Empty spaces in Silent Hill: Downpour

GGSGamer.com has brought together a great gallery of recent screenshots of the new places we'll be exploring in Silent Hill: Downpour. There is lots to dig through, so click on over to view the nice high-res shots on offer, and spend some time on the site.

For those who don't know, GGSGamer is run by the same folks who run the legendary Silent Hill Heaven forums, where you will find lots of discussion on our favorite vacation destination.

Vintage Silent Hill updated for the 21st Century

RelyOnHorror.com (always on the ball) brings us a mix of the old and new from ComicCon this week. While everyone else is showing us all the great Downpour screens, Rely on Horror brings us a couple of more that confirm James still looks like James in Silent Hill 2 HD. This is relevant, because James will no longer "sound" like James in the Silent Hill HD Collection because of a legal dispute with voice actor Guy Cihi.

I'm looking forward to the inevitable fan dissection of the differences between the original games and their HD remakes.

Everyone loves the music

You can't have this.

 Gotta love the Twitters. @SilentHillWorld brings us a link to a post from MMOMFG on the music of Silent Hill, Beyond the MIDI: Silent Hill series.

The post calls out the quality inherent in Yamaoka's work on the series, and also notes the upcoming changes in Downpour with the debut of Daniel Licht's work on the series. Its worth a look, so click on over.

Silent tea bagging on the Hill (not coming)

Hell Descent (these guys get all the scoops) have an interesting bit of news. Seems Konami has been trying to figure out how to bring multiplayer to the Silent Hill series. According to the post, Vatra and Konami have already dismissed online multiplayer for Silent Hill: Downpour, but Konami is still trying to figure this one out.

With the multiplayer model working in Dead Space 2, and a history of what I can only think to call "asymetrical multiplayer" in past games like Aliens vs. Predator, Splinter Cell, and others, I think there is a chance for interesting things to happen. Capcom tried twice with Resident Evil: Outbreak, and is rumored to be trying again.

EDIT: 03/21/2011 According to Devin Shatsky, producer of Downpour, the answer to "are we getting multiplayer?" is a big NO.

The headstones are ready

I should tag this post "asleep at the wheel" for not posting this earlier. Konami's Facebook contest,  Be Buried in Silent Hill (login required) is over, and the winners have been announced. Expect to see these tombstones in the graveyard in Silent Hill when Silent Hill: Downpour gets released this fall. Each image below links to its respective Facebook page, so you'll need to logged in to Facebook to view the details:

Tombstone designed by Mike H

Tombstone designed by Krum

Tombstone designed by Marcel B

The winners will also received a special acknowledgment in the game's end credits. It should be fascinating to see how these are integrated into the game, especially the one from Mike H with its "Fog" and "Other world" designs.

"Be Buried in Silent Hill" finalists are ready for your vote

 Its time to vote! Konami presents the top ten finalists for their tombstone contest promoting Silent Hill: Downpour. Click on over to Facebook (login required) and vote for your favorite in the "be Buried in Silent Hill" contest which will put the winning tombstones into the actual game.

My favorite has to be the one by Mike Hiscott, shown above.

You have until February 16th to cast your vote, so vote now!

Design a tombstone for Downpour

More action from Konami promoting Downpour, as fans will have a chance to get their own graveyard memorial included in Silent Hill: Downpour. Konami is sponsoring a contest via Facebook where you can submit you own design for a graveyard memorial to be included in the upcoming game. Three lucky winners will be selected, and will have their designs immortalized in the game. All the details can be found in Konami's PR release on their Silent Hill Facebook page (login required).

An audio peek at Downpour

Joystiq posted an MP3 peek at Dan Licht's upcoming score for Silent Hill: Downpour. Konami has kept the news on this title coming fast and furious since the Game Informer magazine article--hopefully they can continue to generate buzz on this title until it is released. If you don't have the latest Game Informer, the site has done a really good job of tracking development as well.

I think a lot of fans are a little nervous to see what Dan comes up with. He's got the pedigree for sure. I guess the most interesting thing to keep an eye (ear?) on will be how far he is allowed to stray from the path set by Yamaoka.

Game Informer's big reveal of Silent Hill: Downpour

Game Informer Magazine scores the big reveal for Silent Hill: Downpour. The new issue features an article that describes a demo by Game Informer staff accompanied by a slew of photos from the game. If you don't get the magazine, be sure to keep an eye out at the usual venues (Destructoid, Joystiq, etc.) for upcoming coverage of the game, or just jump over to Game Informer, as they have a whole slew of material covering this upcoming chapter of our favorite vacation spot.