Konami, What Are You Thinking?!
By Andy Bartsch
In 1998, I received Konami's Metal Gear Solid for the Sony Playstation as a Christmas gift. It quickly became one of my favorite games of all time. On the back of the instruction manual, there was an ad for upcoming game called Silent Hill. It had a picture of a blonde female police officer with her arms crossed. The only information given about the game's plot was the tagline: "Welcome to Hell". In the following months, I gathered more information about this mysterious game. Details were still vague, but based on what I read in video game magazines, it was supposed to be scarier than Capcom's Resident Evil series. I was eager to get my hands on this game. I couldn't shut up about it. I told everyone, especially my folks, how pumped I was.
The day of release came and I used my allowance to rent the game from our local Blockbuster. I came home, eager to finish my homework so I could get to playing, when my mom asked me to empty the dishwasher. Bah! I have no time, woman! I have to learn how geometry works so I'll never need it in my adult life, then I must spend the rest of the evening scaring myself and turning my jeans brown! For god's sake, WE HAVE PAPER PLATES!
Of course, I never said any of that. But when I opened the door of the dishwasher, what did I find among the clear glasses and plastic plates? A brand, spanking new copy of Silent Hill, securely sealed in shrink wrap, along with the strategy guide. I suddenly transformed into that kid from the Nintendo 64 viral video. "SILENT HIIIIILLLLLLLL!!!! OH MY GAAAHHHHHHHD!!!!! SILENT HIILLLLLLL!!!! YES! YES!" I gave my mom the best hug ever, then began to run upstairs to my room.
"YES! AN EVENING OF NIGHTMARES!"
"But seriously," she said. "The dishwasher needs emptied."
To this day, even if it's pixelated graphics that haven't aged very well, I find the original Silent Hill to be one of the creepiest games ever made (despite everyone giving Silent Hill 2 all the praise). I'm a thirty year old man and the image of Lisa turning into a monster and coming after you with open arms, crying, still makes my skin crawl.
The game was a success and Konami usually released sequels every other year. However, many fans and critics agree after the third game, the quality of the series steadily declined. Between the lack of quality in the games and the two disappointing theatrical films, the future of Silent Hill seemed as bleak and foggy as the fictional town itself.
Editor's Note: Check out Centralia, PA when you get a second. The entire town is on top of an abandoned coal mine fire that will burn for another 300 years! It inspired the crappy 2006 Silent Hill movie.
Then on August 12, 2014, Playstation 4 owners came across a new game in the PS Store available free of charge, simply titled, "PT". No plot nor gameplay details were given, and no one knew where this game came from. Those who dared downloaded it were in for quite a surprise. The point of PT was to find your out of a long L-shaped hallway that repeated over and over again. Every time you re-entered the hallway, the hallway would become slightly more disturbing. There would be roaches crawling over the walls. A refrigerator leaking blood would be swinging from the ceiling. Strange noises would erupt from the controller. The radio would be talking to you. THERE'S A LIVE FETUS IN THE BATHROOM SINK?!?! But perhaps the most iconic (and frightening) moments came from your encounters with Lisa, a pale ghost who would sometimes simply pass you by or attempt to choke the life out of you (only to repeat the hallway once again). Apparently, if you're name is Lisa and you live in Silent Hill, things don't end well for you. If you were able to solve the vague puzzles and take all the unnerving scares the game had to offer, you could finally escape the endless hallway, and be treated to the secret behind this mysterious game.
This game's reputation quickly swept the internet. It built up an incredible amount of hype, as many people were dubbing it the scariest game ever made. Several Let's Players shared their fruitless efforts to beat the game on Youtube. For a few days, it seemed like no one could figure out the secret behind this strange game. Then the rumors started. Some were saying this was the next entry in the Silent Hill franchise, but Konami remained quiet. Within a week of the game's release, the ending was posted on YouTube. After solving some almost impossible puzzles, a cut scene would play. From behind, you could see a man walking down the middle of a dark street, with no signs of life anywhere. The screen turns black. A name appears. "Hideo Kojima" - the man responsible for one of my favorite game series, Metal Gear Solid! The man shines his flashlight on some vacant buildings. The screen goes black again with another name. " Guillermo del Toro" - the director of Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy films. The man stops and turns to the camera, revealing his face. It was none other than Walking Dead star Norman Reedus. He proceeded on his walk, only for the screen to go white and play the opening theme to the original Silent Hill game. The words, "Silent Hill" appeared in thin black letters. Then, at the end of the word "Hill", an "S" was added. "Silent Hills". Yes, not only was this the next installment of the Silent Hill series, but but there was a powerhouse of talent behind it.
This was the most excited fans have been for Silent Hill in a long time. The hype was incredible. I ended up buying a PS4 myself, just so I could play PT. I may or may not have chickened out after going through the loop twice. I cannot confirm nor deny this.
Oh Lisa....it's so good to see you again...I wonder if I still have my old blankey...
However, in March of 2015, rumors started to spead about the status of Hideo Kojima's employment at Konami. Shortly after the rumors began, it was confirmed that Kojima was leaving Konami. Whether he left voluntarily or was fired was unclear, and the future of two of his two upcoming games, Silent Hills and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, became uncertain. With most of MGSV finished, it was most likely still going meet its September 2015 release date, and another production team will most likely put the finishing touches on it. Silent Hills, however, did not get so lucky.
Kojima's departure from Konami also meant the departure of Del Toro and Reedus. Sure enough, Konami announced the official cancellation of Silent Hills. Even though Konami stated the Kojima's departure did not mean the end of the Metal Gear or the Silent Hill franchises, fans were too upset to care. An online petition went into action in hopes of saving the game and quickly gathered over 160.000 signatures. (You can still sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/kojima-productions-continue-working-on-silent-hills). But the final nail in the coffin was in April 2015, when Konami announced they would remove the free PT demo from the PS Store indefinitely.
So what went wrong? Well, like many other video game studios, a lot of effort is going into the current trend of mobile gaming. Mobile gaming is fine, but is console gaming really becoming a thing of the past? I highly doubt it. Also, in Japan, gaming is only one of the industries the Konami works in, as they work in the field of health & fitness industry. A lot sources say that Kojima has frequently butted heads with Konami CEO Kagemasa Kozuki over the years. As gaming was evolving, Kojima was willing to experiment with new things and attempt to give gamers a lasting memorable experience with every game. Unfortunately, that costs money. Lots of money. And with every new game Kojima made, the budget would escalate, and even though the games would make their money back, the difference in profit would decline with every game.
What does the future look like for Konami? Well, in Japan, it looks fine. As stated earlier, gaming isn't their only source of income. In the States, however, the future looks grim. Konami has blacklisted several internet personalities objecting to their business strategies and has de-listed themselves from the New York Stock Exchange. My thoughts? Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid are probably going to fall into gaming limbo like Castlevania and Contra.
The "What Could Have Been" Quadrilogy.
Andy Bartsch is a feature writer for GGR: The Great Geek Refuge.