Silent Hill: Shattered Memories tells a very different version of the first Silent Hill game, chronicling writer and father Harry Mason's horrific search for his missing daughter Cheryl. Having unfortunately lost her in the town of Silent Hill after a car crash, Harry takes to the streets, sewers and dilapidated haunts of the accursed town to recover her. In Shattered Memories, Harry is equipped with some new tricks, including a multi-functional cell phone that acts as his map, camera and a source for many of the clues that flesh out the re-imagining's story. Developers Climax Studios also have a new trick up their sleeves, the psychological profiling of the player throughout the game, offering a personalized experience during each playthrough.

And in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Harry is more lover than fighter. The game features none of the traditionally awkward combat for which the series is somewhat infamous, favoring frantic escapes over clunky confrontations. Including Cheryl, there are plenty of things missing from this Silent Hill. Will longtime fans miss the series' trademarks? Or is Shattered Memories a cool, refreshing update to a franchise in need of a new perspective?

Loved
A Retelling, Not A Remake: Shattered Memories is thankfully more than just a warmed over version of Silent Hill, tacking on Wii Remote controls and updated graphics. It is a very different account of the events following Cheryl Mason's disappearance. Trying to fit the game's storyline within the canon of the rest of the Silent Hill universe is an exercise in futility, an exercise that will likely cease at the game's conclusion. Climax Studios was smart not to offer an obvious, cleaned up rehash, giving the Silent Hill fan something to pick apart and appreciate as a side story to the series.

Profiling: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is peppered with interactive intermissions in the form of therapy sessions with the unusual Dr. K, a psychologist who has the player perform a battery of tests. You know, the kind where there are no right answers. The player's responses to each test will substantially change the characters, the settings, and the flow of the adventure, even the screeching beasts that hunt Harry Mason in Silent Hill's otherworld. The options for changing one's Silent Hill experience and its endings are less cryptic than in previous games, making the story worth revisiting, worth experimenting with. While this Silent Hill may be the shortest of the bunch—my first playthrough lasted somewhere around six hours—it is designed with replays in mind, chances to change the world while having one's head examined. Oh, and did I mention that Shattered Memories spins one of the more interesting yarns of the series, capably delivered with smart symbolism? Because it does that too.

Silent Hill On Ice: As much as I enjoy the rusty, bloodstained, throbbing otherworld of Silent Hills past, it's well worn territory. Shattered Memories doesn't recycle those familiar nightmarish environments, instead choosing to establish its own alternate world, one claustrophobic and frozen. Granted, it's nowhere near as frightening or visually stunning, but Shattered Memories deserves credit for doing its own thing.

Smart Use Of Wii Controls: The Wii Remote acts as a pretty good flashlight, a fact not lost on most Wii developers, including Climax. Illuminating one's way around the town of Silent Hill is satisfying, as is the act of using the remote as your disembodied hand while searching for clues. With shooting and hand-to-hand combat abstracted from the Shattered Memories experience, the games simplified control scheme makes one appreciate not having to deal with previously awkward mechanics.

Hated
Running Down A Dream: As interesting as Silent Hill: Shattered Memories' chase scenes—Nightmares, the game calls them—would have been as a complement to more traditional monster encounters, the game unfortunately relies on them as the only action sequences you'll experience throughout the game. It's fairly repetitive, expectation setting stuff. Normally, you'll explore, find keys, hunt down messages, open doors, but when the town of Silent Hill freezes over, just... run! The Silent Hill series' combat has never been that much "fun," mind you, but replacing all of it with running toward blue markers and shaking off leathery demons with Wii Remote thrusts isn't any more enjoyable. Worse, the sense of tension elsewhere in the game is practically non-existent, thanks to the clear division between action moments and exploration moments.

Losing My Bearings: The game may feature solid use of Wii Remote controls, but the motion controlled camera-flashlight combo can be disorienting, especially when hopping down from ledges during Nightmares. The GPS-style map system on Harry's phone is less useful than any previous Silent Hill in-game map and painful to manipulate during portions of the game. Finally, one moment in the game drops the player into a nearly pure black abyss, an exasperating search for radio static.

Quality Assurance: A pair of bugs, one involving falling through the world and into blackness, the other turning Harry into a disembodied arm holding a cell phone, less than a complete human—making the game unplayable and forcing a reload—happened to me during my first playthrough. Not outlandishly frustrating, since the game lets the player save at any point on Harry's cell phone, but bothersome nonetheless. The game also experiences some slowdown when Harry opens doors, which is more frustrating, especially during panic-filled chase scenes.

Perhaps appropriately, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories left me torn. On the one hand, I was appreciative of Climax Studios' effort to bring something new to the series, blazing a potential new path for future Silent Hill adventures, where the same environments and aged mechanics needn't be revisited. And, better, Shattered Memories doles out a well-told, fairly blunt story, somewhat atypical for the series. Straightforward though the tale may be, sequences and allusions throughout that may seem like storytelling stumbles gel later on, giving the player something to ponder after the game's surprising conclusion.

But as with pretty much every Silent Hill game beyond Silent Hill 3, I was left somewhat disappointed. I personally enjoy the horrific creations that populate the rustier, bloodier underbelly of Silent Hill. And I like confounding, abstract puzzles. And I like bizarre boss fights, disturbing monster design, mood-setting music and hallucinogenic fear. Shattered Memories doesn't have any of that; the scares are few, the monsters nearly nonexistent and the Akira Yamaoka composed soundtrack... well, I barely remember any of it.

It may not appeal to the Silent Hill fan in me, one who's been regularly disappointed since 2003, but at least this re-imagining shatters expectations.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories was developed by Climax Studios and published by Konami for the Wii on December 8. Retails for $49.99 USD. PlayStation 2 and PSP versions are due later for $29.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played game to completion on Wii. Experienced a second, different playthrough until about the halfway mark.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

In the play's official blog, there are images of the play's unpainted cardboard props and painted props.

Know what is scarier than any Silent Hill stage play? Series musician and producer Akira Yamaoka leaving Konami.

Välkommen Till Silent Hill [Official Site via GoNintendo via Joystiq]

Video game music blog Original Sound Version cites a forthcoming interview with Yamaoka that confirms his departure from the Japanese publisher. OSV doesn't offer much in the way of specifics, but with Silent Hill development shifting outside of Japan, perhaps Yamaoka is interested in working on something else.

Confirmed: Akira Yamaoka Resigns from Konami [Original Sound Version]

You might have heard of this, but a month ago or so, Jan H., the patient, shut down power to Sophia Hospital in the Netherlands thinking that by doing so he could acquire a toothbrush that would complete a puzzle. The hospital lost power for 45 minutes, stranding some folks in elevators and forcing doctors to resort to manual efforts to keep intensive care patients breathing. Noone was hurt. (Poor Noone.)

Turns out Jan H. skated on - what else - insanity. A court ruled he had "no idea of the true consequences of his deed."

Man Found Not Guilty After Blacking Out Hospital [24 Oranges via OffGamers]

Yamaoka's trademark music and sounds are very much part of the Silent Hill experience. He has been producer of the series since Silent Hill 3. If this is in fact true, no word why Yamaoka has left the company, but Kotaku is following up with Konami.

Akira Yamaoka Leaves Konami After 16 Years [Aeropause Games via GoNintendo] [Pic]

For starters, Roger Avary - who wrote the first movie - may not return. He's, uh, busy. And while we don't know which cast members, if any, will be returning, Carmody confirms that Christophe Gans won't be back in the director's chair, as he "wants to direct something new".

Carmody then opens up on the course the movie will take, while at the same time addressing some of the complaints fans of the series had over the first film's tone and depiction of familiar characters.

"I think we need to make it a little more accessible to the movie-going public", he told STYD. "Silent Hill is not a blockbuster game like Resident Evil or the other games out there. It's a connoisseurs' game. It has its own, rabid fan base. They're not cheap, these things. You have to appeal not only to the gamers, you have to appeal to a wider audience. So we have to get some story in there that helps explain a bit more. I think that's all happening. Of course, [the story] is going to happen years later and the main character - without giving too much away - is much older and representative to the movie-going public which is in that age group."

EXCL: Producer Updates Us on Silent Hill 2 [STYD]

Look I don't know from Asian potato chip advertising, so you're just going to have to take this minute-long TV spot, as confusing as a Silent Hill plotline, at face value.

What we believe it to be is Pringles Asian segment targeting video gamers with a none-too-subtle, potentially copyright-infringing homage to two wildly different properties. But maybe the folks at Fuck Yeah, Lara Croft! have a better idea. They were the ones who spotted it.

And that date is someday in February of 2010, according to an update on the matter from Eurogamer. Since Konami hasn't responded to requests for clarification, we'll mentally prepare ourselves for the psychological impact of a similar release time frame.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for Feb [Eurogamer]

In the fatal crash last year with Avary at the wheel, a hundred mph drunken driving crash left Avary's friend Andreas Zini dead and his wife in critical condition. Zini had recently wed and was visiting from Italy. His wife, Maria, was in another car.

Avary has settled with Zini's family in a civil suit for $4.1 million.

"It has profoundly altered me to the very core of my being," Avary said in the Ventura County Court.

Earlier this month, Avary signed on to write upcoming film Silent Hill 2.

Pulp Fiction screenwriter jailed for fatal crash [Reuters]

The Hollywood Reporter reports that filming will begin next year after Hadida and his studio Davis Films finishes Resident Evil: Afterlife with Milla Jovovich.

Earlier this Spring, actor Radha Mitchell — who starred in the first film — stated that the first film's director Christophe Gans most likely wasn't attached to the sequel. "A shame because he's a nutter but he's so passionate about the game," says Mitchell. "I think he should do it if they do it again."

Samuel Hadida has produced the Resident Evil films as well as True Romance. Avary, who won an Oscar with Quentin Tarantino for the Pulp Fiction screenplay, is also working on the film version of Return to Castle Wolfenstein for Hadida's production company.

In January 2008, Avary was involved in a car accident which saw his wife hospitalized and his friend, 34-year-old Andreas Zini, killed. The director entered his plea in a Ventura, California court in late August. He will be sentenced on September 29 and is currently free on bail. And next year, Silent Hill 2 will begin filming.

Duo make a return to 'Silent Hill' [Hollywood Reporter]

Inside these pages you'll find the full letter from Hideo Kojima saying that Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker on the PSP is so full of content it will take hundreds of hours to complete. You'll also discover details on Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, The Tower of Shadow and much more.

Enjoy your Monday read.

The filmmaker penned the Silent Hill script and was slated to make a big-screen version of Wolfenstein.

In January 2008, Avary was involved in a car accident which saw his wife hospitalised and his friend, 34-year-old Andreas Zini, killed. The director entered his plea in a Ventura, California court this past Tuesday.

He will be sentenced on September 29 and is currently free on bail.

Arts, Briefly - ‘Pulp Fiction' Writer Pleads Guilty in Crash [NYTimes.com]

The maze is located in Orange County, CA and appears to have the Konami seal of approval. The maze is open for frights this October. Details and a map in the link below.

Heeeeeeeeello nurse! Scary, scary nurse.

Sinister Pointe [Official Site via Dread Central Thanks, Charles!]

In honor of Father's Day, we celebrate dads in video games: from the good to the bad to the "Luke, I am your father kind," that don't fulfill any fatherly duties beyond lopping off a limb. Join us now in separating the Bill Cosbys from the Darth Vaders.

Fathers in… Role-Playing Games
Much like mothers, fathers in role-playing games often are killed early in order to inspire the hero to leave home and avenge dear daddy (and mommy) and the rest of their destroyed village. However, there are some dads who stick around. When they do, they're usually playable support characters their son or daughter's active fighting party, or they show up in flashbacks and hallucinations to offer pep talks and parental criticism. Here are a few of these fatherly figures:

Jecht, Final Fantasy X – Father of Tidus: He's an alcoholic all-star blitzball player who insults his son to toughen him up. Instead, he winds up alienating him. Only after son and father find out they're dead do they make up with a manly high-five.

Kaim, Lost Odyssey – Father of Liram: Kaim believes his daughter is dead, but when he rediscovers her as an old, sick woman, he gets around to some parental duties like making funeral arrangements and babysitting the grandkids.

Pankraz, Dragon Quest V – Father of The Hero: Pankraz travels the world with his son and eventually sacrifices himself to save The Hero from monsters. Alas, he can't save his son from being sold into slavery from beyond the grave.

Walter, Suikoden Tactics – Father of Kyril: Walter goes into exile to protect his lover and bastard son but decides to keep Mommy's identity a secret. He gets turned into a fish monster and attacks Kyril before another party member puts him out of his misery.

James, Fallout 3 – Father of You: Daddy dearest ditches you in Vault 101 and goes to find a cure for irradiated water. When you finally catch up with him, he sends you on a deadly quest and then bites it in the name of science. And, uh, saving you – that too.

Uriel Septim VII, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Father of Martin: Had several legitimate sons to stock the throne with heirs, but wisely kept a child out of wedlock just in case a Daedra Lord killed all of his other kids. Instead of fostering the boy to a vassal or something noble, Septim stuck Martin in the church to keep him out of trouble.

Best Dad… Pankraz, because, while he couldn't keep his son from being sold into slavery, he didn't hesitate to take on a horde of monsters to save him.

Worst Dad… Uriel Septim VII, because, really, it was bad enough for Martin to be born a bastard – even worse to have Daedra Lords come after you because of some dude you've never even met. Thanks for nothing, Dad!

Fathers in… Fighting Games
Fighting games have a high volume of fathers. Apparently, popping out a few kids is the thing to do after winning world martial arts tournaments. But no father in any fighting game seems to have thought the decision to become a father and a world martial arts champion at the same time all the way through: Either you're abandoning the kid at a young age so they invariably follow in your footsteps just to find you. Or – worse – you actively train them in your fighting style so they can grow up, follow in your footsteps and then kick your ass.

Raphael Sorel, Soulcalibur series – Foster father of Amy: Raphael got kicked out of his own family for killing some crazy noble and found the orphaned Amy wandering the streets of some French town. He took her in, raised her, trained her and went completely crazy trying to create a perfect world for her.

Frederick Schtauffen, Soulcalibur series – Father of Siegfried: Frederick left his infant son to go fight in the Crusades. While he was gone, Siegfried fell in with a bad crowd and wound up beheading his own father in a misguided act of patriotism.

Seong Han-myeong, Soulcalibur series – Father of Mi-na and wannabe foster father to Hwang: Teaches both children how to kick some serious ass, but winds up favoring Hwang with family heirlooms. When Hwang refuses Han-myeong's offer to adopt him, he tries to marry Mi-na to Hwang. Mi-na runs away.

Cervantes de Leon, Soulcalibur series – Father of Ivy: Somehow fathered the hottest thing in the Soul series and then tried to devour her when she comes looking for his sword, Soul Edge.

Heihachi Mishima, Tekken series – Father of Kazuya: Throws his son off a cliff to toughed him up, throws him down a volcano out of spite and basically does nothing but try to destroy his son for the entire Tekken series.

Kazuya Mishima, Tekken series – Father of Jin: He may not have thrown his son off any cliffs, but Kazuya's revenge aspiration against his own father eventually turns his son against him. Also, it turns his son into a flying demon thing.

Marshall Law, Tekken series – Father of Forest: Law sees more of the insides of restaurants than he does of his own son, but he stops at nothing to pay the hospital bills when Forest wrecks his motorcycle.

Lau Chan, Virua Fighter – Father of Pai: Abandons his daughter to fight in the World Fighting Tournament and has the nerve to act surprised when she devotes her martial arts career to kicking his ass.

Bass Armstrong, Dead or Alive series – Father of Tina: Two words sum up his entire parenting technique– over and protective.

Fame Douglas, Dead or Alive series – Father of Helena: Fame knocks up a world-famous opera singer and then doesn't marry her; but he does leave his daughter his effed up company, DOATEC, after being assassinated. Thanks, Daddy!

Raidou, Dead or Alive series – Father of Ayane: Raped her mother. ‘Nuff said.

Dhalsim, Street Fighter – Father of Datta: Dhalsim serves as a father to his entire village by entering the World Warrior tournament to raise money for them.

Best Dad… Bass, because he loves his daughter too much to let her dress like a slut – unlike Cervantes.

Worst Dad… Heihachi, because he throws his son off a cliff and into a volcano; and he imprisons his grandson. Somebody call Child Protective Services!

Fathers in… Action Adventure and Survival Horror Games
It's hard to feel warm and fuzzy about fathers in these types of games because they're almost always an antagonist. Even the well-meaning Dads who just want to protect their offspring usually wind up doing the opposite by turning evil, letting work consume them or by losing the family farm to a rival rancher. But, even if they're real jerks, they're still fathers and they deserve their due on this day.

Joe Hayabusa, Ninja Gaiden – Father of Ryu: Leads an entire ninja clan and raises a badass ninja son.

William Birkin, Resident Evil 2 – Father of Sherry: The guy's got no time for parenting – he's so married to his work he becomes the last boss.

Mr. Burnside, Resident Evil: Code Veronica – Father of Steve: Not only did he raise his son to be a whiny loser, but Mr. Burnside also thought it'd be a great idea to steal from the Umbrella Corporation, thus getting his wife shot full of holes and landing him and his son on a zombie-infested prison camp island. Great going, old man.

Harry Mason, Silent Hill and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories – Adoptive father of Cheryl and possibly Alessa, depending on which ending you get: Harry probably shouldn't have picked up a strange child on the side of the road, but damned if he doesn't do his best to hang onto her – even when the monsters start showing up to kill him.

King Zora XVI, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Father of Princess Ruto: He loves his daughter, but is too fat and lazy to go save her when she goes missing inside a giant fish monster.

Talon, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Father of Malon: Talon is a narcoleptic rancher who makes a good living for himself and his daughter on Lon Lon Ranch; but unfortunately, he has poor taste in employees. Pro tip: don't hire somebody with the hots for your daughter.

Deku King, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask – Father of Deku Princess: Overprotective doesn't quite sum it up – this is a guy who tortures small animals when his child goes missing instead of looking for her himself.

Bowser, Super Mario Bros. series – Father of Bowser Jr. and seven other Koopalings: He lets his kids run wild with pirate ships and magic zappy wands. Not exactly parent of the year material.

Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong series – Father of Donkey Kong Jr.: He'd rather hang out with his nephew, Diddy Kong, than his own son. What does that say about his fatherly reputation?

Kratos, God of War series – Father of Calliope: He's away from home a lot, fighting wars and when he does come back, he kills his kid in a God-induced rage. She goes to heaven and he tries to visit, but that would kind of break the world, so he leaves her be.

Kento Marek, The Force Unleashed – Father of Galen, aka Starkiller, aka Vader's Secret Apprentice: He escapes the Jedi purges with his wife and young son and hides out on Kashyyyk. Vader shows up, kills him and takes his son to train/raise.

Dr. Light, Mega Man series – Father of Mega Man: Okay, so he didn't provide Mega Man chromosomes; but Dr. Light built him and raised him. So he's like both father and mother to Mega Man.

Nate Harlow, Red Dead Revolver – Father of Red: If nothing else, the old man sure taught his son to shoot.

King of All Cosmos, Katamari Damacy – Father of The Prince: His binge drinking wiped out the world, and he sent his son to clean up the mess. What a role model.

The Mourning King, Prince of Persia – Father of Elika: He makes a deal with the dark god Ahriman to resurrect his daughter, sends his men to capture her and then unleashes pure evil by destroying the Tree of Life.

Best Dad… Harry Mason, because he could have adopted some other orphan, but no – he went through Silent Hill for his Cheryl. That's a dad who cares.

Worst Dad… Steve Burnside's dad, because, while Kratos might've killed his kid, too, at least his daughter went to heaven instead of a zombie-infested prison camp island.

Fathers in… Shooters
Dads are the stars of shooters. Even if they're not the main character, they very often drive the plot even from beyond the grave. This is probably because a lot of cultures have a manly mythos of the son surpassing the father and it's bled right into the manliest of video games. Even with all that testosterone, there's room for really great dads. And some really awful ones, too.

Eli Vance, Half-Life series – Father of Alyx: Eli lived the simple life of a scientist at Black Mesa Research Facility with his wife and young daughter. Then things explode as they often do in the profession and his wife dies. He eventually falls in love with another woman, but to his dying day, he never stops loving his daughter.

James McCloud, Star Fox series – Father of Fox: Clearly James did something right in parenting Fox; he inspired such filial piety that his son hallucinates him during boss fights.

Andrew Ryan, BioShock – Father of Jack: Andrew had Jack out of wedlock with stripper/dancer Jasmine Jolene and didn't get to spend any time parenting him. Mommy Dearest sold the embryo off to Andrew's enemy. Ryan Sr. might make a big fuss about a man choosing; but, the truth is, you can't choose your children.

Big Daddies, BioShock series – Father of Little Sisters: Big Daddies have no blood relation to Little Sisters and probably no soul, either. But they do what all good daddies do: protect the bejesus out of their babies with power tools.

Roy Campbell, Metal Gear Solid series – Father of Meryl: He lies to his daughter and says he's her uncle for most of her life, but then relents and calls her his "pride and joy" at the most inopportune moment. Later, he gives her away at her wedding.

Jack Raiden, Metal Gear Solid series – Father of Rose's son: To his credit, Raiden probably would have been a great dad if his wife had lied and said she miscarried the baby. But, since she did lie and tell him that, he let himself be turned into a high-tech version of a Ken doll and now his son is really going to have daddy issues despite his parents getting back together.

Big Boss, Metal Gear Solid series – Father of Liquid and Solid Snake: Daddy must be so proud of his clone sons. One of them is a chain smoker with a terminal illness and the other one keeps trying to bring about a nuclear holocaust. He probably should have spent more time raising them instead of trying to kill one or both of them.

Adam Fenix, Gears of War series – Father of Marcus: Supposedly he's some kind of genius and like James McCloud he must've done something awesome to inspire filial piety that borders on insanity. His son winds up in prison for abandoning his post to save Fenix Sr. during an alien invasion.

Sam Fisher, Splinter Cell series – Father of Sarah: Sam is so devastated by his daughter's death he spends an entire game avenging her. Drunk drivers and assassins beware a bereaved father, especially one who's a secret agent.

Best Dad… Eli Vance, because he loves his baby girl without smothering her independent spirit.

Worst Dad… Big Boss, because one lousy man-hug does not make up for the sheer number of times he tried to kill his son.

(Dis)Honorable Mentions
Shinnok, Mortal Kombat – He's only Raiden and Shao Kahn's dad in that awful movie, Annihilation, so he doesn't count as a video game dad.
Homer Simpson, Don Corleone, Darth Vader – They've all got a presence in video games, sure, but their status as good or bad fathers comes from the shows and films they're from, not from the games they appear in.
Dr. Tenma, Astro Boy – Father of Astro Boy and Tobio: Like a lot of Dads, Tenma was married to his work until the day his nine-year-old son Tobio died in a car accident. Then, he turned his work into his son, created Astro Boy as the son that would never die. Unfortunately, he wouldn't age, either – so Tenma sold him to a robot salesman.
You, Fable II, The Sims games and Harvest Moon games - Just as with moms, even if you play as an upstanding paragon of parental vigilance as a dad, you're going to be guilty of neglect at least half of the time.

That does it for dads this year. Think we missed somebody important? Drop a line in the comments. And don't forget to call your dad on Father's Day!

In what will likely be the only time I ever link to any site with more than one circonflexe in its title, here is the "Lookbook" for the 2009/10 Fall and Winter collection for "Odeur." That's right, it's French for "odor." I guess it means something other than that, idiomatically, because to anglophones the word is commonly preceded by "body."

I feel that someone should point out to Odeur that their commentary on ... what, anonymity? Scalene triangles? Man's inhumanity to man? might infringe on some Konami IP. But I doubt there's any risk of brand confusion when you're dealing with these kinds of products.

Of course it begs for a high concept explainer, but as I'm out of my depth in both Silent Hill and haute couture, I leave that to you, dear readers.

Odeur: Autumn/Winter 2009/2010 Lookbook [Coûte que Coûte, thanks Thomas M.]

More in Stephens' Flickr set below — if you dare.

Silent Hill [Flickr via GameSetWatch]

Avary also penned and directed the movie version of Bret Easton Ellis book The Rules of Attraction. According to an interview with his pal Ellis, Avary is doing Silent Hill 2. Here's the exchange regarding Avary and Easton's novel Glamorama:

Q. Is he [Avary] still attached to direct Glamorama?

Ellis: He's going to be shooting Silent Hill 2. As far as Glamorama, it's just very hard to get the money to make it.

This is hardly official confirmation — though, Ellis did he and Avary had dinner together recently, so it could just be unannounced.

The monkey wrench in this Avary-is-doing-Silent-Hill-2 chatter: The filmmaker was charged with vehicular manslaughter last December, and if convicted, he faces 11 years in prison. That is, if Avary wasn't in the movie business and this wasn't California.

Bret East Ellis [The Cult via Bloody Disgusting via Dtoid via GoNintendo]

Speaking with film site Bloody Disgusting, actor Radha Mitchell - who starred in the first film - said "I don't think Christophe is attached. [That] is a shame because he's a nutter but he's so passionate about the game. I think he should do it if they do it again."

No, Radha, nobody should do that movie again.

Radha Mitchell on 'Silent Hill' Sequel [Bloody Disgusting]

According to details culled from the new issue, via GoNintendo, producer Tomm Hulett says that the Wii game won't necessarily play out story-wise like the original, but will be "twisted to betray your expectations," with Shattered Memories modifying the game's structure based on your decisions.

"The characters play different roles, things don't necessarily happen in the same order, and the story is taken in lots of new directions," Hulett says, noting that you'll still play as protagonist Harry Mason and will run into familiar characters from the first Silent Hill.

Another major change, according to the report, is that there will be no permanently locked doors. That means no obsessive checking of every single door knob in the game, apparently. As you might expect, the Wii version of Silent Hill takes advantage of the console's motion controller in unspecified ways.

Guess that confirms that rumor of the game's development on the Wii. Now what about that PSP remake?

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories announced for Wii (not a joke!) [GoNintendo]

Rating a ten-year-old PlayStation game isn't typically the kind of thing the British Board of Film Classification does these days, so we're guessing that the Wii and PSP remake rumor holds some water. The BBFC "15" rating issued today doesn't spill any details, other than that the game "Contains strong violence." It doesn't list platforms or developer.

It does, however, list a slew of scenes from the game reviewed by the BBFC. These include titles like "BAD ENDING PT.2" and "HARRY, CYBIL, AND DAHLIA" but nothing that jumps out as new or different from the original Silent Hill.

Silent Hill: Origins developer Climax was previously pegged to be handling platform translation duties, bringing the 1999 psychological horror adventure to the Wii and PlayStation Portable.

We wonder if Konami is taking a page from Capcom's playback, readying a series of Wii remakes along the lines of the Resident Evil cash-ins. If they do right by Silent Hill, let's hope so.

Silent Hill [BBFC]