Silent Hill (video Game) - Release

Release

Silent Hill had difficulty passing censors before it could be released outside Japan. The "Grey Child" monster went through two design changes for the North American release and four design changes for the European release, before it was finally approved by censors. Originally designed to resemble knife-wielding, nude children, these monsters were deemed too graphic, particularly because the player would have been allowed to kill them. The North American version of the game features a faceless, grey, "somewhat larger" version of them with a "modified head". In the European version of Silent Hill, the Grey Child monsters were replaced by "Mumbler" monsters, which appear later in the North American version. Near the end of the European version, however, Grey Child monsters can still be seen as transparent silhouettes that are similar to the "Larval Stalkers".

Silent Hill was released for the PlayStation in North America on January 31, 1999; in Japan on March 4, 1999; and in Europe on August 1, 1999. It was included in the Japanese Silent Hill Complete Set in 2006. On March 19, 2009, Silent Hill became available for download from the European PlayStation Network store of the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable. Two days later, the game was removed due to "unforeseen circumstances". On September 10, 2009, Silent Hill was released on the North American PlayStation Network. On October 26, 2011 it was re-released on the European PlayStation Network.