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Fan outcry may have led to a compromise between Konami and the cast.

When the Silent Hill HD Collection was announced, there was a brief moment of rejoicing from fans of the long-running horror series. That rejoicing soon turned into screaming, when it was divulged that both Silent Hill 2 and 3 would be getting all-new voice acting. You can see examples of the new voice acting here, and whatever your opinions of the quality of the acting, it definitely sounds quite a bit different from the original. The initial reasoning for the new VO was a matter of money—the original cast wanted to be compensated for the re-issue of their work, and Konami decided to go with new actors instead of negotiate.

 

 

If this was a more cost-effective move for the company is unknown, but there may be a silver lining in this story for fans. In a detailed article by Patrick Klepek, it looks like at least some of the cast have come around and have agreed to waive their claim to more money if it means that the original voice tracks will be kept intact. There has been no confirmation by Konami at this point, but the story shows a picture of Guy Cihi and David Schaufele, who played James and Eddie, respectively, signing a rights waiver. This would indicate that an agreement has been reached with Konami that would keep the old voice work in Silent Hill 2, at least. There was a statement made on the Silent Hill fansite Silent Haven that suggests that a similar deal may be in the works for Silent Hill 3, as well.

It’s too early to say for sure that this is an actual thing until Konami comes out and says it, but the evidence out there supports the idea. There is no release date for the Silent Hill HD Collection, and it could very well be due to ongoing talks over the voice work. If the original voices are used after all, it would be a rare example of people coming together to make the fans happy. There’s also the question of what happens to the new voice work that, by all accounts, has already been recorded. We will bring you more information on this interesting turn of events as it develops.