So last Saturday was Halloween. I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday. It’s probably the most appropriate holiday to discuss on a Silent Hill blog, wouldn’t you say? Here at Konami we have a costume contest where all employees can participate. We also had a decoration contest between departments, so when I arrived Friday morning everyone was busy spreading spider webs above our little cubicle office things. Then we turned off the lights. It was pretty treacherous for a while there. There was also this battery operated skull head thing that would scream maniacally once activated by someone passing nearby. It was quite an experience to work on Silent Hill in the dark, encased by webbing, to the sounds of an insane toy yelling in the background.

We didn’t have any Silent Hill costumes this year. Simon Lai and I re-used our Contra 4 costumes from two years ago. I’d briefly thought about throwing together a Harry Mason outfit but that didn’t seem very challenging, and Simon couldn’t very well have been a Contra guy by himself. We play Co-op or we go home here at Konami. Still, it was tempting to show up to work with glasses and a brown coat, waving my cellphone around and pounding on cubicle doors shouting “It’s my office!” Oh well, maybe next year.

Around Halloween, I always see a lot of “Halloween video game” lists around message boards and blogs. You know – games that people love to play on Halloween instead of being productive members of society and partying or scamming for candy. There are generally two different types of lists (and hey, Konami games top both of them!): you have your “Survival Horror” type lists, with Silent Hill featured prominently, and then you have your more “gothic action” lists, with Castlevania ranking pretty highly.

Personally I think I lean more toward the “Castlevania” type of list for Halloween. I think maybe it’s the “costume” aspect of Halloween. Castlevania feels a little less serious, and more “in the spirit” of the holiday rather than trying to psychologically scar you like the more serious survival horror titles. But there are plenty of people who want to be scarred by their gaming on All Hallows Eve – and I hope they chose to play some classic Silent Hill this year. (Castlevania is also less frustrating to play if you have to stop every few minutes to hand out trick or treat candy!)

Myself, I’m thinking of doing a “Let’s Play Along” journey through the original Silent Hill leading up to the release of Shattered Memories. What do you guys think?

Silent Hill is a mysterious place; maybe this will all make sense one day!

-Tomm

source: SHSM Blog – Fog and Candy Corn | 11/06/2009