Holy crap.
Akira Yamaoka, the musical genius behind Silent Hill's unique and ambient soundtrack, is leaving Konami after sixteen years of service. At least that's what the rumors say, and the rumors are pretty adamant that this has definitely happened. It's not known what Yamaoka intends to do next, with word that he has been vacationing in the US and Europe.
Yamaoka is considered by many (myself included) to be one of the integral ingredients of Silent Hill's success. He has created amazing music for each and every entry in the series (excluding the Play Novel) and has also been a producer since Silent Hill 3. Sound is one of the most important aspects of the survival horror franchise, and Yamaoka has been crucial in that regard.
Silent Hill 2 has among my favorite soundtracks of all time, so the idea of Yamaoka leaving the series behind is rather shocking to me. Absolutely crazy stuff.
Check out our interview with Akira Yamaoka here.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
8:00 AM on 12.01.2009 | 
I wish I lived in a world where Team Silent continued with this series :(
Nubuo Uematsu left Square but he still does soundtracks for them right? This doesn't neccesarily mean he won't do Konami soundtracks. Just he wants a better pay, perhaps.
Or I could be 100% wrong all around. Just sayin'.
Climax knows how Silent Hill works (even if their style was cramped in SH: Origins), but without future support from Akira Yamaoka, we'll probably never get to see how it all pans out. Shame.
Well, he was the only member of the Team Silent still working for the series. This should be the cue to finally let the series come to an end, but we know that won't happen.
2 was good but it was not THAT good. Granted I still plan to go back and play it quite a few more times, 3 is still one of the scariest ones to me, especially that part in the hospital involving the wheelchair sitting across a bottomless chasm, in such an eerie and unpleasant light...
I'm glad you enjoyed 3, but if you've played survival horror since the days of the first SH, I don't understand what you would see in that one that made it any better than 1 & 2. By "fucking over", I mean the series totally lost relevance to anyone outside of the devoted following who wanted and tried to keep enjoying the series. I bailed after the 4th.
Ahem. 4. Three was still good and I still consider 4 better then anything released after it despite the fact that it has almost nothing to do at all with the earlier games.
Still, sad to hear. I really liked the creepy things he could pull off with his music, but maybe he'll turn his talents elsewhere if he decides to stop working on SH games.
I'm still buying them...
Definitely an end of an era for the franchise. I'm looking forward to Shattered Memories, but any chances of seeing anything like Silent Hill 1-4 again is pretty much dead.
Fuck it, let's just say 'The Japanese'
first the original team Silent shifted their focus in making Siren games (which isnt a bad game in itself mind you)...
and now that Akira is gone i dont know, he pretty much is the Sound of Silent Hill, his music IS Silent Hill..
i didnt really like the franchise anymore since it was handed over to the western devlopers, theyre last 2 outing wasnt Silent Hill, it doesnt have that eeriness which was akin to SH....but i did still buy the games blindingly hoping that it could still replicate my attachment to the series..
the best for me is still the first one, then maybe the 3rd one, havent played trough 4 yet but im planning to...
i dont wanna see SH series die, i dont wanna be stuck with shallow scares like what RE and others are offering..(Alone in the Dark?please dont even mention that lols)..Siren imo is the best contender, then surprisingly Dead Space is kinda good..but still those games is still not as deep as SH series, SH has this David Lynch weirdness to it which i love
No. Nonononononono. 4 was the worst of the series that I've played.
2>3>Homecoming>1>4. Haven't played Origins, Shattered Memories looks interesting, though. Then again, I'm one of the few people that actually enjoyed Homecoming.