I was listening to a podcast I've recently downloaded called "Voices in the Static", which comes from the Silent Hill Historical Society website, which is hosted by a lovely lady named Whitney. I will not post her last name out of respect, but she is found at silenthillhistoricalsociety.com. Personally, I love the name of this podcast, and being a Silent Hill fan, I'm glad to find someone more obsessed with this series than I am. I also respect the podcast, because they get honest interviews, the participants don't pull any punches, especially their unbiased perspective.
I also respect that they say let's give the game a chance, or the film a chance before we tear it to shit, because that's how reviews and critiques should be done. This is why I've always hated doing previews, because speculation on vapor ware is not as satisfying as actually commenting on a finished,published product.
"Voices in the Static" has been going strong for over three years now, and being a bi-weekly, or once-monthly podcast, it is a very definitive Silent Hill podcast, and is up-to-date to such a degree, Konami should thank them for caring where, and supporting the franchise more than Konami has done for the last seven years! This podcast is for the fan of the series, no matter where they come from, and although I'm an old-school fan, I love how this podcast tells it straight, and has a real perspective that this is simply a game, and if you don't like certain titles in the series, just don't buy it! Vote with your wallet, and quit being assholes to those who disagree. Sure, I can't stand Homecoming, I see it as a continuation of a series that wanted to end after game four, but let's put this into perspective: if games like Homecoming, and Downpour weren't made, then the "outrage" from fans would not have pressured the upcoming Silent Hills game, which looks to either make or break this series, and if I'm wrong, I'm wrong, I'm not going to crow and caw about how terrible the game is, I simply won't buy it!
Truthfully, all the games have pluses, and minuses to them: yes, even Homecoming got some things right, and even the holy relic of Silent Hill 2 had it's share of embarrassing issues, that even I blushed. Also, the translations in the third game made me laugh so hard, I forgot that this was a survival horror. Look, I don't agree completely with Ms. Whitney, and her constituency, especially when it comes to the last five games, I've found them so terrible, but I didn't harp on anyone who loved the games. In-truth, and this is hard for some people to understand: liking something is objective, I like things you don't, and it's okay! The only time anyone is ever allowed, and again, this is my opinion, that someone has my respect for disagreeing so vehemently with someone is when it comes to politics, because that is when opinion is subjective, as the views of other people do affect you directly.
This is a game series, be thankful it's still around for a consecutive fourth generation, because it could've died out with The Dino Crisis, Crash Bandicoot, and Parasite Eve titles of yesterday consoles. I'm a Silent Hill fan, and I don't have an agenda, and even if I did, I won't shit on someone else's parade because I dislike a title. Maybe I'm an old-school kind of guy, but I look at things objectively, even as a critic, and give my raw opinion after actually experiencing the medium im reviewing! That's why I hate when someone says: "Oh man! This is going to suck!" Two years before it releases to the public!
That's why I like what I'm hearing from "Voices in the Static" and it's great to see fans who are as obsessed, but as realistic and as critical of Silent Hill, and Konami as am, if not more! They use facts, and their opinions are backed up by facts, what was once called debate in this world, before asinine people could post without fact-checking. I hate nerd rage, I cannot stand people who act like babies when discussing games, but I suppose babies are always going to act as such with their toys, and that saddens me.
Again, I like this show, it has in-depth interviews, which is just incredible for a podcast, and Whitney and company have done more to keep this series relevant more than Konami has done for the past two, count them, two console cycles. Despite posting about writing, and writing critique, whilst having several typos and mulligans along the way, I am, at the core, a video game fan, and a mass media critic. Silent Hill is a franchise I house close to my heart, and the reason for that is because it is, in theory, an experience that is so dramatic, and so personal to the character, it is a truly psychological experience. Sure, if we want to get critical, we could say that this game steals from H.P. Lovecraft, Anton Szandor LaVey, Francis Bacon, of course, Dario Argento. Do we not realize that everything has some influence from another medium, and even if you create something from scratch, wholly original, someone will go out of their way to compare it, and give it more depth than even your original idea ever had! Critics put more thought into the medium than the developers, who in-the-end, want to make a profit! So if a game sells bad, guess what, their wallets get hurt, and they overhaul, or drop a franchise, if you truly want to change a model for your favorite game, don't buy the ones you hate, trust me, they know when you don't buy,mans that will make them remember the fans.
Also, stop with all the negative angst, it doesn't help your cause, and makes you look like an incompetent, immature imbecile (alliteration!) whose opinion hold. Of water, or is not backed by any actual fact. Hell, even a Wikipedia page on Homecoming has more explanations than most fans on the reasons it sucked, but at least that page has the opinions backed with facts!
This all is found on "Voices in the Static" which is worth a download, especially if you're a fan of Silent Hill. At first I was iffy about this show, and once I actually sat down, and listened to the conversation, I think it would be a benefit for fans, rather than a disservice. You can download "Voices in the Static" on iTunes, and I assume it can be downloaded on the Android store as well.
If you are a fan of the Silent Hill franchise, and you may want to hear a unique perspective on the franchise, I would say to download this podcast, and go to www.silenthillhistoricalsociety.com for more information. Whitney and her various guests make each and every episode a joy, and although they are all very adamant, I believe their honesty, and desire for a legitimate discussion, not a flame war on this series is a breath of fresh air, for any perspective on the object of debate. I believe in debate, and being a podcaster who debates his best friend (Edgar Holves) on many topics without it turning into a name-calling fiasco, shows an unfamiliar class of podcaster, that is a shame of being the minority.
So do I agree with the opinions on "Voices in the Static"? Not necessarily, but I respect their said opinions,especially when most fans have jumped in at Silent Hill 2, then have the audacity to spit on fellow fans who jumped in at The Room, or Downpour, or even Homecoming, that is a hypocritical outrage in itself! I admire this podcast, and although I could be critical with some points of the show, nothing is perfect, and Whitney and her fellow contributors do get better with each episode. I would say that the older episodes are not that well recorded, but the sound is light years ahead of most people who record, and it does sound better, just a tad low for my taste, but Whitney is soft-spoken, and it is lovely to not have a nerd screaming at me with rage for a change.
So try it out, "Voices in the Static" which I absolutely love that name, and the image of Heather/Cheryl is great as well, and please swing by silenthillhistoricalsociety.com and leave a nice comment for Whitney, be decent human beings, please, I cannot be more sincere than that.
Thank you for reading the Malacast Editorial, please feel free to follow me on Twitter: Twitter.com/mcasteditorial or send me a message @mcasteditorial
E-Mail: mcasteditorial@yahoo.com.
This is not the last post for 2014, I should have one more beforehand, but if this is the last post, I'll have new posts up just after the New Year, so thank you for this wonderful year of posts, and as always, thank you for supporting this blog.
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