Unwelcomed Appearance

Silent Hill made its way onto PSN for Europe a while back before mysteriously disappearing without any reason given. It's the sort of thing you have come to expect from the series, something that probably made more sense if it happened in game than in real life. Since most users who downloaded it during the short two week window reported no bugs, it probably had nothing to do with the compatibility of the game with ps3 and psp system.

It probably had more to do with the Konami announcement of the re-make of the original currently on its way to the Wii in the form of shattered memories by Climax studios. By removing the game, konami avoids saturating the market with the original since they also revealed that the original hard copy is no longer in production (duh!). It made some sense but not entirely since the game is also scheduled to be appearing on ps2 and psp system, and current ps3 do not support ps2 games anymore. I suppose the series needs all the help it can get and spreading it across three systems seems to be the way to go right now. Any factor that might deter the potential sale like the appearance of its original is certainly unwelcomed at this stage.

Wet Dream Come True

I wasn't too thrilled when i first heard rumours of a Silent Hill remake heading to the Wii, if only because it was also rumoured to be appearing on the PSP and the fact that Climax Studios will be developing this only further strengthen my belief. Now the i have previewed the Nintendo Power cover story on Shattered Memories (the new subtitle for the remake) i'm much more optimistic about this remake and actually looking forward to it. Not many Wii games can prompt me to make a day one purchase but NP and Climax studio managed to do just that with still images and interviews alone! Ok maybe that's my fanboyism love for the series talking but to Climax studio credit, Origins was a worthy entry into the series so i have high expectations that this will more REmake than konami's own Twin Snakes for last generation.

What Climax is trying to do with the wiimote and storytelling is generally pretty ambitious, and has got me more excited about this than i ever was with Homecoming, the series debut on the current gen consoles. It seems everything you do and where you go will ultimately have an effect on who you meet and how the story will end. Now the first two Silent Hill games had a similar non-linear storyline where you could completely skip certain subplot should you miss going to certain area or put your character on-track to a different ending depending how long you spend with NPC and what file you pick up. The subsequent Silent Hill seem to have abandon this idea in favour of a more linear story and ending so Climax re-imagining of the original and ideas on how to implement the story seems like a welcome return to the roots for the series. I was also very impressed with how they plan to utilise the wiimote to function as the series trademark radio and flashlight, it seems like this could very well be a survival horror game that is only possible on the Wii. If only the texture and character model didn't look like PSP standards but i trust NP judgment enough when they say the game looks better in-motion than in picture. Time for me to dust off the original which i still owned on Platinum release and fire up that bad boy.

wait are those psp textures and character models i see?