While the Silent Hill franchise appears to be on hiatus after the cancellation of Hideo Kojima’s Silent Hills, fans will be able to get their psychological survival horror fix in another format: a new video slot machine from Konami’s gambling division.
Konami announced the new Silent Hill slot cabinet — described in a press release as a “for-wager slot experience” — on Tuesday, ahead of next week’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. It’s part of a new video slot cabinet that features a 49-inch, 4K “Ultra HD” display. That new cabinet will launch with multiple Silent Hill-themed slots games: Silent Hill Return, based on Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill Escape, based on Silent Hill Downpour. “Dual series launch themes leverage thrilling scenes, sounds, and characters from Konami’s recognized entertainment legacy,” Konami said.
The gambling division at Konami has toyed with hundreds of themes for gambling machines over the years, including slots based on owned franchises like Castlevania, Contra, and Frogger. Silent Hill is simply the next Konami property being leveraged for gambling purposes — and why not? Who wouldn’t be drawn to the prospect of big Pyramid Head payouts?
You can check out a trailer (clearly aimed at gambling machine buyers) for Konami’s new Silent Hill slots above. But but warned it doesn’t come close to matching the trailer for Konami’s erotic pachinko machine based on Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. A closer look at the new slots cabinet is below.
Comments
I can’t believe I’m saying this but:
…fuck Konami.
By Redd88 on 10.12.19 1:38pm
I, on the other hand, can absolutely believe I’m saying this.
Fuck Konami.
By ClanCrusher on 10.12.19 2:00pm
I’m undecided about my certainty in saying this, but Fuck Konami.
By Boogers on 10.12.19 2:15pm
Looks like I’ll just be replaying Silent Hill 1-3 again for the umpteenth time.
By Christopher G. on 10.12.19 1:43pm
I mean, fuck Konami for various reasons, but I find this article to be kind of biaised. It’s Konami’s gambling division. They make gambling machines, and this is just another one. It’s not like a Silent Hill game was canceled to make this. I doubt anyone from Konami is saying or thinking this will replace a new Silent Hill game in any way.
By Paul_M on 10.12.19 2:20pm
It literally did. They simply don’t HAVE any real development teams left. That’s why the only "games" we’re getting are badly constructed legacy collections and insulting sequels that miss the point of the franchise they’re meant to succeed (Contra).
Don’t defend them, they don’t deserve your loyalty.
By Dark Jaguar on 10.12.19 2:28pm
At least Konami’s honest about what they’re making, unlike certain other companies and their surprise mechanics.
By AmiralPatate on 10.12.19 3:52pm
This is something nerds are the fucking WORST about.
Why defend this shit? For what? Are you an investor with a stock of millions? No?
Then shut the fuck and fall in line. These companies are not your friends, they do not care about you beyond your money and they literally want nothing more than your money. That is it. That is all. Period.
God I hate nerds lol
By WabuuTheRaccoon on 10.13.19 5:33am
All of the company loyalists are sooooo stupid.
By Dark Jaguar on 10.13.19 1:21pm
This is something that has always confused me. There is a similar sort of thing, but sort of the reverse I guess?
For example, if I say I dislike the Epic Games Store and their exclusivity garbage, then I am then branded as a Steam fanboy even though I haven’t said a thing about Steam. It’s really strange, I am not defending Steam…I am not even talking about Steam…I am talking about EGS’s anti-consumer bs.
People are so ingrained in this one side vs the other mentality that we can’t just talk about the BS companies are trying to pull over on us.
By Siris Dracken on 10.14.19 2:29pm
How is a comment that has "fuck Konami" in it "defending Konami" ?
Yes I know. They gave up on AAA games, as they said they would. It’s unrelated to gambling machines. They didn’t gave up on AAA games to make gambling machines.
By Paul_M on 10.13.19 6:47am
They kind of did. That’s their focus now, gambling and microtransaction ridden mobile games (many of which are the digital version of those spinning rooster machines that spit an egg with a prize at you). They defunded AAA in order to shift their focus. No, they didn’t move that money INTO the gambling devision, they simply SAVED all that money and are continuing their focus on gambling.
So yes, yes they did give up on AAA games to focus on gambling.
By Dark Jaguar on 10.13.19 1:20pm
They gave up AAA to focus on mobile gaming, yes. The article above isn’t about mobile gaming, it’s about a slots machine, and slots machines aren’t mobile gaming – no matter how hard you try to change the narrative to make it fit your opinion.
Since you decided to go full ad hominem and more or less insult me ("all of the company loyalists are sooooo stupid" – as if there is anything in my opinion that can be interpreted as loyalism towards Konami) I don’t see the point of pushing this discussion further.
By Paul_M on 10.13.19 1:41pm
Konami is holding a lot of amazing IPs hostage, and that’s why they’re so hated.
They’re going where the easy and fast money is, which is mobile, slot machines, and soulless games filled with microtrasnactions. Look at Metal Gear Survive.
There’s effectively no future for Silent Hill at Konami, but to be fair there hasn’t been for a while. If we get another Silent Hill game by Konami, it won’t be good.
The Silent Hill franchise was a surprise hit by a Team Silent. Originally it was created to be a Resident Evil clone. The people at Team Silent couldn’t find a place within Konami and were put on that project and forgot about. They were able to experiment as a result. Ever since they disbanded in 2005, there’s been a noticeable drop in quality partly because of how Konami chooses to manage the series.
That’s why everyone was so excited for Silent Hills. P.T. was amazing, but more importantly it was a passion project by Kojima who loves video games himself. Games like Silent Hill 1-3 are difficult and expensive to do right. You have to be passionate about what you’re creating in order to innovate, and I don’t think Konami is capable of innovation.
By chaton on 10.12.19 6:36pm
Idk if they are incapable of innovation…. I just don’t think they see any profit in it. They’re the cartoonishly evil publisher that doesn’t give a damn about art, and only about whether something makes them money or not.
By Rhythm Robber on 10.13.19 4:02am
That’s basically it. A publisher is only "capable" of making a good game insofar as it’s willing to put money into its development. In Konami’s case it would most likely come in the form of negotiating a deal with a third-party independent studio willing to use the license.
The frustrating part is that Konami is neither willing to risk funding the development of high-budget entries into their franchises, nor is it willing to sell those IPs instead. I’m willing to bet Sony would love to buy Silent Hill and hand it off to one of their studios.
And that last part baffles me. How many Silent Hill fans are also gamblers who are going to actually benefit from a Silent Hill-themed slot machine? It’s a joke. I was just in Vegas for a bachelor’s party, and it’s a sad scene – just a bunch of depressed, middle- or late-aged people smoking cigarettes with dejected, joyless expressions. It’s pathetic and not a condition that a Silent Hill would improve. Those people won’t be spending any more money in those cabinets than they would otherwise.
By Vox_Sucks on 10.14.19 2:08pm
Metal Gear Survive was a shitty cash grab, and so are Konami’s mobile games. This isn’t it, this is a gambling machine. They’ve been making them for years.
Look, I’m not particularly interested in defending Konami for which I have zero interest or sympathy (only games I bought from them were from the MGS serie and… well we see how that went), especially if it means I’m going to be insulted by randos (see the "shut the fuck up and fall in line" comment above). I’m just saying I think there’s no reason to be mad at them specifically for making this slot machine since it’s unrelated with the failure of their AAA games business. So I wouldn’t phrase the article as Polygon did.
By Paul_M on 10.13.19 6:57am
People are mad that Konami’s using IP from their AAA games (which are some of the most influential in gaming history) as themes for their gambling machines. While also shutting out the creators of those IPs.
By Noper on 10.14.19 1:30am
A company having a ‘gambling division’ is enough to hold them in contempt tbh.
By Cropplycrab on 10.13.19 4:55am
That’s fair
By Paul_M on 10.13.19 6:57am
You don’t see a problem with a game publisher having a "gambling division"? Are you kidding me? There’s no justification for it.
By Vox_Sucks on 10.14.19 1:57pm
Ok so (and this will be the last time I make an elaborate comment on this topic because it’s really been a waste of time so far) : whether Konami should or should not make slots machines isn’t my point, my point is that the slots machine division is a separate entity from the game publishing division (yes, unlike what you’re saying, the slot machines aren’t a part of the game publishing division, just like Konami’s fitness clubs aren’t a part of it either) so there’s not much reason to draw a parallel between the two as this article – and many commenters – do. That’s my point, period. Your interpretation of it doesn’t matter.
By Paul_M on 10.14.19 2:36pm
Considering their last few big games were Metal Gear Survive and Contra Rogue Corps, I’m glad we’re not getting a new Silent Hill
By Leia Blaze on 10.12.19 2:23pm
If we’re ever going to see another actual SH game published by Konami, they’ll probably just have some outside no-name studio develop it for cheap and drive it into bankruptcy again while they reap what little profit comes of it.
By Lopogyn on 10.14.19 4:12pm
Oh man I forgot about Metal Gear Survive what the fuck
By PointyThings on 10.14.19 5:12pm