the series is beyond accurate. However, you have to consider that the script and the resulting story was written by Roger Avary, a casual gamer introduced to Silent Hill by Gans. It may be that they did understand the series somewhat, but when they strayed outside the familiar, the story fell apart, because the original story of Silent Hill is so intricately interconnected. I do differ with Kiyosuki on some things about the ending, but for the most part I agree, which I guess would mean that Gans' grasp on the story was not conveyed on the screen, if he truly did grasp it. With that said, Gans has stated that unless the film is huge success among its fans, he will not be returning for a second film. (Don't interpret that as being that a second film won't exist, but that Gans will not likely be attached.) Make sure you replace Sony with Davis Films, since Tristar, followed by Sony, didn't pick up the film until the script was finalized and production had already begun. Really?! They've got collector's cups at Burger King?! [/j/k] Sharon was a directorial change made for the film, to not only differentiate the character from the game, but from what I have heard, be a reference to a famous french actress, much as Cheryl is a reference to Sheryl Lee, a well-known actress in North America. I've forgotten who the other actress was, but regardless, the change was not arbitrary. Still, why complain about the name "Sharon," when Rose's original concept name was "Harriet?" The games are way better than the film, in my own opinion. The only person that you are cheating by avoiding them, is yourself. I say this especially after what you've written about the film bogarting suspense and tension for gore. The original Silent Hill was a masterpiece of terror. I still can't play that game at night, by myself, with the lights out. Though most people can't tolerate the last generation graphics, it's still worth playing, multiple times. The updated version is going to appear on the PSP this summer at E3. So, make sure to keep an eye on that. The follow-up, Silent Hill 2, is a work of art, from it's story to the character interactions to the monster designs to atmosphere and music. It inspires a bevy of emotions: fear, love, hatred, compassion, regret, realization, and so much in between. There's a reason why this game is a fan favorite. Takayoshi Sato is true artisan. It's too bad that his lack of skills with money and budgets lead him to get fired. Hopefully, EA will treat him better. Check out GoldenEye: Rogue Agent for a sample of his subsequent work with EA, or visit his website.

Speaking of bad dialogue...Warning: Silent Hill and Silent Hill Spoilers EasyP, nobody knows why the movie ended with the foggy dimension still existing. It's pretty ridiculous. The only explanation is that there were plans for a sequel, Roger Avery is dumb, and that they died in the car crash, making the whole movie a pointless venture. The ending seems to be a culmination of both the Good and the Bad Ending from the original Silent Hill. As you may be aware, the Bad Ending occurs when you fail to save Cybil and Kaufman, who aid in helping Harry escape from Nowhere. In this Bad Ending, Harry feels that he has completely lost all hope of rescuing his daughter and gives up. The resulting scene is one where we see an unconscious Harry behind the wheel of his Jeep, bleeding from the forehead (presumably dead). This ending suggests many things, such as Harry's adventure was simply the dream before his death, exposing his inner fears; that Harry's inability to save Cheryl/Alessa (and as a result himself) caused him to die in the "real world;" or even that he gets sent back to the beginning of his adventure to try again, assuming that the crash didn't actually kill him. The Good Ending is the ending that occurs where Harry was able to save Kaufman, who, in turn, was able to release the Incubus from Alessa. Because Harry then killed the god, this allowed Alessa to escape from Dahlia's confinement spell in a new form as she and her world collapsed. In the film, however, the construction of the worlds is somewhat different than in the game. While both the Misty and the Alternate worlds are considered creations by Alessa/Cheryl/Incubus in the games, it seems that only the Dark World was created by Alessa, while the Misty world is a separate entity that Alessa/Dark Alessa cannot control (which is why Dark Alessa has to hide within the body of Rose in order to enter the church). It seems that the cult of Silent Hill is able to repel the darkness created by Alessa with their prayers. So, Alessa/Dark Alessa/Sharon cannot control this world, which probably means that they cannot escape it (at least I think Dark Alessa is not able to entirely escape). Dark Alessa attempts to escape from Silent Hill after Alessa's revenge is completed by possessing Sharon. However, while it doesn't create the Dark World of Alessa's nightmares, Sharon is still unable to escape the Misty World. From a personal interpretation, it appears to me that Rose realizing that she has become "damned" and unable to escape the Misty limbo that she and Sharon are in, begins to deny her fate and heads home, leaving Dahlia to regret her mistakes without the release of true death. Sharon, now possessed by a Dark Alessa, has lost her innocence and is no longer the cheerful, smiling girl that Rose once knew. Yet, Rose will continue to be her mother, as all mothers bear their young. Still, seeing as that she has lost all that she loved she returns to her home to see out the rest of her existance near her beloved as is interpretted from Rose's final action (sitting on the chair across from Christopher). Rose shares a fate similar to Dahlia and will not meet a true death, yet she can live with her guilt near those that she loved. A sad, but beautifully quiet ending.

Ditto. I'm going to go back tonight to watch the film again. (I got my Silent Hill T-shirt last night, so I'll wear that today. w00t!) Anyway, it seems a little odd to be doing this now that the film has been released, but let's do another... Silent Hill Film Update: Official Film Site Update & Downloadable Film Clips: Now that the film has been released, the official website has updated it's page to include some more awesome stuff. Part of this is the new PSP page filled with material that you can download onto your PSP, including actual clips from the film. (Warning: Clips may contain spoilers) In addition to downloading them, you can preview them on the website. Very cool for fanatics. Sony Pictures - Silent Hill Official Film Website Sony Pictures - Silent Hill Official Film Website - Video Clips Page Film Memorabilia, Props and Costumes Up for Bids: In addition to the new features on the film website, you can also follow a link to bid on items from the film itself. If you collect costumes, then you'll find costumes for Rahda Mitchell, Laurie Holden, Alice Krige, Jodelle Ferland and the extras (Cult Member and Miner costumes). If props are what you seek, then you can get items like Rahda Mitchell's pendant or lighter, Laurie Holden's badge or Alice Krige's silver goblet. You can even purchase a bent metal bar ( ). For the film set fans, you can purchase background items such as a rusted lamp post, the Silent Hill Beautification Association trash can or some red-colored emergency lights. Too bad the prices for such things are beyond my current financial means. Oh, well, maybe you guys can enjoy them. Premiere Props - #1 Movie Props and Memorabilia - Silent Hill Warning: Silent Hill Spoilers You might have been correct about that had you considered something in addition to this: The Red Pyramid is based on the beliefs of the religion of Silent Hill. In the context of the games, the religion and the history of the town are tied together by the events that occured at the Toluca Prison and Prison Camp. However, in the film, the religion of Silent Hill (or more accurately, the cult of Silent Hill) is not shown as having a connection to the history of the prison (it's not even mentioned), being that the cult of Silent Hill follows the Puritan religion in terms of conservatism and practices. They were witch hunters, not hybrid pagan-christian worshippers. This change in the presentation of the cult fundementally changes the foundation on which it was built. Therefore, we can no longer associate the executioners of the Toluca Prison and Prison Camp with the present day beliefs of the cult of Silent Hill from the film. Of course, we can make assumptions and other ties back to the history of Silent Hill and the cult during the U.S. Civil War, but such speculations could not be well supported since these ties were not made within the film itself. In other words, I'm not saying that it can't have the Red Pyramid because it is contradictive to the series; I'm saying that because they changed the nature of the cult, the resulting history from the games can no longer be applied. (Granted, had any one of the members of the cult who aided in the execution/purification of "witches" worn a triangle-shaped hood and robe at either of the burnings [Alessa's or Cybil's], I would have allowed for such an argument about the RP being an executioner fly.) Yet, as things are presented in the film, the Red Pyramid theory as an executioner cannot work in the context of the film. This is the primary reason why I wish to discuss the monsters from the film again now knowing the new context. Consequently, I know that a lot of people may disagree about this, but Gans and company failed to make a strong connection between the history of Silent Hill from the games to the film. Therefore, I'm calling out for a discussion on the subject to keep this from becoming considered a continuity error.

Warning: Silent Hill Spoilers I was a little luckier in terms of audience participation. As diverse as the group was (1:15pm showing, so mostly devote fans and interested viewers with an afternoon to spare ranging from 18 - 50 year-olds and various personas), they were well behaved and genuinely interested in seeing the film. The only laughter I heard was after the Dark World returned to Misty in Midwich and Cybil says, "What the f**k was that?" A chuckle was released among the crowd suggesting a shared sense of confusion and relief as did the characters. A few gasps were heard every now and again, but almost everyone stayed silent and focused on the screen the whole time. Well, expect once the credits began, everyone got up and left as soon as they played, almost like the nurses, which was quite freaky. The origins and influences for the monsters is something I'd like to discuss at some point. Though some monsters originate the same as in the games, such as the Mumblers and the Creepers (though the exact origin is not mentioned in the film; and which also have faces ???), others need to be re-evaluated considering the new context. I'd like to think about the Nurses, the Red Pyramid and the Janitor "Colin." Lisa was awesome avoiding looking directly at Rose and cowering from her touch, portraying a subordinate role; it added to the mood that Rose was still somewhat intimidating to Sharon/Alessa, even in the depths of the Dark World. Though I didn't like that she ended up as a Shibito (Yea! for Siren references), but considering that her death is unknown in the film it's understandable that she was bleeding from her eyes instead of her forehead. Well' date=' at least there weren't any machine-gun-toting teenager girls with short shirts in the film. You know, 'cause they would never do that in a Silent Hill; it could never work. Still, I'd love for the DVD to have an alternate crazy fun ending, maybe a UFO Ending or a strange one like the DOG Ending. Bloopers and goof-ups would be cool as well.