Tomm Hulett Regrets Asking For Fan Opinions On Silent Hill HD Collection

[killer7ITA]

Tomm Hulett: "Sorry to say, but I think Devin and I being so involved on forums was a mistake. We wanted to demonstrate to everyone that the people in charge (he and I) cared about the series and understood the passion the fans had for it. unfortunately it’s backfired.

We have insane conspiracy theories, people asking for me to lose my job, I get angry, threatening PMs about game delays. People are calling Mary horrible names. Now people are badmouthing Jeremy Blaustein—who directed all the original performances. It’s unbelievable. Certain fans have treated “developer involvement” as an excuse to manufacture pointless drama.

Nobody cares about Silent Hill more than I do. Not hyperbole—literally nobody. I’m tired of having that questioned every time I turn around. I hope you guys enjoy the games—I honestly do, and I work every day with that goal in mind—but this has gone too far.

The games will speak for themselves—please look forward to them

Hulett... you have destroyed Silent Hill series. Go to Hell.

[Dracarys]

Hulett... you have destroyed Silent Hill series. Go to Hell.

You are one of the reasons we cannot have nice things.

[Canas Renvall]

So basically, instead of the fans getting pissed over the huge debacle they created, he'd rather not satisfy the demands of fans and lose money for Konami?

Granted, I'm not saying he's a bad guy, and he sure as hell didn't ruin Silent Hill (and no, he need not go to hell either ). But I think he ultimately did the right thing in asking opinions despite the holy shit people raised in defense.

I think everyone's at fault a little bit here.

[Darkmoon]

Thread Moved.

Also, it sucks the guy has had such a crappy time here, but sadly it seems to be what the net is for. Self entitled fans to demand there version of the perfect game and occasionally send death threats for not getting it. I'd like to think the feedback he got was worth the issues, but this certainly makes it seem unlikely...

[Pikminister]

The problem really starts when fans of a particular franchise, start to believe that they "own" it.

They will brag that they know it better than the very creators of it. They will also claim to know the characters motivations and how they should behave in any situation. In short, the franchise becomes a big chunk of their lives. 24/7.

They become like the Star Wars nerds who are unable to enjoy anything from that franchise because first they have to analize it at lenght. Is it canon? Is it part of the expanded universe? Is this yet another cash-grab by Luca$? Stuff like that. They just cannot enjoy anything anymore.

With fans like that, trying to cater to their needs is not only useless but impossible.

[Smiley]

As a guy who defended Homecoming and Shattered Memories in the past I feel that if it's too much for him to handle then he needs to take a few steps down and remember what it is he does. His position comes with the territory, and every decision he makes will be judged regardless how involved with the fans he is or not. At least if he botches up no one can say he didn't try to deliver a game the fans were looking for. But most of these complaints to him or Mary stem from either the things they've said or the decisions they've made. When it came to Mary I had no problems with her being hired to direct unnecessary voice acting for the HD Collection. It was openly when she publicly opened her mouth spouting off about things she didn't know about that I took some issue with.

As far as Jeremy is concerned I've had conversations with him, and I know that sometimes he can be back and fourth on how he feels about the games he's worked on. Like MGS, he's sparked some controversy with his statements, but he's a more reliable source being someone who worked on the earlier games. The man speaks his mind, and while he may not always see eye-to-eye with some of the actors he worked with at least he's not afraid to tackle the issues. Him and Guy Cihi are just two sides of the same coin. They ultimately want the same thing with the original voices being put back in even if they don't get along.

Then we come to Tomm Hulett who is known for trying to branch out and do new things. Not just with the games themselves, but how he approaches his fans. In one interview he talked about the different steps he's done from ignoring to being aggressive. Frankly the fans might be too much to handle. It's not like Kojima doesn't get death threats. Even Capcom as a whole has a gigantic fan base that is very judgmental of every decision they make. When a franchise keeps continuing you will always face these kinds of people. Some who are harsh and some who are ridiculous to the point of threatening lives.

But not all fans are like that. Some show off their concerns merely because they want the product to be good. A game like Homecoming is bugged up the ass and only goes to show that the developers who were tasked to make it ripped off too many things from the Silent Hill movie and Silent Hill 2 for the sake of fanservice. The team could learn a lot how not to make those kinds of mistakes when working on Downpour for instance.

At the end of the day you just have to do your job. The problem arises if no results come from the work you put in. RE5, for all the hate it gets, at least made a profit so regardless of the harsh replies Capcom can sleep it off. I'm not sure how Silent Hill is faring financially, but I do know that the first three games were beloved by many survival horror enthusiasts where as the recent games look to have a semi-decent amount over all.

I'm not against Tomm Hulett. I'll admit some of the things he's said have angered me before, but I don't hate the guy. I'm actually rooting for Downpour to be a good entry. I was impressed with the work he, Devin and Climax did with Shattered Memories which is currently among one of my favorite games on the Wii.

The problem really starts when fans of a particular franchise, start to believe that they "own" it.

When you work on art and release it to the world it's often debated about whether or not it's yours after that. In a way the fans really do own it. Especially if the art in question is a product done as a means for profit. Artists have to give the people what they want, or whoo them otherwise.

It's especially hard for a long running series because the strive for creativity becomes noticed. In my Homecoming example I enjoyed the game for what it was, but even I was aware of how uninspired and unfinished the game was. The prequels feel the same way. Uninspired. Instead of telling a new story they take influence from the classic trilogy and influence their direction from it.

I imagine in the case of the Star Wars Special Editions and the Silent Hill HD Collection there are similar fans complaining over the same things from each product. The re-releases are looked at from a profit standpoint as opposed to preserving the art that captured so many fans.

Why does Lucas continually change the movies up? Will he ever be satisfied by a definitive edition? Sometimes he even goes back and forth on the choices he made for a new release. I don't think anyone really preferred a young Hayden Christensen to be digitally added over Sebastian Shaw at the end of Return of the Jedi.

Now due to complications from a lack of contracts we have Konami going over the original actor's performances with new actors all around. The fans are trying to get the originals just like the Star Wars fans who ended up with their originals (only they were ripped and used in a different aspect ratio instead of remastered).

It's a mess, but this is what comes with a series. Every franchise has this problem.

[News Bot]

Series died with the 3rd game. It has since resurrected and become something else; a skewed version of what it once was. The same elements are there, just fucked up and repainted. A bit like the nightmare world in the games themselves.

[AchuA]

i'd agree that 1-3 were the best.. but i'd hardly say the series is dead.. i didn't get around to playing The Room until last fall, and i thoroughly enjoyed it.. i don't understand why everyone complains so much about Homecoming, either.. to me, it was just good Silent Hill.. and Shattered Memories, though it sits in a class of it's own, instantly became one of my favorites.. great story, and as a re-imagining, nothing was what i would've expected (and i mean that in a good way).. exciting, and original gameplay, nice visuals, riveting OST, superb voice acting.. and as every Silent Hill should be, it was scary, and a complete mind fuck..

all doubts about Downpour are certainly warranted, considering the absence of Yamaoka, and the debut of an entirely new development team.. but prior to this one, i have no complaints.. and i'm still hanging onto a positive onlook regarding it, because frankly, i don't think enough has been revealed to completely pass judgment..

as for the HD collection, i'm not really interested in it anyway.. but i do think re-dubbing the dialogue is a mistake.. that's tampering with the soul of the games, and it just isn't necessary.. that being said, if you want the original voices, play the original games.. there's nothing really negative to be said about there being two versions in existence..

[Smiley]

As far as Team Silent is concerned the series is over after the fourth. I can see why purists think it died with 3 as it does wrap up into a nice trilogy of sorts, and it's argued they didn't even need Silent Hill 4.

But these comments are all too familiar. It's not MGS without Kojima. The series really died with MGS2. Or Resident Evil dying after CVX/RE4/etc.

Frankly the way I see it is that a popular series is going to try and continue with or without the people who made it possible. Resident Evil moves on without key members like Mikami. Silent Hill moves on without key members like Owaku or Toyama.

Like it or not, but Silent Hill has become a franchise. What matters now is how you feel about the franchise handled by <this person> or <this group>.

As far as the new gamers are concerned I can't see many people praising Homecoming or Origins. Not too sure what the general consensus is on Shattered Memories, but as a re-imagining I enjoyed it for what it was. It was effective on the Wii. The best thing they could do is sever their ties with any kind of canon. Still though, taking cues from the first Silent Hill does mean that they aren't completely abandoning the previous games.

I'm not even against Downpour. I like Daniel Licht and wish him well in taking over for Akira Yamaoka when working on the music. I like his work on Dexter so chances are I'll pick up the Downpour soundtrack at some point and give it a listen. Not much is known about the premise or characters for me to talk about it, but at least the trailers have me curious. Especially in regards to what they do with the town itself.

Then you have people hating on the Korn song. I'm indifferent towards it because it's placed in the title screen as opposed to the main campaign.

So you have all these factors going into it. I know people are weary of change, but some of the complaints can get out of hand.

[AchuA]

forgot to mention Origins, before.. i played that around the same time that i went through The Room.. i liked it too.. found it to be very disturbing in some parts.. some of those audio flashbacks where the picture would go black and white really creeped me out.. i also really enjoyed the theatre portion.. the fact that i work in theatre made that area particularly real to me.. the mirror switching was also ingenious.. i wouldn't want to see that in every game, but as one of Origins' own special characteristics, it was pretty cool..

only bad thing i could say about it is that the camera shift seemed to be a little off at times.. and if i'm not mistaken, there was no way to reset the view (maybe i'm just thinking of certain areas).. but i think this was due to the fact that it was PSP port, and the control scheme was designed for fewer buttons..

[Smiley]

Ah you played the PS2 version? I heard there were some bugs with it. Like certain sound would cut in and out of rooms for example.

Then again the graphics were an improvement over the PSP ones. In the psp version Travis had some weird chest hair sticking out.

[AchuA]

yea, PS2 version.. don't recall any issues with the sound.. maybe i just got lucky..

[killer7ITA]

You are one of the reasons we cannot have nice things.

ROTFL... you are a fan of Hulett. Good for you, bad for Silent Hill series.

[News Bot]

ROTFL... you are a fan of Hulett. Good for you, bad for Silent Hill series.

I don't think that's necessarily the issue. What she is referring to is you acting like a whiny little bitch. You give fans a bad name whether they like the direction of the series or not.

[Smiley]

Temper, temper Mr. Bot. There's no need for any name calling on your end. It doesn't set the example.