Silent Hill Discussion

[Eccles]

It's time once again for "Stuff I only just noticed while replaying SH3" (Yes, folks, I'm still doing it).

Most of the doors in the mall carry the names of actual japanese companies. Most notably Yggr Drasill; a web hosting company.

There is graffitti about the train station pushing "Hell's Gate"; a play on the Heavens Gate cult that was big in america for a short period of time.

Hope House is an actual charity...though the actual Hope House is more about recuperating children than abducting and brainwashing them. Still I feel this one warrants comment; the SH team don't put things like that in by accident.

In the Amusement Park, you find a travel brochure written by one Roger Widmark. Richard Widmark is an actor who played in the film "To the devil a daughter"...a film about a journalist trying to save a young girl from Satanists: the plot to SH1

And things that aren't referential, but that are cute nontheless...

When you step off the train the first thing youre greeted with is a piece of graffitti that reads "MON_TER" (the S part of the wall is missing). Presumably this is some kind of subliminal "OMGLOOKWHATYOUDID!!!1one" thing.

On the "Up coming galleries" billboard is a picture of a skull.

The bath scene in the apartments...I know I'm stretching it like I do, but I'm always reminded of that scene in Eternal Darkness. Y'know, the mentally scarring one.

[CIaude]

Hey, so I'm playing Silent Hill 2 for the first time and uh... Yeah, it's pretty spooky. Help.

Help as in you're really really scared, or help as in you're stuck in the game and want our help with that?

A bit of both. I just saw Pyramid Head for the first time and just couldn't get the words "What the fuck?!" out of my mouth...

BRAIN: WTF?!

MOUTH: Wh-Wha-Wh-What The? (At this point I'm in awe at just how much better James is handling the situation than I am)

He certainly does live up to the hype.

[Monobrow]

It's time once again for "Stuff I only just noticed while replaying SH3" (Yes, folks, I'm still doing it).

Most of the doors in the mall carry the names of actual japanese companies. Most notably Yggr Drasill; a web hosting company.

More than just a japanese web-hosting company, Ygg Drasil is another name for "The World Tree"...which is where the web-hosting company most likely got their name. A variation is Yggr Drasil, in reference to Odin's Steed.

The World Tree is sometimes referenced as a labyrinth structure, (ever read House of Leaves?), as it's roots delve down into the earth...yeah ya know, a never ending void in the earth, a maze, and there are also references to it being an aware entity, sentinent, etc... When you put a reference like that in Silent Hill, which is full of references, it makes perfect sense.

You can also look up Ygg Drasil in mythology, etc. I am now interested in finding out which door in the mall has this written on it, and what is behind it...I guess I will have to play again because I never noticed it, or maybe I just forgot.

[Eccles]

Well it's pretty hard to see. It's in the corridor behind the shops on the second level of the mall. It's on the door to the right of the closer...you have to zoom in to see it properly.

[ifirit]

I've had some set-backs in working on my projects recently and I'm having to do a lot of things myself now. Anyway, sorry about not posting anything relevent recently, but I'll try to pick things up again, especially news about the upcoming film (which has been official given a release date: April 21, 2006). I'll also post a few more theories about Silent Hill 3, 4 and No Escape that may offer an interesting perspective on the games. (I have a lot of hand-written notes, but nothing typed up yet.)

In the meantime, I'll just post a few goodies to keep you guys happy. It seems that people have just been busy laboring over their own Silent Hill inspired projects for a while now, because they're just coming out of the woodwork. Take this for example.

"Taking Back Sunday" featuring Silent Hill 4 - The band "Taking Back Sunday" who recently released their video for the The Photograph is Proof (I Know You) single has created a Video Mod featuring Henry Townsend in the Daisy Villa Apartment Complex. (Scroll down to the list of videos available for streaming and click on the SH4 Video Mod.) The video also contains visuals of monsters from Silent Hill 3 & 4, but not other characters. Certain aspects of the video may remind some of you of SH2, but only on a small scale. Personally, I don't think the band is very good, nor is the single; and the direction of the video is decent and faithful to the games, but nothing breath-taking. The only reason I feel that this worth presenting is that this breaks the bubble from the cult-status [sH humor] into the mainstream, which the film will (hopefully) progress further (maturely and honorably). Also, it adds to the sense of both game production as an art and as a basis for visual media outside of the video game world itself. Although I feel the execution of this project not to be the best it could be, I applaud the effort and know that we are coming a step closer to having the mainstream respect and encourage the pursuit of game development as a form of art.

You can download the video itself on one of these alternate, independent links: here and here. (Please be aware that the downloads are slow, even with broadband connections. Also, please do not distribute these copies without consent of the webmaster.) [Requires most recent update of .mpeg-compatible player]

Broken Notes: Intermission Vol. 2 - Before the group at http://www.brokennotes.com releases their next Akira Yamaoka-inspired ambient album: Sanatorium, they have released the second volume of their intermission mixes, which are rearrangements of classic videogame music, including non-ambient Silent Hill tracks. The first volume of Intermission was a fun little break from the dark, forboding sounds of Silent Hill and this next album is much the same. Granted the tracks aren't going to appear on the OCR front page anytime soon, they do have a charm all their own. In all honesty, I'm simply using this to help promote the next album and to inspire more people to make more OCR-style remixes of the music from Silent Hill.

To download the album, scroll down to the last entry and right-click the link. The tracks are all downloaded at once, unlike the previous webdesign, which allowed you to download individual tracks (likely a result of bandwidth abuse). [Requires WinRar or a .rar decompressor]

Gamasutra Interviews Takayoshi Sato - Gamasutra, a great insider-game developer community, recently conducted an interview with Takayoshi Sato, CG animator for Silent Hill and director/writer for Silent Hill 2. In the interview, Sato-san explains his involvement with the Silent Hill series and details how the creative process runs within Konami, as well as his reasons for leaving Konami, joining EA and working in America. I love how he explains the way he creates character models and how his style is immediately recognizable at looking at screenshots. His absence from the Silent Hill series has been well-missed by myself and only wish that somehow he could bring his insightful character-development back to the series, even if as a guest director/producer/creator. If you have the patience, I really encourage everyone to read this interview as it really becomes apparent how style is incredibly noticable in computer animation, something people may not have considered before.

Another reason I wanted to bring this interview up is so that you can visit Takayoshi Sato's official website. You'll find original screenshots and character concept designs from SH1 and SH2 under the respectively-titles sections. The images are very good resolution and clearly better than available in the games. Definitely check out his animation screen tests under the section Master Class for some great, though slightly over-expressive facial movements. Also, if you look under the section titled Sketch and Stuff, you can find a variety of character sketches from Sato's resume, including previously-unreleased sketches from Silent Hill 2. (Awesome!) Maria looks so different from the game.

Lost Memories: Art & Music of Silent Hill - Production Images - I recently found a thread that has uploaded a large section of the production images ripped from the Lost Memories DVD. The production items are pretty cool to see and include variations on some of the most classic screenshots. Please note that the images may take a while to load as there are over 182 images on a single page. (That means it's not 56k friendly.) Check it out if you can.

Some of my personal favorites include this, this and this. Please note that the alternate costume designs in the SH2 character models are based off the concept drawings by Takayoshi Sato (mentioned above), which were later modified for final presentation.

I hope that will keep you guys tied over until I can make a more relevent post. A film progression update will be coming soon.

[Eccles]

You know, I have all of the images of the Lost Memories DVD floating about my room somewhere. Im not sure how big it is, but Im sure I can pass -some- of it round. The concept art for Dahlia is somewhat amusing...

[CIaude]

I got the Bad Ending in Silent Hill 2 so now I'm kind of dissapointed. I don't know what it was I was expecting... I just wanted something more... I don't know. It just felt like I didn't get any closure to the story at all.

[bonus]

I got the Bad Ending in Silent Hill 2 so now I'm kind of dissapointed. I don't know what it was I was expecting... I just wanted something more... I don't know. It just felt like I didn't get any closure to the story at all.

Just like the first Silent Hill. I played through it again without killing Cybil...and got a "very bad" ending.

What's up with that?

[ILLiterate]

Just notice this thread again, and I thought it would be a good idea to post my newest song, an original and a tribute to Silent Hill so heres a link

EazyP - Silent Night [ A Silent Hill Tribute ]

Also, I was talking to my friend and said "I wish Harry was back in another SH" only for him to answer "Harry is dead." That true?

[Eccles]

I got the Bad Ending in Silent Hill 2 so now I'm kind of dissapointed. I don't know what it was I was expecting... I just wanted something more... I don't know. It just felt like I didn't get any closure to the story at all.

Mild spoilers about how to obtain each ending

The way you act while playing the game dictates what ending you get...as opposed to the first game when the ending depends on which characters you manage to save from the monsters.

If you show you care about Maria (checking on her several times in the hospital, not letting her get hurt, always following her directions etc) then the chances are you'll get the ending revolving around Maria.

If you show you care more about Mary (looking at her photograph several times, reading her letter (even when it's gone) listening to her memories in the tunnel without interrupting her) then you'll probably get the ending revolving around Mary.

It also depends on what shape you keep James in...if you try to keep him as healthy as possible and heal him into and beyond the green zone (often healing when you dont really need it) and avoid taking damage and looking at Angelas knife then you're less likely to get the water ending. Likewise if you show that you dont much care for James (take damage, dont heal much, look at the knife (thus contimplating suicide)) then the water ending awaits you.

Also, I was talking to my friend and said "I wish Harry was back in another SH" only for him to answer "Harry is dead." That true?

SPOILARX

Yeah, it's true. About halfway through SH3 Heather returns to her apartment to find Harry dead in his chair. It's what encourages her to go to Silent Hill and deal with Claudia

[Amaterasu]

I think when I played Silent Hill 2 was the first time when I was disgusted with the main character. I mean, at first he's this tragic guy that just wants to be with his wife, then you find out that...you know. Pissed me off, but in a good way. I saw that the game had emotion and wasn't just a horror romp.

[Monobrow]

Ugh, man I just visited the Silent Hill Heaven forum...and that site is full of a lot of baseless theories about Silent Hill 2. I think it's great that people take the time to think out their theories and all, but there are an awful lot of people who claim that their theories are "really obvious", and "the right" theory when they just make huge leaps in logic and make every assumption in the book, taking my suspension of disbelief for granted.

I just want to say that I'm glad this thread exists, because it seems to be better than most topics on that entire site, which is sad.

[Eccles]

there are an awful lot of people who claim that their theories are "really obvious", and "the right" theory when they just make huge leaps in logic and make every assumption in the book, taking my suspension of disbelief for granted.

HARRY IS PYRAMID HEAD AND HEATHER IS MARIA!!!!!111

[Monobrow]

there are an awful lot of people who claim that their theories are "really obvious", and "the right" theory when they just make huge leaps in logic and make every assumption in the book, taking my suspension of disbelief for granted.

HARRY IS PYRAMID HEAD AND HEATHER IS MARIA!!!!!111

Hahaha! There's this interesting one, which claims that Mary stayed at Brookhaven hospital before she died, and that was HER diary on the roof...It's interesting, but there is one glaring oversight to this...First...The entrant writes that he/she has a mouth to feed...And second, the entrant doesn't "WANT" to go home, whereas, in Mary's letter, she states that she is glad to be coming home to see James.

Anyway, their explanation? "Mary is suicidal, that's why she went to Brookhaven, for five days before she died, whoa...Why five days? Because there are five entries on the diary on the rooftop! People that don't want to die of a disease and are angry at their life being cut short are STILL SUICIDAL! Even when they show no signs!"

Okay, maybe that is a little overboard, but you get what I mean. But don't forget, if your theory isn't provable, there's always the fact that you have the secret and accurate real Japanese translation from your good friend that proves that maybe the person "didn't have a mouth to feed, but had someone to go home to" which OBVIOUSLY means that Mary DID write the diary on the rooftop! You're all wrong and I'm right.

/end sarcasm...

[The Instrument of GAWD]

Who's dairy was that on the roof anyway? Not James' was it? It would fit him tho', since he's wacko enough to... you know... put up a mental block that he SMOTHERED his wife with a pillow three weeks before visiting Silent Hill.

Personally, I played SH2 right after SH1. Beliving it'd be like the first, I was in for a surprise. I didn't actually start predicting or make theories until Maria got killed in the hospital. However, I didn't think James' really did kill his wife, I thought he just didn't love her or was cheating on her.

Speaking of SH2, I got a copy of it for the PC, now I can see the UFO ending. I played through "Born from a Wish" and trying to figure it out. Sure, I get that Ernest was trying to bring his daughter back to life with that ritual, however, I don't get why he never appeared on screen. I figure he's like Maria, just doesn't have a body. I'll have to play it again.

Some of this stuff can be simplified, but then some of the meaning gets lost, I know that... That's why it's so hard to make your own Silent Hill story. If your not careful, it'll end up like that Teenager-badasses B-Movie material, Dying Inside. I've been working on my own with Ifrit's help, but it's alot of work and effort.

Anyway, on lighter notes; someone posted these on DA.

http://quizilla.com/users/mesaana/quizzes/Why%20are%20you%20in%20Silent%20Hill%3F%20(pics)/

http://quizilla.com/users/Kensuke/quizzes/How%20much%20do%20you%20want%20to%20be%20in%20the%20town%20of%20Silent%20Hill%3F/

I found them fairly accurate. I hope you have fun with them as well.

[ifirit]

For those people who have been starved for some info on the next title in the Silent Hill series (Silent Hill 5), keep fasting because nothing has been posted by anyone officially. But, I've got good news, I just sav....(No, no inane car-insurance-company-slogan-parodies today!). Okay, okay. What I wanted to say was that I have managed to scrape up some rumors about the next title. So on to the update. (Yay! Fridays are Unofficial Update Day!!!)

Silent Hill 5 Rumors:

E3 Announcement?: Apparently, according to an unaccreditted, uncited source, Konami was actually planning to release some information on Silent Hill 5 during this years's E3 convention alongside other titles that are planned for the next generation of consoles. The source was supposably a marketing executive who was in contact with Konami during the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Exposition (E3) and was given a small promotional item which was to be distributed in conjunction with the announcement. Along with the image was the tagline, "Your days are numbered. 2006. Horror is taken to the next generation." However, no such announcement was made, therefore, that was the reason the item was not distributed. (Hmmm...)

Anyway, the item was apparently a poster displaying an image of a face with the title of SH5 followed by short, spooky phrases and the release year. The last thing on the image is the phrase "Your days are numbered." The image is a fairly low quality and the phrases are somewhat unlike things that might appear in a game, but you never know. I doubt it is real considering that there is no marker identifying Konami on the poster and the title lacks a copyright symbol, details which Konami has always taken care to produce in the past few games. You can read more about this rumor in this thread.

Rumored Silent Hill 5 Poster #1

An Early Concept Screenshot?: Another rumor to appear in forums revolves around another image that was unaccreditted and uncited. This image was rumored to have been intercepted from a Konami employee's email account in a subfolder that was titled "x05." No other information was given about the work or anything to the validity of the claim. If you consider the originally rumored storyline for Silent Hill 5, which would feature a mental patient trying to remember his experiences in Silent Hill (which now that I think about, sounds an awful lot like the premise of "Silent Hill: No Escape"), then the image might make sense. However, there is no real way to tell.

The image itself is a CG drawing of a patient's room in a modern hospital. A grainy filter was placed over the image to give it that trademark "Silent Hill" look, but the quality of the filter has been greatly called into question. The image shows the room empty with a bed facing an empty dresser/cabinet. A cage-like object is placed next to the bed (a crib, maybe?). The dim lighting of the room make for a dark and etherreal setting. If you'd like to know more, you can discuss it in this thread.

Rumored Silent Hill 5 Screenshot #1

A Change in the Plot?: Another rumor to spread across the forums is that the storyline for SH5 is actually going to be the unused storyline from SH3. If you recall the interview with Takayoshi Sato I posted above, you'll note that Takayoshi Sato (who had just left to join Konami North America) was outsourced by Konami for a storyline to make SH3, but was rejected by Konami executives when presented with his idea. That marked the official break between Konami and Sato, who was fired shortly after due to budget cuts. Anyway, if this rumor is true and Konami is planning to use the former ideas of Takayoshi Sato, then we might expect another thought-provoking and psychologically twisted version of Silent Hill (which I was hoping for, considering how poorly developed SH4 was).

Silent Hill Film Update:

There really isn't anything new to report thus far, so I'm just going to post some old articles about the film for the sake of being complete.

Mirror of Roger Avary's Journal Entry (June 19, 2005)

Sean Bean's Interview with ComingSoon.net (July 12, 2005)

Mirror of Sean Bean's Interview with ComingSoon.net (July 12, 2005)

There's also still a rumor floating around about the trailer to the Silent Hill film being shown during the preview section of the remake of "The Fog." If you want to check it out, let us know if it's true or not. The Fog comes out in theaters October 14, 2005.

P.S. For anyone who is interested, new Siren 2 production material (new music and new trailer!!!) has been released on the official website. Siren 2 will be released in February of 2006.

EDIT: It may not be of any interest to anyone, but I also wanted to announce that Akira Yamaoka is releasing a new album on the Konamistyle record label. Unlike the previous tribute album, which featured previous works by Yamaoka-san through Konami games, this album will contain completely original works. The album is titled iFUTURELIST. You can also view a preview of music video featuring Akira Yamaoka on vocals. (Why is he dressed like a yuppie-art student, playing on the German film styles with a Russian/Communism motif?) I don't know Inner-Dialogue Voice, but now you can see that rumored arrogant-rockstar attitude that has been associated with his reputation.

EDIT 2: Lastly, for the biggest rumor of the day: Konami and Capcom merging? What?! (Hey! You got RE in my SH. No! You got SH in my RE.)

[Raenok]

Resident Evil 6: A Silent Town on a Whispering Hill.

Zombies, cults, and crazy people! Oh my!

[RazorOutlaw]

Hmm, has anyone seen Silent Hill: No Escape Part 5 yet?

For some reason this one was a lot easier to understand Part 4, as Part 4 was almost entirely shrouded in ambiguity and vagueness. That is to say when I watched it could only scratch my head and say "Wtf?"

Part 5, however, was a bit easier to follow in that there was a more definite conflict going on. It came down to Michael vs. Agony and then Michael vs. Medical Staff Posse.

Also, the part where the Agony came out and admitted that he was a darker part of Michael's mind really helped too. Oh, and the fact that Michael came out and admitted that he had lost everyone dear to him. I mean, all around it was pretty blunt instead of the more abstact "Part 4".

[ifirit]

Well, since it's Friday, I guess it's time for another update.

The Return of Silent Hill Media: This one came right out of the blue, everyone. I haven't gone crazy and I'm not fooling around. However, Dustfungus' Silent Hill-related media site: Silent Hill Media has returned! Now, to anyone who asks for a music file, audio file, or sound file (or anything else media related, including The Art of Silent Hill and Lost Memories: Art and Music of Silent Hill) from any of the main 4 games, you need only turn to Dustfungus. Unfortunately, none of the material has become available for download just yet, but that will likely change once the final design for the site is set. So look out for that soon.

As a service to everyone who wants know what you can get from the site, I'll list what you can (later) download and where.

Silent Hill 1:

- Audio

• Sound Effects
  Voice Dialogues (Music-Free)
  Rare Voice Dialogue (Music-Free)
  Original Soundtrack
  Complete Soundtrack (Dustfungus Edit)
  Unreleased Music Files & FMV Music
  Silent Hill MIDI's

-Pictures

• Fan-Submitted Wallpapers

-Movies

• Silent Hill Opening (From LM)
  Silent Hill UFO Ending (From LM)

Silent Hill 2:

- Audio

• Sound Effects
  Secret Sound Effects
  Voice Dialogues (Music-Free)
  Rare Voice Dialogue (Music-Free)
  Original Soundtrack
  Complete Soundtrack (Dustfungus Edit)
  Unreleased Music Files & Rare Music Files
  Music from Trailers

- Pictures

• Fan-Submitted Wallpapers

- Movies

• SH2 Trailers (North America & Japan)
  The Making of Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill 3:

- Audio

• Sound Effects
  Voice Dialogues (with Music)
  Original Soundtrack
  Complete Soundtrack (In Progress)
  Unreleased Music Files and Rare Music
  Music from Trailers
  SH3 MIDI's
  SH3 Limited Edition Soundtrack

- Pictures

• Press Kit
  E3 Trailer Screens
  TGS Trailer Screens
  Official and Fan-Submitted Wallpapers

- Movies

• "You're Not Here" Music Video
  Story Board Comparisons: "Gun Acquisition"
  The Making of Silent Hill 3

Silent Hill 4: The Room:

- Audio

• Music from Trailers
  Original OST Clips

- Pictures

• Original Renders
  Fan-Submitted Wallpapers

- Movies

• Trailers

The Art and Music of Silent Hill:

Pretty Simple: Everything from the DVD's.

Silent Hill Remixes:

Various Arrangements, Covers, Originals and Sound Compilations created by fans.

So, as you can see, this is a pretty big deal when you say that this kind of site is coming back. But, please remember why the site went down last time and don't abuse his bandwidth. Enjoy.

[RazorOutlaw]

Ah, now see, that is interesting. I recall Silent Hill Heaven had a complete Silent Hill 2 soundtrack, but at the time I had dial up so I could only get my hands on a few of the songs.

I particularily liked the soundtracks from the Apartments in that game. They were so creepy sounding.

[Kiyosuki]

My friend brought up a very interesting thing for you all to think about.

If Video Games eventually moved to Virtual Reality-esque type stuff, would you play a Silent Hill game in that way?

I don't know about you, but being in the third person and actually being there are two different things..

MAkes you think.

[The Instrument of GAWD]

My friend brought up a very interesting thing for you all to think about.

If Video Games eventually moved to Virtual Reality-esque type stuff, would you play a Silent Hill game in that way?

I don't know about you, but being in the third person and actually being there are two different things..

MAkes you think.

I would still play. However, expecting creepy stuff and not expecting it makes all the difference.

[ifirit]

I guess it's time for a weekly update. Well, as you know, with the return of Silent Hill Media (Downloads are still not available, but will be within the next week), everyone's excited about getting new media for a quick Silent Hill fix anytime. Well, here's a few more to feed the fix.

Silent Hill 4: The Room Complete Soundtrack (Disk 1):

MEMDB (aka Brandon), a Silent Hill Forum member and the guy who made the Silent Hill 3 Complete Soundtrack, has released the first disk of his Complete Soundtrack. The disk contains the unreleased music and ambience from the game up to just after the Hospital World. According to MEMDB, the tracks have not been "mixed together" like Dustfungus' Complete Silent Hill 1 + 2 Soundtracks. There are both advantages and disadvantages to this, but I personally like having the tracks "unmixed" as you can isolate songs or simply use the crossover function on your audio player to get a flowing audio experience. Anyway, the tracks are available for download on megaupload.com in a single zip file, making download simple, but please advise discretion when downloading (meaning that you save the file instead of just opening it each time).

Silent Hill 4: The Room Complete Soundtrack (Disk 1) - Zip Download (93.2 MB) / Soundtrack Information

Robbie's Tracks - Audio Files Available:

Thanks to Dog's on Acid and God Anubis from the Silent Hill Forum, who have generously posted a copy of the "Silent Hill 4: Robbie's Tracks" Remix Album. Unfortunately, the files have been compressed using a .rar compressor, so not everyone will be able to access it. However, I plan to decompress the files and recompress them using .zip format and will try to have it available for download within the next week, so look out for that. For those who don't know what the soundtrack is for or which songs are remixed, check out the Soundtrack Information (from Chudah's Corner) & watch the original Robbie Video (from Konami of Japan).

Silent Hill 4: Robbie's Tracks - Rar Download (28.0 MB) / Zip Download (.M4A Files) (28.18 MB) / Zip Download (.MP3 Files) (21.55 MB) / Soundtrack Information

Album and Song Descriptions:

- Each track was meant to be a stylistic reinterpretation of the music from the short CG animated video featuring Lakeside Amusement Parks's "Robbie the Rabbit" with music by Akira Yamaoka. Yamaoka takes a little musical vacation by remixing the video music in the styles of his favorite European electronica style: techno. While not exactly ground-breaking material, the album is a fun departure from the traditional dark and gloomy ambient style of Silent Hill's music.

German - This track is a German minimalistic techno rearrangement of the music from the original Robbie Video mentioned above. Believe me when I say this is minimalistic, because although the arrangement is creative in how it reinterprets the themes, it simply loops them over and over and over again. This piece won't make everyone happy, but if you like minimalistic techno, you'll find this to be pretty good.

French - The style represented here is French tech house music. While the song is very similar in structure and texture as the German track, the song offers more variety in terms of arrangement. As such, the tracks is much easier to listen to. Much more melody driven than the previous song makes this a much better dance song and easy to tolerate for the full 6 minutes.

Swedish - This tracks ROCKS!!! (This song is so awesome, I'm using correct English, no l33t for this.) The whole soundtrack seems to be made just for this song. The track, in the gabber style, simply makes you happy. I spent a good amount of time just looping this track over and over again this weekend. If you only listen to one of the three songs, listen to this. However, I recommend that you listen to the entire album first before getting to this track, as it makes your appreciation for this so much better. (I love the Swedish!)

Silent Hill 3 (Limited Edition) Promotional Kit - Artwork Files:

This is a treasure among Silent Hill media, as very few copies of Silent Hill 3: Limited Edition were ever released, and finding a reseller is impossible. So, ChoasKeeper, has graciously offered a link to the artwork from the Drawing Block/Drown in Black artbook that accompanied this promotional kit. Again, the artwork has been compressed using a .rar format, so unless you have a decompressor that can handle Rar Files you won't be able to see it. And again, I'll try to recompress this in .zip format and post a link before next week.

Silent Hill 3: Limited Edition (Promotional Kit Artwork) - Rar Download (4.75 MB) / Zip Download (4.75 MB)

I hope that you enjoy the files, and offer some feedback on what you like or dislike. Though, I know that a lot of this stuff is rare and high-sought-after, I filter certain things out that are Silent Hill related, but not necessarily of importance. So let me know what you think.

With that said, I guess it's also time for another...

Silent Hill Film Update:

In an interview given by Edge-Online with Roger Avary, Mr. Avary reviews and explains the entire process that has gone into the making of the Silent Hill film. He explains his involvement in a different light than in his blog, and how Christophe Gans' filming style is reflected in the film as well as Avary's modifications. It provides a very good insite into the thought-processes that go on with a director who is just as passionate about the project as the fans are. This is a good read for both fans and critics. (Plus, Avary mentions that he is in the process of negotiating the script for another Konami big-screen adaptation of a game. Hmmm...MGS?)

Roger Avary Talks Silent Hill: The Movie

Personally, I feel much more reassured about the film after reading the article. I hope people see the impact that Christophe Gans is trying to make on the Silent Hill world and that this form of media is not disposable as other films about video games are in reputation. Though, the companies involved might not realize it, but a lot of people are putting their hopes into the film. Here's hoping for the best.

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As far as the idea about a VR version of Silent Hill, it might be reasonable to produce, but with modern surround-sound systems, high-definition (HD) television and Konami's increasing use of first-person perspectives, the games are about as immersive an experience as you could get. VR would just be single push forward.

What I consider a better approach is similar to the one that Akira Yamaoka hopes to occur in the future (given in his speech at the Games Developers Conference this year), which is to "create a metaphor using computer graphics." Now, despite the vague nature of the comment, I can visualize the power that such an advancement could make on the player, when you can actually see different interpretations of an object within the game world itself. Until the time comes when computer graphics can accomplish this, Konami's plans in terms of Silent Hill are to continue to create a culmination of graphics, story and computer-to-player interactions in future installments.

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I've been talking to Peacer and reading over the forums at the No Escape website recently. As far as the films go, the last three films are the despictions of Michael's decent into madness, being that #4 = Questioning Sanity, #5 = Decent into Madness, and the last film #6 = Depths of Madness. As such, each film will become progressively more scary and incomprehensible as the story reaches it's climax. However, certain theories about the films' ending are surfacing with certain credibility. If you want to read more, check out the forums for No Escape.

Also, the story is meant to conclude in the sixth chapter, with a definite resolution, meaning that Chapter 6 will be the last of the films. Peacer has confirmed that he does not plan to add anything else to the story, but maybe I can change his mind.

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On a lighter note, who's getting ready for Halloween? Anyone dressing up as a Silent Hill character/monster? If you are and you do, remember to take some pictures and post them here or on the Silent Hill Forum. I'm thinking about it, which would make this the first for me use a SH costume, but I'm not quite sure what to dress as. Any suggestions?

EDIT: I've uploaded the Robbie Tracks in .zip format and converted the .m4a files to .mp3 files at 192 kbps. (If you have any problems with the downloads or the files, please notify me about it and I will try to fix the problem.)

For anyone who wants a description of the songs from the Robbie Tracks Remix Album, I've added it to the information above.

[BocoDragon]

I want Silent Hill on Revolution.

[ifirit]

I've uplaoded the .zip files for the Robbie Tracks album and the Silent Hill 3 Limited Edition Artwork Package.

After opening the .rar file for the Robbie Tracks album I noticed that the files were in .m4a format, which only RealPlayer or Quicktime/Itunes can play. Granted most people have upgraded to Itunes, I realized that they still might want .mp3 files of these songs. So, I've converted the songs to MP3 at a constant bitrate of 192 kbps.

Let me know if you guys have any problems.