The Silent Hill series has seen its fair share of ups and downs since the original game released on the Playstation back in 1999. Currently, the franchise sports seven main video game titles, multiple comic books and interactive story mediums, a big budget movie, (with a sequel on the way) and even an amusement park ride . With E3 just a few short months away, it would be highly unlikely not to see something new brewing from this quiet, deadly town. So don your flashlights, grab your radio (What radio? The radio's broken!), and dig these factoids you may not have known about Silent Hill.
1. Cybil Lives!
In early tests of what was to become Silent Hill 2, developers had a small test area that resembled the diner where Harry awakens in the original game. The crazy thing was, the character being played was Cybil , with a higher-res PS2 character model.
2. Lost Chapters
This strikes pretty close to home. The strategy guide for the original Silent Hill was created using the near-finished review copy of the game. The problem? That version had a few differences from the retail copies everyday people would purchase; most notably, the solutions to a few puzzles near the end of the game were changed completely, rendering the guide virtually useless.
3. Heeeere's Eddie!
Silent Hill 2 has a plethora of deleted scenes from the game, several of which can be seen in the opening credits video. One scene that didn't make the cut was the original intro for the character Eddie. Like the final version, he is seen vomiting into a toilet. But the first version was much more graphic, even managing to freak out some of the game's development staff. Unfortunately, a power surge hit the building and the only hard drive affected was the one with the aforementioned footage. Since there were no backups, the team took it as a sign and created a new, slightly less disgusting version.
4. Re-imagined
Silent Hill 4: The Room is typically thought of as the first in a string of disappointing releases in the franchise. But did you know that the title didn't even start out as a Silent Hill game? It was originally going to be an all-new IP, but Konami decided to adapt it early in production to fit into the Silent Hill universe.
5. Sounds of Death
For 16 years, composer Akira Yamaoka was pretty much the face—er…ears of Silent Hill until his departure from Konami earlier this year. But did you know that Yamaoka-San has his own full-length, non-Silent Hill album? Surprisingly, it sounds more pop-like and electronic than moody or scary, similar to his work on the Bemani games.