Is Hitman's Next Target Assassin's Creed? 
Why Kotaku Australia Should Never Work With Children... Or Robots 
Three Words I Said To The Man I Defeated In Gears Of War That I'll Never Say Again 
New Doom 3 For Xbox 360 And PlayStation 3 Supports Head-Mounted Displays 
Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land 
Why Robin Makes Batman Better Video games aren’t just about the games, the story or the graphics. Oh, no. Music is so incredibly important. And often, long after you have finished playing, it sticks around, lingers in the back of your brain.
In early February, Grasshopper Manufacture had a surprising announcement: Silent Hill composer and producer Akira Yamaoka and Doshin the Giant designer Kazutoshi Iida joining the studio.
Akira Yamoaka, famous for his musical and directorial contributions to Silent Hill, recently ended his longtime employment at Konami. That publisher’s loss is quirky developer Grasshopper Manufacture’s gain, as Yamaoka has signed on with Goichi Suda’s studio, according to Famitsu.
Earlier this week, gaming site Aeropause reported that Silent Hill musician and producer Akira Yamaoka had parted ways with Konami, his employer for nearly two decades. While Konami hasn’t yet chimed in, it appears Yamaoka has.
According to game site Aeropause Games, Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka has apparently left Konami. He has worked at the company for the past 16 years.
For upcoming Silent Hill title Silent Hill: Homecoming, Konami had Western studio Foundation 9 do the developing duties. How does the original Japanese team feel about that? Series composer and producer Akira Yamaoka states:
Silent Hill‘s identity is that Japanese teams create the kind of horror that takes place in the U.S. I’m not saying this in a negative way, but Japanese people creating a story taking place in the U.S. was part of Silent Hill‘s identity. This time we worked with a Western development team, with Japanese members also involved, so it’s not just Western developers making this by themselves. We are involved, too. So it’s different from the past iterations of Silent Hill, but I think it is something new and very interesting.
Yamaoka goes on to say that half the Japanese team members are really into David Lynch (pictured) movies like The Elephant Man. The other half are into other movies, it seems. Good for them.
Yamaoka Interview [Gamasutra][Pic]
As someone who has as-of-yet not visited Japan, I still imagine it is a place where cutting-edge game development technology is lurking around every corner – stuff so far beyond what we have in the U.S. that we look like cavemen in comparison. Apparently my imagination is a little bit off, as according to Konami sound director Akira Yamaoka, Japan is falling behind. In an interview with Gamasutra (originally printed in expurgated form in Game Developer Magazine), Yamaoka touches on the differences he’s noticed while working with California’s The Collective on Silent Hill 5.
There’s a huge gap, actually. They’re very advanced. I’m Japanese, and I think this is not just with Silent Hill but with the whole of the industry — I look at what American developers are doing and I think wow… Japan is in trouble.”
Later he explains why he thinks his country is falling behind on the game development front, explaining that the nature of the publisher / developer relationship in Japan as well as low salaries contribute to games that need to be created fast and cheap, stifling innovation in the industry – much like we’ve feared would happen here for years. So you’ve got pressure on these people to perform like they did when they were 20, and it’s just not possible. I look at a game magazine, and I see interviews with the “important creators,” like Mr. Sakaguchi. He’s a great game creator, but he’s not young. And I don’t see many young game creators in Japan. Then I look at the west, and I see all these young guys coming up so fast, it’s just amazing.
He raises a very good point, doesn’t he? Think of our favorite Japanese developers. Miyamoto. Sakaguchi. Kojima. Not exactly Spring chickens.
Silent Hill fans will know Akira Yamaoka as the man responsible for the series’ creepy score. Everybody else, well you probably won’t know him at all. You might soon, though! Guy’s been given the keys to the developer’s bathroom, and is apparently responsible for the “planning and also producing – and overall supervision” of an unannounced Konami title. No idea what kind of game it is, or what platform it’s for, but Yamaoka reckons “it should be announced soon, probably”. Silent Hill Composer Akira Yamaoka Helming New Project [Gamasutra][Image]
