Silent Hill director leaps to Grasshopper - Report

Fans of Konami's Silent Hill franchise were given sour news in December, when longtime series director and composer Akira Yamaoka announced he would be leaving the company after the January release of Shattered Memories. Of course, one studio's loss is another's gain, and as revealed in an interview with Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, the beneficiary of Yamaoka's departure is No More Heroes developer Grasshopper Manufacture.

Translated by 1up, the interview states that Yamaoka will contribute music to Grasshopper's as-yet-unannounced game that will be published by EA Partners. The project is being directed by Grasshopper head Goichi Suda (aka Suda-51), with Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami producing. Though details are slim, it will apparently be a "mysterious unique action-packed horror game" for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and PC.

"It was a case of really good timing," Yamaoka said to Famitsu. "I knew about Suda long before I met him; I saw Grasshopper as one of those few Japanese outfits whose games can appeal to an overseas audience. I had a chance to meet him in Los Angeles and we talked about this and that, and once we started discussing how we wanted to do something creative for a world audience, I was hooked on the company."

The interview goes on to note that Yamaoka will initially lend only his musical expertise to the studio. However, he said that in the future he'd like to employ his "total sum of experience" in making games at Grasshopper.