Is the town itself being renamed to 'Silent Hills'?

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jdnation
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Is the town itself being renamed to 'Silent Hills'?

Post by jdnation »

I've been thinking about the title some more...

Towns / areas can be named either in singular or plural...

For example of course the town of 'Beverly Hills', which could hypothetically also have been called 'Beverly Hill' if the topography was different or if the townsfolk just wanted it that way.

Similarly, 'Silent Hill' could also be 'Silent Hills.'

In other words, what I'm getting at is that the plural in the title is not just a probable metaphor, nor just title for the game; but an actual official name change of the town itself.

This could either indicate 2 things...

1. That this is a reboot of the franchise with a new name for the town that'll be an all new location unlike the past. So this is an all new start divorced from the previous games canon.

Or...

2. That, possibly the old town of Silent Hill has been redeveloped and expanded and renamed but within the same continuity.
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Matt S
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Re: Is the town itself being renamed to 'Silent Hills'?

Post by Matt S »

Definitely # 1 - if I had to guess, its Kojima's way of letting us all know, this game is going to be 'different'

Even the name is different. in its most basic form, its telling us that we are in an all new, 'uncharted territory' with Silent Hills
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redrum
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Re: Is the town itself being renamed to 'Silent Hills'?

Post by redrum »

On the flip side, it may be a hint toward the otherworldly Silent Hills :)
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Re: Is the town itself being renamed to 'Silent Hills'?

Post by Rev »

With any luck, I'm hoping it's a placeholder title. "Silent Hills" just seems silly to me.
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Re: Is the town itself being renamed to 'Silent Hills'?

Post by Fevered Dream »

I feel like it's way too early to tell, but renaming the town doesn't really seem to serve much of a purpose to me. My assumption is that it's more metaphorical with possible allusions to the many Otherworlds the series has explored.
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Matt S
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Re: Is the town itself being renamed to 'Silent Hills'?

Post by Matt S »

Fevered Dream wrote:I feel like it's way too early to tell, but renaming the town doesn't really seem to serve much of a purpose to me. My assumption is that it's more metaphorical with possible allusions to the many Otherworlds the series has explored.
Knowing Kojima's rep to fake people out, Silent Hill .......s is probably just to mess with our heads. And its working.

I can deal with Silent Hills

Now Silent Hill: Pyramid Head strikes again is a fail
RIP Silent Hills
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The 'S' in Silent Hills

Post by Arachnid1 »

Image

Has anyone else made any speculations on what the S stands for? Its no numbering scheme I know of. This should be Silent Hill 10 (if you count Book of Memories). If they continued the numbering scheme, it should be Silent Hill 5.

I've seen those who think it means 'Silent Hills', as in the main character goes through a bunch of different realities in Silent Hill (like multiple different kinds of Otherworlds), which sounds like a sound theory.

Kojima did the same with MGS: Ground Zeroes, and that still hasn't been explained even after the launch of the game. It makes no sense, so this could be similar. I don't think it's Silent Hills though, just because of the way the 'S' fades in to Silent Hill. I think it might be Silent Hill S, and the S stands for something that has to do with the overall theme of the game. Then again, if it wasn't part of Hill, the space would be more obvious like the space between Silent and Hill. Why fade it in though? That has to mean something. I'm trying to think of an explanation, but coming up blank.

Any theories?
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Re: The 'S' in Silent Hills

Post by jdnation »

Ground Zeroes title was explained long before the game released in an interview.

Ground Zero technically refers to the site of a nuclear detonation or explosion. But it has also come to mean a site of significance that can trigger a social or political response/change/reaction, such as for example, the World Trade Center attacks of 9.11 being referred to as Ground Zero.

Thus Ground Zeroes is plural because many events/discoveries here in the prologue chapter will set of changes for the characters and story arc of MGSV.

From Big Boss' coma to his becoming a villain, Kaz's loss and search for revenge for Mother Base' destruction and stuff that will affect other characters too.

As for Silent Hill's' we don't really know yet what's up.

It could be a reboot and a name change.

It could refer to the phenomena spreading out to other locales making other Silent Hill-like towns.

The 'S' could stand for a subtitle yet to be revealed, or a 5, as the V in MGSV and its red colouring not only signify the 5th installment but also Venom Snake, what looks to be an angry vengeance-filled personification of Big Boss.

Or...

And this is out of left field here...

It could actually suggest that there are two Silent Hill games in production...

One by Kojima... one by Del Toro... one 1st person, one third person, two separate products that could be taking the episodic nature of MGSV (Ground Zeroes / Phantom Pain) A prologue and a main chapter? Two different games with a common connecting theme? Maybe one shorter Downloadable and one full length retail? Maybe they're both included in the same package and both Kojima and Del Toro are crafting two separate but overlapping experiences?

Kojima has discussed looking at game development in an episodic nature to get games out faster... And this is one thing he's tried with MGSV already. Who knows?
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alone in the town
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Re: The 'S' in Silent Hills

Post by alone in the town »

Image
Image
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Huknar
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Re: Is the town itself being renamed to 'Silent Hills'?

Post by Huknar »

I've been wondering the same thing. I don't really mind, but as I've said a few times, I'd much prefer they drop the S and just call everything Silent Hill as per usual.

I think it would be weird to have the title "Silent Hills" and the town "Silent Hill" though.
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Huknar
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Re: The 'S' in Silent Hills

Post by Huknar »

I really do think it is just a case of "reboot" and differentiation to the original game and series.

I'll say though, I LOVE how the title pops up in the trailer. SO simple. No artistic font, just white screen, black text. It's beautiful.
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Re: The 'S' in Silent Hills

Post by Coercion »

Ryantology wrote:Image
I hadn't even considered that. Very nice.
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Re: The 'S' in Silent Hills

Post by leftshoe18 »

The first thing I though of when I saw "Silent Hills" was what Leonard said in Silent Hill Revelation about there "being many Silent Hills" or however he said it.
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Re: The 'S' in Silent Hills

Post by HeartlessBastard »

Didn't Kojima said it stands for "Plural Fear" or something?

Anyway, Shattered Memories is not part of the official canon, so it shouldn't be numbered, and I still think it should be Silent Hill 5 (After all, 5 is used as an substitute for an S in 1337 speak).

lol, now Kojima is a leet.
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Re: The 'S' in Silent Hills

Post by NanayaShiki »

Yeah, according to people reporting on the twitch interview he did. I believe it, because it sounds like the kind of thing Kojima would say.
NanayaShiki wrote:"Of note, the extra ‘S’ at the end of Silent Hills apparently is supposed to stand for “Plural Scariness,”."

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Re: Is the town itself being renamed to 'Silent Hills'?

Post by Jonipoon »

Let's wait and see. If its a total reboot, why not?

I could definitely see it happening. On the other hand its probably a working title in progress. Maybe they will just call it "Silent Hill" in the end.
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Re: The 'S' in Silent Hills

Post by mikefile »

Judging from the PT, to me the extra 'S' was mostly a stronger emphasis to the heterogeneous nature of Silent Hill's Otherworld and its multiple dimensional layers. The way the hallway repeated itself in an endless loop, showing different versions of it. The only you that is you. As if this title would make an effort to reveal every corner of the dark infested Otherworld, deeper parts and aspects of it, different from what we've seen before.

At least that's my first impression of the 'S'.
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Matt S
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Re: Is the town itself being renamed to 'Silent Hills'?

Post by Matt S »

2015 or 2016? Hope its the former, but a AAA SH title is gonna be sweet
RIP Silent Hills
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JKristine35
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Re: Is the town itself being renamed to 'Silent Hills'?

Post by JKristine35 »

Kojima said the s is for "plural scariness".

http://www.relyonhorror.com/latest-news ... scariness/
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Re: Is the town itself being renamed to 'Silent Hills'?

Post by fudgestix »

There's only so many discussions you can have over a letter S, so I merged topics.

I like Ryan's theory, even if Kojima has stated otherwise...
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