Why wasn't Silent Hill 3 released on Xbox?

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silentevil1989
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Why wasn't Silent Hill 3 released on Xbox?

Post by silentevil1989 »

Hello fellow SH fans! I haven't posted in the boards for ages, but being a bit hyped by the possible release of two new SH games, I tried to find an excuse to create a topic here :)

In short, is there any particular reason that SH3 was not ported to the original Xbox? SH2 was released for the console with additional content (and with a different subtitle depending on the region), and sold well enough in North America to become a Platinum Hits title, equivalent to the PlayStation Greatest Hits range.

Even if SH2 for Xbox did not meet Konami's commercial expectations for the Japanese market, as Xbox games never did from what I know, it's intriguing, since SH4 was released for the Xbox in North America, Europe and Australia. Thus, I never quite understood why Konami decided to skip Microsoft's console for the third game, and my guess is that it would sell decently in most regions, excluding Japan. Thoughts?
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leftshoe18
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Re: Why wasn't Silent Hill 3 released on Xbox?

Post by leftshoe18 »

My guess is that since Silent Hill 1 was never released for Xbox they didn't want to just put the direct sequel there. It's the only thing that makes sense since - like you said - 2 & 4 were released on the console.
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silentevil1989
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Re: Why wasn't Silent Hill 3 released on Xbox?

Post by silentevil1989 »

Damn, that actually makes sense, though it's kinda lame decision from Konami to do that. It sucks that owners of Xbox 360/One are stuck with the dreadful port from HD Collection.
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Re: Why wasn't Silent Hill 3 released on Xbox?

Post by Mephisto »

^ Look on the bright side, man. At least you got something *shrugs*.
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Lifetolifeless
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Re: Why wasn't Silent Hill 3 released on Xbox?

Post by Lifetolifeless »

Wish it weren’t the case, but quite likely this was simply a matter of the Xbox install base size relative to the PS2 install base at the time. SH2: Restless Dreams was a commendable foray, but sales numbers didn’t inspire further support for the platform.


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Re: Why wasn't Silent Hill 3 released on Xbox?

Post by DinoNerd89 »

I agree with the above posters that it probably had to do with the sales numbers of the consoles. The PS almost always blew away the Xbox in terms of raw sales(exception being the Xbox 360 vs PS3)


I also personally believe on top of it, that Silent Hill always felt more like a Sony/Playstation franchise, despite being on other platforms too. At least thats how i always associated it. 🤷
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silentevil1989
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Re: Why wasn't Silent Hill 3 released on Xbox?

Post by silentevil1989 »

Lifetolifeless wrote: 18 Oct 2020 Wish it weren’t the case, but quite likely this was simply a matter of the Xbox install base size relative to the PS2 install base at the time. SH2: Restless Dreams was a commendable foray, but sales numbers didn’t inspire further support for the platform.
But SH4 was released on Xbox, so leftshoe18's assumption that Konami didn't release SH3 on Xbox because it was a direct sequel to SH1, which wasn't released on a Xbox console, is the most likely explanarion. Doesn't make sense to just skip SH3 and not SH4 as well.
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Re: Why wasn't Silent Hill 3 released on Xbox?

Post by Burning Man »

Silent Hill 2 had an Xbox release so that Konami could have one of the first survival horror games for that console during their first launch. Xbox was released on Nov. 15, 2001 in North America. Considering that the original Silent Hill 2 was released in September 2001, a user base hadn't really formed at the time. Xbox didn't have a library of survival horror games with Resident Evil deciding to go with the GameCube instead. The only other Japanese horror franchise that went on that Xbox wagon was Fatal Frame.

Silent Hill 3 and 4 were targeting different regional markets at the time of release. SH3 specifically targeted the European market, which was a surprising move at the time. The Xbox market wasn't all too impressive in Europe then. On the other hand, SH4 was targeted for the North American market, where the Xbox user base was more prominent and had an extra year to broaden the user base.

SH3 being a sequel to SH1 being the reason for not having an Xbox release couldn't be true. There were specific design choices made so that players did not need to have played the first game to enjoy the the third game. It was designed as a rather standalone game.
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