"We have had focus testers ask to stop playing because they are 'too scared' during exploration." Thats good news!

Seconded. That's absolutely fantastic!

I hope it's not just hype . . .

You're posting to a half year old thread.

In half a year we can celebrate the anniversary!

Yes, I realized.
Which is why I deleted it.

Gee whiz. I was wondering why this thread was brought up again..

You'll have to forgive me if this is the wrong place for this, but I couldn't find a thread dedicated to this interview specifically
http://silenthillheaven.com/main/shsm/shsm_postmortem/
and some of the other threads didn't seem quite right for this either, so I'm posting it here.
If anybody needs to move it or anything, go ahead.

I was doing some research about Shattered Memories's relation to cannon, because as wacky as he is, helldescent always gets me thinking about this.

I could've sworn that either Kenji or AuraTwilight posted a link in which one of the developers confirmed SM to be a separate universe/world, but for the life of me, I can't find it now. And google isn't helping me at all this morning.
I haven't got nearly as much insight into Homecoming and Shattered Memories as I should. Seriously, I've only played SM twice.

I was contemplating as to why this part of the interview got lost in the shuffle. I have to admit to only skimming through this the first time I read it because it was so long. The part I'm quoting is about half way down the page:

Tomm was asked:
"Clearly, Shattered Memories was meant to interact with SH1 and the fans’ feelings. Based on the Toluca Mall scenario, I think it was also meant to interact with SH3. One interpretation a forum member has posited is that Vincent was a previous psychologist of Cheryl’s, given the things he says and where we first meet him (in a mental health clinic). What do you personally think of this interpretation?"

To which he replied:
"Ha ha, I think looking into Vincent as a therapist is a little out there. But, I do consider Shattered Memories to actually be somewhat of a Silent Hill 3 reimagining, rather than SH1. If you look at the bad ending of the first game, SM makes perfect sense as a direct sequel."

Throughout most of this interview, Tomm keeps repeating that many things in SM are up to player interpretation and more "personal" than in the other Silent Hills. Then he throws in a very concrete "makes perfect sense as a direct sequel."

Don't misunderstand me--it's very obvious that the Silent Hill from the first game is not the same Silent Hill from Shattered Memories.
I just need additional thoughts on this.
I personally agree with Tomm, but then again, I haven't played this game nearly as much as many of you.
So, Whaddya think?

That was my question, actually. I was rather pleased that he answered all of mine.

I remember that, now about a year ago, I had mistakenly pegged Tomm as a believer in Death of the Author, as he seemed to deliberately avoid stating what his and other developers' specific intentions were, regarding the story. This is why I asked him about his opinions of certain theories instead of asking whether something was true, because I was sure he wouldn't give a straight answer.

He clarified that he doesn't personally believe in "Death of the Author," but (if I remember correctly) that he was forced to follow it because of the nature of Silent Hill's story. This, I think, applies more to Shattered Memories than the other installments because we - the player - are Cheryl. The emotional impact of the ending relies solely on our personal connection, as players, to the mythos of Harry and Cheryl.

So, when Tomm says this or that interpretation is perfectly valid, even if he didn't personally consider it when making the game (e.g. his reaction to the idea of Cheryl having an Elektra Complex), he's doing so because Shattered Memories is as much our own story as it is Cheryl Mason's. So, I think that as far as he's concerned, whatever allows us to personally connect with the story more strongly and make it our own only benefits the narrative, so we should go with it.