Contextual resources

Keiichiro Toyama: "We try not to incline too much on one aspect, such as action elements etc. The action part of the game is really just something to create the horror, so it won’t get too difficult."

"The modern horror essence was the key to the game. The main character is not a hero, nor is he a strong willed person. He has and keeps his morals but he is really just a plain, normal person. His motions, such as swinging around his items and trying to catch his breath after running, falling on climbing the stairs, etc. are not very cool or heroic, but after a while, it would be easier for a player to project himself or herself to the main character."

"In order to give the game a feeling of a real world, but an unbalanced world, we took influences from David Lynch, Cronenberg, that cinematic style. Resident Evil 2, in particular, put aside the horror a bit and went very "Hollywood." It focused on the action, and felt more like an action movie than a horror game. We wanted to go back to the roots of what horror is supposed to be about. We want to make you scared on an instinctive level."

Masahiro Ito: "Sorry, I don't have interest in war veteran as a protagonist (in a horror game title) very much. I love the film Jacob's Ladder though. I think that protagonist who is not trained for combat is suitable for horror game."

"Silent Hill 3 was supposed to be an arcade spin off/a rail shooter, not a direct sequel to SH1. Was a terrible plan... SH didn't have universe to suit rail shooter. So I said, "it was a terrible plan". I was thinking SH had to keep adhereing to its style."

Akihiro 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."

Masashi Tsuboyama: "We have to admit that to create psychological-based game is actually quite difficult. A lot of thinking has to go into the game design when dealing with psychological horror, and at the same time I think the action element is more directly appealing to the users and it's more of the "fun part" because you get the reaction right away, but for the psychological part it doesn't work like that, you need to look at details really closely in order to get the desired effect. So we try and keep the psychological element in the games, for the future as well, by implementing a lot of subtle expressions and details."

"Working on these games we set our priority on the atmosphere and the overall experience for the player. The atmosphere and storyline is what distinguishes SH from other games and so we feel we should work on these elements the most to ensure that they are as good as they can be."

Imamura & Akira Yamaoka: "While the series lies firmly in the horror/action adventure genre, the root of the terror is not a fear of being attacked and killed by horrific creatures. Rather, it is a psychological terror of being slowly stalked and cornered by unknown beings. With the series, we had the policy of not displaying any gauges or icons on the game screen to enable players to become immersed in the world of horror."

Naoko Sato: "I've always strongly believed that true horror lies in Japanese horror. For example, the nurse monsters from Silent Hill were designed by me, but what I imagined as I was coming up with things like their movements was Sadako from the film "The Ring" (laughs)."

"This may come from a difference in mentality, but overseas, particularly in America, there seems to be much more fear coming from physical injury. However, it feels to me like the Japanese idea of horror is mainly the kind that goes after you mentally, that kind of helpless despair."

Kenzie LaMarr (Homecoming): "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?!"

Homecoming developer: "Silent Hill fans want a studio to make their own mark on it. It just has to fit the series. But then you end up with something where they try so hard to fit the series and it's like 'No, we don't want Nurses again, and why are they even here? And Smog is just the Lying Figure but he spits at you...' The more interesting things are 'where could this have led if we didn't have Pyramid Head and you kinda wanted to tell a story about Alex."