Stemacteur James Sunderland toch in Silent Hill 2 HD te horen

Fans van de Silent Hill-serie kunnen binnenkort met een HD-uitgave van Silent Hill 2 en Silent Hill 3 aan de slag, maar deze heruitgave zou een tijd geleden wellicht het daglicht niet zien. De stemacteur van hoofdpersoon James Sunderland zou in eerste instantie Konami aangeklaagd hebben om ervoor te zorgen dat zijn stem niet in de game te horen zou zijn. Een aantal stemacteurs volgden dit voorbeeld; maar er blijkt een plotselinge verandering.

Er is een foto opgedoken waarop de beste man een formulier tekent, een formulier waarmee hij Konami toestemming geeft om alsnog zijn stem te gebruiken in de HD-uitgave van Silent Hill 2.

Maar dat is niet het enige, we hebben ook een stukje van de beste man zelf over dit hele fiasco.

Let me be clear about something: my problem with Konami has never been about money. It’s always been about the thoughtless way that those involved in the production have been treated. The reuse of my material without asking me and without having a written agreement that provides for it is one example. Another example is how my contributions to the game, and my face, were purposefully erased from the ‘making of’ video. Why was that done? These are some of the issues I asked Konami to settle with me on before making any new agreements. To this day Konami has never offered any explanation.

Like everyone else, I feel it is a real shame we have come to this point. The original cast, writers, and directors of Silent Hill 2 all felt we were making something great, but I don’t think any of us realized just how successful and respected it would become. I am eternally grateful to have been selected by Team Silent to portray James Sunderland. I am equally grateful to the dedicated SH2 fans who enlightened me to fact that SH2 is much more than just an intellectual property to be bought, sold and repackaged.

After thinking it through carefully I have come to realize that I am unwilling to be part of any legal barrier or excuse which prevents a new generation from experiencing Silent Hill 2 the way the original Team Silent created it. The only way to do this appears to be for me to relinquish all my rights to Konami and so I hereby completely waive all rights to my motion capture and vocal performances in the Silent Hill 2 production without demand for additional consideration. Have your lawyer send me the proper documents required so that we can put this fiasco behind us.

I call on Konami to release the HD versions of SH2, and all subsequent re-releases, with the original vocal tracks intact. If you desire, I welcome you to include the new vocal tracks so that fans can choose which version they prefer.

Sincerely,

Guy Cihi

Vooralsnog is er geen exacte datum voor de HD-releases van de iconische survival-horror games, maar het staat nu in elk geval vast dat ze er komen.