Presumably work has already begun on fifth game already, given their current work-rate. "One of the websites said we are creating a fifth [Silent Hill] called Shadows - I don't know where they get their information but obviously it's not Shadows that we are creating," Tsuboyama says, "but we are creating the next one. We're not sure which hardware we'll put it out on, but we will play it on the best one, be it PS3, be it Xbox 2..." But not on the current generation of consoles, the PS2 or Xbox? "No not on these consoles." Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Kikizo: The Room is obviously different from previous games in the series - much more psychological being enclosed in one room - will this kind of thing continue in future Silent Hill games?



Tsuboyama: No, we won't keep this trend for the following sequels. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Imamura: After the underwhelming response SH4 got, we've been gathering opinions from everywhere to make sure we come back strong with the next installment. Sometimes the most vocal opinions, for example the desire for more battles, are not always the best ones, especially for a series like this. We wanted more melee combat in SH4, but realized from fan reaction that there was just too much action, regardless of it being melee or not. That kind of action doesn't make the atmosphere creepy anymore, but kind of obnoxious. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

GW: What was the original scenario for SH3? Are you allowed to divulge that?



Yamaoka: Unfortunately no, since we plan on using it for a future game. (laughing) It was much more along the lines of the second, where the main character was a damaged human being, summoned to the town for a very specific reason. It was, or should say is, the darkest story we have come up with. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

GW: Anything you can tell us about SH5?



Yamaoka: Who says it'll be called SH5? (laughing)



GW: Ok, anything you can tell us about SH-Next?



Yamaoka: Unfortunately not at this time, but very soon. We also can't tell you the system or systems it will be on, but we can say it will be on the next generation platforms.



Imamura: Maybe I'll get in trouble for this, so Konami Japan don't fire me, but we are interested in playing with the idea of 'light'... as in 'daylight' and shadows. Ever since the pre-production of SH2, we wanted to start a SH in a normal environment- daylight, people going about their business, just normality. What happens when you make that normality rot all around you? It is possible to make a normal sunny day really creepy. Just look at films like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre or even one of our favorites, Jacobs Ladder.



GW: A significant hint to SH5? No more 'otherworld'?



Imamura: I'm not saying that. In fact, the lack of a more dramatic 'otherworld' in SH4 bothered a lot of fans, so we intend to have a very impressive 'otherworld' with the next generation power. I'm just saying a possibility in how a game could start. That's all I can say. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Question: Our number one question is about Silent Hill 5. How far has the production come along, as it was announced a few years ago.

Answer: I cannot say much about the development of the game but I can say we are working on a new unique idea of fear in daylight and the game will play like Silent Hill 2’s psychological roots.



Question: As the famous Silent hill Composer, will you be doing the music for Silent Hill 5?

Answer: I will be composing the music which has started being made now, but I am a far from finished. I cannot say anything about the music or the type I’m making but i can say that fans of the previous soundtracks should be pleased with its outcome.





Question: A lot of speculation has been made about the platform the game will play on, which can we expect?

Answer: We cannot say yet but we are hoping to carry on the plans of the earlier Silent Hill platforms.



Question: You mentioned earlier the concept of “scary daytime” can you expand on that?

Answer: It’s a hard idea to explain, but you really have to look at the scene to understand. In a way like the Resident Evil 5 trailer where it was not the middle of the night and the vision was clear but the fear was still there. It will not be the same but that is an explanation of the idea of having fear in daylight. It is a concept that we are working on at the moment still.



Question: We have missed the Tokyo Game show chance to see a Silent Hill 5 trailer, where will we see any new information next?

Answer: I cannot say when or where we will make the idea public, but it is in production.



Question: Silent Hill for PSP is on the schedule for release in Q1 2007. Has Team Silent been taking up time working on the portable project, and is this is why we haven’t seen Silent Hill 5 in public?

Answer: Team Silent are working on the Japanese project and are not involved in Silent Hill: Origins. I have composed the 15 musical, 4 vocal tracks for the game which is now completed. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Play: I'm curios how much input Team Silent has on this game (Silent Hill: Origins). Did they set a story down in stone, or leave wiggle room for original contributions?



Oertel: The scenario wasn't written by Team Silent. We talked with Akira Yamaoka about the story, but it was very much hands off. They gave us a lot of leeway.



Play: Would you say it was collaborative?



Oertel: Somewhat. Team Silent is working on their own project in Japan, so the story was really left to us to come up with. We talked about whether we'd do a sequel or a prequel... in fact, the original idea was to do a remake of Silent Hill 1. But when we looked at how much work that would be – redoing all the graphics from scratch – we decided to do something that updated the history of the series rather than repeating it. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Silent Hill 5 is under large rumors lately because of the lack of communication between Konami and the fans. Electric Shock magazine have had the chance to speak with Masashi Tsuboyama, the cheif director, about the next Silent Hill game.



DP: Tsuboyama-san, rumours of Silent Hill 5 have been spreading but lack of official word is causing some doubt in the fanbase. Can you state if you are officially developing Silent Hill for next generation consoles?



Tsuboyama-san: Konami are yet to release an official statement regarding Silent Hill 5 which means we cannot comment on progress until we are given the OK. However I can say that we have some ideas down and perhaps something to show in the year future.



DP: Have you made any thoughts on the platform which Silent Hill will appear?



Tsuboyama-san: Like I said, we only have ideas but we have been assessing next-generation consoles such as Sony's Playstation 3. We have looked at other consoles too but they exact limitations which could delay progress. We have not decided the console yet. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Just remember and never forget that if you don't like the direction of where Silent Hill went the only people you can blame are Konami themselves. They are the ones who canned team Silent and wanted someone else to make the games. And Konami wanted the games to be different. Thats why team Silent was disbanded. From what I heard they were very happy with the games made by Double Helix and Climax. They were losing faith in the franchise for years. And to further prove what I am saying, they made an arcade style Silent Hill shoot'em'up gun game!! How Silent Hill is that?! Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Unless you work for a publisher and are known as the "name of franchise" team you probably will be working on random projects. Even team "Silent" didn't get to work on Silent Hill 5. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Well in reality it was Konami that made all the decisions for the direction of the game so if you didn't like it, you really should blame Konami. I am sure Team Silent could have done a better job, but they had already made 4 other Silent Hill games. It was Double Helix's first horror game and they were told to make it different from the previous games. The team at Double Helix was the most talented team of people I have ever worked with. They did the best with what they were given and I am very proud to have been a part of the project." Click to expand... Click to shrink...

I just wish they had given the American team the game before they decided to change everything. Most people just assume the American team was to blame for all the changes when the reality is that it was Konami that wanted the changes. Team Silent was making a Silent Hill 5 and it got canned in favor of what ended up being done. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Basically what the title says. For a while I've been kind of annoyed at the misconception of what exactly happened to the "Silent Hill Team". For some reason, it's a popular belief that the team just quietly gave up after the release of Silent Hill 4: The Room and Konami immediacy outsourced the franchise overseas. There is plenty of evidence proving this to not be the case.Before I begin, I should mention that Team Silent was not a single group of people who all worked on the first four Silent Hill games. Some members of the team left and new members joined between each game. However, even after Silent Hill 4, there were still a few original core members working on the series. Namely Akira Yamaoka (soundtrack composer for the series and producer for SH3 and SH4), Akihrio Imamura (system programmer for SH1, producer for SH2, and sub-producer for SH4) and Masashi Tsuboyama (background and motion designer for SH1, director for SH2, art director for SH4, and, presumably, director for SH5 before getting canned).Below are several interviews and quotes. Some are interviews with the Team Silent members mentioned above discussing their plans and ideas for Silent Hill 5. There are also a couple interviews from Yamaoka and the Silent Hill: Origins team confirming that Team Silent was in fact working on the fifth game, and finally a few quotes from Kenzie LaMar, an artist on Silent Hill: Homecoming, flat out saying that Team Silent was making a Silent Hill 5 until Konami took the series out of their hands.and finally http://silenthillcommunity.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=433977&p=7589519 (couldn't find the original posting for the last two quotes)So there we go. So in light of all this, we know that Team Silent was in fact making a fifth Silent Hill game, they were working on it around the same time Origins was being developed, they were listening to the criticisms they got with Silent Hill 4, and we know at least a couple of ideas they had for the game.1) It was going to feature a "fear in daylight" concept. A "creepy, sunny otherworld", so to speak.2) The story was going to be much more psychological like Silent Hill 2.But then they completely vanished in mid 2007, and suddenly The Collective (later becoming Double Helix) was announced as the developer for the fifth game. And we all know the rest.Considering everything we've heard about Konami and their complete lack of respect for their employees and franchises, along with Silent Hill 4 not doing very well and the fact that the series was much more popular in the West than it was in Japan, it should not surprise anyone that Konami decided to dissolve Team Silent and outsource the fifth game to an American studio of dubious experience.I'll end this by saying that there is no use pining for what might have been. I also don't completely blame Double Helix for how Homecoming turned out, because at the end of the day Konami were the ones who made the final decisions for the direction of the game.