Another reason why I’ve said SILENT HILL 2 occurs in 1994 is because of Amy Baldwin.

In her bedroom, there is a calendar for the month of November. The implication being this is the month she tragically died, ten years ago, according to Ernest. Looking further into it when developing my timeline, I discovered that, in the context of SILENT HILL 2 being set in the ‘90s, the closest time that November began on a Thursday was in 1984. So Amy died then, and ten years later Ernest is talking to Maria: 1994. And that’s when SH2 would have happened.

So I did a little more looking into that calendar. The previous two times November started on a Thursday (as the calendar depicts) are in 1979 and 1973.

Maybe you see where I’m going.

Ten years from 1973 is 1983. The same year the first camcorder was introduced, as Ryan just noted. And also the early ‘80s as Ito suggested.

And in that regard, technically Harry and James’ adventures could have taken place in the same year, also simultaneously with each other. Alessa was of course the catalyst for the Otherworld’s spread—maybe it was a perfect storm for James to have even received Mary’s preternatural letter.

It might also explain why the Sunderlands even treated Silent Hill as a tourist spot. It was before all the mysterious deaths and disappearances we learn about in the first entry, before Alessa’s power took over.

However! James filmed Mary in Lakeview Hotel three years prior to the events of the game. Or, in this scenario, 1980. There’s the rub.

It does also contradict the SH2-is-ten-years-before-THE ROOM statement. More like 18. So, next step is look into Frank’s official age. I don’t have my notes with me and can’t find anything official.

If SH2 is in 1983, that means James was born in 1954. Frank would likely be in his ‘70s if THE ROOM was in 2001.

Something else to consider is the television in room 312. It’s an old floor/box TV. Those were long out of use in the ‘90s, especially ones with independent channel/volume dials on the side. Sure, could be part of Lakeview Hotel’s antiquated charm—that’s what I always thought—or it could be top-of-the-line and totally experimental!

Maybe Ito considers 1986 “early-‘80s”? Oh, but then Amy’s calendar is off again. Maybe 1989? That’s the other time Amy’s calendar would coincide. But that’s definitely not early-‘80s.

Anyway. Something to think about it.

Also.

Still got it!

Was Mary filmed three years before the events of the game? James' internal timeline of when she died was wildly off. Is it possible the videotape was made much closer in time to the events of SH2?

I don't take much significance in what kind of TV is in the hotel when James visits it in SH2. The hotel as we see it isn't how the hotel appears in real life. Just because it has antiquated TVs in it doesn't mean, to me, that it can't be taking place in 94.

We know James and Mary visited Silent Hill three years ago, so the scenario was always most likely when they visited and got sick was when "Mary died of that damn disease." Figuratively. And then James repressed his three years with his ill wife. Her doctor even says she has "three years at most" when asked how long she might have. His unreliability is still pretty consistent, it's just a lot of 3s.

And sure, the TV could just still be in use as part of Lakeview's antiquated charm. I'm just looking at all possibilities, again.

Goddammit.

The camcorder thing was brought up in this tweet: https://twitter.com/Mathayus1982/status ... 8130424832

Ito's response:
> I think what you said is right. I can agree with the point. > late 80's/90's design
>
> I said this before, but, at least, it was not the 90's.

So it looks like he immediately backtracked on the late 70's/early 80's thing.

Well at least I got 7 posts out of this and a renewed love of all the shit I used to do. I even started carrying my compendium around with me.

It doesn’t read November 1984, I’ve never said that. It just reads November. But you can clearly see that the month begins on a Thursday. And, looking at previous real-world calendars, that happens in 1984, 1979, and 1973 most recently, as previously noted, and we know SILENT HILL 2 happens 10 years later.

Call it “Sherlock Holmsing” all you want. It’s in-game evidence that can be used to determine the dates. If we just call it an error, then nothing in the series is reliable and everything can be called an oversight.

If Walter's diary didn't coincide with the year the game was first in development, I'd probably consider it nothing. But it does, and it also works with what Henry says about James and Mary's disappearance, as well as supplementary material. When everything fits nicely together in a neat little package like that, it seems less of a coincidence more and more.

That and the DJ's calendar in SILENT HILL: DOWNPOUR also coincides with its year of development/release (2011). At some point it becomes something a little more deliberate.

And, hey, maybe I'm wrong. I don't think so, though. And the last team to develop/write an official entry in the series didn't seem to think so, either.

>it is claimed that it says "November '84" or "November 1984" when the text doesn't clearly say that in the game itself<
Again, I have never claimed it reads "November '84." It reads "November" with 11 beneath that. November is the 11th month of the year.

>I doubt that 2001 is the only time those dates aligned with those days in the last several decades.<
You're right, it's not. However, using multiple other inferences we can establish 2001 because a) it has to occur not long after SILENT HILL 3 (2000) and b) a few years after SILENT HILL 2 (1994). All of which is in line with 2001.

It may very well have been a "template." And yet it still works with the timeline I've established as a whole. Funny, that.

There are two calendars in the game, one of which depicts a November which coincides with November 1984, the other which depicts a May which coincides with 1994. Though, it's worth noting that these two calendars could also plausibly depict Nov. 1973 and May, 1983. But, James still wouldn't have had that camcorder in 1980.



It's really difficult to ignore the fact that ten years -neatly- separates these two calendars, whichever sets of years you wish to believe they depict, especially when you consider that the November calendar was an asset added after the May calendar, rather than them being simultaneously used in the vanilla game, and for that reason alone, they should be treated as compelling evidence and not just meaningless coincidence.

Another detail which neatly dovetails with 1994 being the present day is this poster found in the room where Eddie is blowing chunks:



This is clearly a poster of the Dallas Cowboys, showing Michael Irvin (88) and Larry Allen (73), who played in the Super Bowl in 1994 (and 1993, for that matter).

Yeah the game undeniably takes place in the mid-90's with all of this extra stuff. Maybe Ito was referring to an earlier draft of the events or something when he said it took place in the 1980's? Or maybe that's how he envisioned it and the writers took it another way. Or something.

My god, I've missed debates like this! Those were the days.

FWIW, it's very possible that someone quickly mocked up a "calendar asset" with no thoughts to the detail and had no idea we'd still be talking about it twenty years later. While I agree that many, many art assets and design choices are significant, I'm absolutely of the belief that sometimes people just make something quickly on a Friday afternoon without any further thoughts or symbolism, and one or both of these calendars might be just that...

Given Midwich was a straight rip from Kindergarten Cop to help the art team conceptualise an all-American elementary school, I think we have a tendency to put too much stock in stuff sometimes.

FTR, all signs point to the 1990s for me.

There's a (mostly) hidden lot in South Vale which has a few dozen copies of the Midwich school bus parked in it.



I believe that whoever made and placed the art assets in this game, maybe wasn't thinking so deeply as establishing a timeframe for when the game takes place, but absolutely hid a lot of really cool details that you'd never notice playing on a PS2.

While it may very well be true these calendars are quick throwaways someone tossed together in a few minutes, it doesn’t discount the relevance they hold in the grandish scheme of things. They neatly tie in with each other, and cooperate with the overall timeline suggested in later entries and supplementary material.

No sense in disregarding it. (8)

And, sure, it’s nice they provide further support for my own work, but if I found something that contradicted any of it I’d be the first to go rummaging through decades of notes (as I’ve been doing this past week or two) to make it work.

It’s something I’m pretty good at it. (8)