Kojima: "I want gamers to shit their pants"

[unreadphilosophy]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/08/13/ ... google.com

This is what I love about Kojima. The guy is direct. When he wants to get down to business, he lets everyone in the room know it. A quote from the article:

"Originally we were thinking a game that would make you pee your pants," Kojima said during an interview streamed on Konami's Twitch. Now "we are aiming for a game that will make you s**t your pants."

I...can't wait for this game.

[Huknar]

Actually, dare I say that quote has me just a touch concerned. It rather implies that he wants to fill the game with a lot of jumpscares. Silent Hill is terrifying because of the long sense of dread, being perpetuated by music, environment and creatures. You create your own fear. Static from a radio rising as creatures start to come near, as opposed to loud noises and creatures appearing in front of you. The slow rise of music as it turns from unsettling ambience into industrial drumming, never quite making you jump but always making you fear the worst.

A lot of the time the game is scary because you think something will happen when it never actually does. Though of course this is just my interpretation of the quote. I could be wrong and he means to do this exact thing.

Despite that, I have never been so positive for a new Silent Hill game, and I think this might just be "it."

[Matt S]

He does have a way with words! LOL...I've never played a single MGS game, but there is (technically) a long history between Silent Hill and MGS - demo anyone?

Actually, dare I say that quote has me just a touch concerned. It rather implies that he wants to fill the game with a lot of jumpscares"

it does? Thats some serious reading between the lines there.....I would not infer jumpscares from 'want people to sh&^ themselves'

[jdnation]

Silent Hill has always had its share of infamous jump scares. So it just depends on how often they go about it. Too much too often and it loses effect. Keep these at a distant pace and they'll be more effective. Even the Western developed SH games didn't abuse this imo, so I don't think it's anything to worry about.

[Matt S]

Silent Hill has always had its share of infamous jump scares. So it just depends on how often they go about it. Too much too often and it loses effect. Keep these at a distant pace and they'll be more effective. Even the Western developed SH games didn't abuse this imo, so I don't think it's anything to worry about.

I'd say PT had one.....


excellent write up on Kojima's comments

http://www.relyonhorror.com/latest-news ... scariness/

[unreadphilosophy]

There is a chance Kojima will figure out ways of balancing jump scares with psychological tension. That demo, for as short as it was, had me anxious and jumping off my bed at once on more than one occasion.

[Tillerman]

Actually, dare I say that quote has me just a touch concerned. It rather implies that he wants to fill the game with a lot of jumpscares.

I think that's reading too much into it. I appreciate the sentiment... the greatest flaw that the recent Silent Hill games have had is that they just aren't that scary. Silent Hill definitely needs to take scaring the player seriously again.

I wouldn't worry about filling it up with jump scares. It's definitely good to have at least some jump scares, because the anticipation of a jump scare is an excellent tension builder. All of the original Silent Hill games had jump scares in just the right amounts..

[Matt S]

For this one, I'd say no SMG. Hard to make it scary if you are carrying fully automatic weapons with hollow point bullets and 4 extra clips

[jdnation]

For this one, I'd say no SMG. Hard to make it scary if you are carrying fully automatic weapons with hollow point bullets and 4 extra clips

Gonna feel good when Daryl finds a crossbow.

excellent write up on Kojima's comments

http://www.relyonhorror.com/latest-news ... scariness/

Some choice quotes:

"According to Kojima, there are a number of developers that will make a horror game less scary because players may get too scared to continue, never end up finishing, or even play the game again. For Silent Hills, this is more than okay with them and something they actually expect. The team are actively ignoring the ‘scary limit’ and want to make the game as scary as possible"

Interesting... I wonder if some of Del Toro's cancelled INSANE project from THQ is finding it way into Silent Hills. Kojima and Del Toro have been hanging out a lot and even Shinkawa was making art for Pacific Rim and other things. Perhaps the reason they've been seeing each other is because they're working on this, and also we never did learn what happened to the INSANE IP that del Toro I believe retained but mentioned found its way t another developer that he didn't want to announce yet?

One of the hardest parts of the project for them was to make the graphics and playability worse for P.T., but they promised that the final product will look much better graphically and play much better. The reasoning for this so what they the game would have the feel of an indie horror game. Something developed by a small team and not a AAA studio.

Haha, that almost sounds like more work. But this is good because it certainly shows that Kojima and his team have been paying attention to the horror indie scene.

The final puzzle in P.T. is extremely difficult and was so on purpose to hide the secret reveal; they didn’t expect people to uncover it was a Silent Hill game until a week or so after release. They underestimated players, and it took three or four hours for people to discover the secret, so they must be improving as many guessed Phantom Pain was Metal Gear Solid V right when the teaser was playing.

Makes sense, Kojima finally got to plant one on us. Though I wonder if this is any indication of the potential hard difficulty? It will be interesting to see a final walkthrough of this game when everyone figures it out.

[Matt S]

For this one, I'd say no SMG. Hard to make it scary if you are carrying fully automatic weapons with hollow point bullets and 4 extra clips

Gonna feel good when Daryl finds a crossbow.

lol, I hope not........! would be a little funny if it was a preorder ex or the like though

[NanayaShiki]

"Of note, the extra ‘S’ at the end of Silent Hills apparently is supposed to stand for “Plural Scariness,”."

That man...

[SPRINGS02]

Actually, dare I say that quote has me just a touch concerned. It rather implies that he wants to fill the game with a lot of jumpscares.

I think that's reading too much into it. I appreciate the sentiment... the greatest flaw that the recent Silent Hill games have had is that they just aren't that scary. Silent Hill definitely needs to take scaring the player seriously again.

Word. I've felt the same way, it's like the scare factor just gets overlooked in favor of making sure the story has some kind of big plot twist or something. Don't get me wrong, the story IS important, but you can't neglect the horror factor. It's a still a psychological HORROR game after all.

[alone in the town]

The original game had jump scares all over the place. The crying in the school bathroom, the sounds of shit breaking in the hospital, even the very first time you fight the Air Screamers.

[Little Wise Owl]

The original game had jump scares all over the place. The crying in the school bathroom, the sounds of shit breaking in the hospital, even the very first time you fight the Air Screamers.

I wouldn't call the crying in the bathroom sounds or glass breaking jump scares... The first air screamer and locker cat? Sure. Definitely. But really, there weren't that many in any of the games.

[alone in the town]

I wouldn't call the crying in the bathroom sounds or glass breaking jump scares... The first air screamer and locker cat? Sure. Definitely. But really, there weren't that many in any of the games.

They're all examples of sudden, scary noises designed to make you jump. That's literally all they're there for.

I think some people equate "jump scare" with "cheap scare" (or, as seems to be the case with you, things actually appearing), and I don't agree at all. I love a good jump scare.

The first game isn't the only one that has a fair share of jump scares, either. Those who play the second game more than once probably have a tendency to get nervous around parked cars, bathroom stall doors and hospital rooftops. The third game has an entire haunted mansion full of them. And they very likely made you load your Depends the first time you played them. Jump scares aren't a bad thing!

Unless they're pop tarts, in which case they are simply glorious.

[SPRINGS02]

I wouldn't call the crying in the bathroom sounds or glass breaking jump scares... The first air screamer and locker cat? Sure. Definitely. But really, there weren't that many in any of the games.

They're all examples of sudden, scary noises designed to make you jump. That's literally all they're there for.

I think some people equate "jump scare" with "cheap scare" (or, as seems to be the case with you, things actually appearing), and I don't agree at all. I love a good jump scare.

The first game isn't the only one that has a fair share of jump scares, either. Those who play the second game more than once probably have a tendency to get nervous around parked cars, bathroom stall doors and hospital rooftops. The third game has an entire haunted mansion full of them. And they very likely made you load your Depends the first time you played them. Jump scares aren't a bad thing!

Unless they're pop tarts, in which case they are simply glorious.

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with jump scares, i think it's just that like you said people look at them as cheap scares(in a way, they kinda are, i mean they're the easiest way to "get" someone). And i think part of that is due to a lot of horror stuff using them in a heavy handed, predictable, or really cheap way(like the pop tart jump scare you mentioned)

I think the best kind of jump scares are used in a way that adds to the tension and dread. For example in P.T., the ghost lady in this game that grabs you and jump scares you at one part. For me, that's when the game got a lot more intense, because i was just sitting there like "shit is that gonna happen again?"

[Coercion]

I like his philosophy, here, but I feel uneasy about the execution. I am very much on board with pants-soiling levels of scariness, don't get me wrong, it's just that I wouldn't like to see the focus on horror see other aspects of the franchise pushed to the wayside. As an aside- Guillermo on the team makes me incredibly excited about the creature design.

[HillsideSkoomaAddict]

There was some jump scares in the demo, but the atmosphere was extremely creepy. A mix of both is ok for me, as long as they don't only rely on jump scares. The atmosphere in the demo was extremely creepy, and the sound effects were top notch. I'm sure we're gonna shit our pants.

[golden filter]

Silent HillShityourpants

[Matt S]

On a side note, yet related, anyone read Del Torro's and (Chuck) Hogan's The Strain series? three books, also a tv show by the same name on FX. While its Vamp related, it does remind me De Torro has strong ties to horror - of course, Mimic put him on the map I think.

But it is his creature designs, particularly Pan's Labyrinth, that has me excited to see what he brings to the table.