The cancellation of Silent Hills has been a sore point for many gamers since it was announced in April. The subsequent fallout from the conflict between Hideo Kojima and Konami was an adventure itself to behold, but it has ended with no real winners; just a whole load of gamers losing out. With Kojima Productions all but disbanded and the Silent Hills Playable Teaser pulled from the Playstation Network, is there any silver lining?
In short: yes. Revealed in an interview with IGN, acclaimed director Guillermo Del Toro has said that he and Kojima are still planning on working together.
“I love working with Kojima-san. We are still in touch. We are still friends and working into doing something together, but that’s not going to be [Silent Hills]. – Guillermo Del Toro, speaking to IGN”
There have been no details revealed yet on what the new project could possibly be – or even how likely the project is to be developed. With Kojima Productions no longer active, there is the question of who will be willing to fund the endeavour. Although considering the success rate of Kojima’s games its doubtful any publishers will hesitate at the chance to produce the game.
That said, the new project could potentially be anything – even something non-game related, like a film. Kojima is both famed and notorious for the cinematic nature of his games. Although this cinematic nature has at times lent grandeur and spectacle to his titles, they have also led to over-long cut scenes. With the worst culprit in MGS 4: Guns Of The Patriots lasting almost an hour.
But the thing that most fans would probably want to see from this partnership would be a spiritual successor to Silent Hills. Del Toro and Kojima are creative guys and they seemed to have hit their niche with survival horror, so it would be a shame to let that go to waste.
