Silent Hill: Origins has had an unusual and long development process. It was first showcased in E3 of 2006 in trailer form. The trailer made it quite clear that it was a prequel by rewinding through the Silent Hill timeline. When the number reached "0" it showed our new protagonist, Travis Grady. He didn't speak or do anything in this trailer, but we were shown a brief history while being treated to the famous "Hometown" before being shown what was in store for us in Silent Hill: Origins with the classic creepy atmosphere and terrifying monsters.

The next time Silent Hill: Origins was shown was at Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. This was its gameplay debut. A new trailer was shown with new gameplay footage and a stunning new song from Akira Yamaoka and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. This was the first time a playable demo was given to the public, and it got quite a mixed reception. Some saw it as a new turning point for Silent Hill and a good way to play a Silent Hill on a small screen - but the majority thought it looked like it was ripping off Resident Evil 4, laser site and all. Silent Hill: Origins appeared at the Tokyo Gameshow in September later that year, sporting another new beautiful song by Akira Yamaoka and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn however it seemed to go by unnoticed.

Rumour has it that Konami were unpleased with what was shown, which is why the hardcore fans at Climax UK where given the job and took over from Climax US. Their dedication was made obvious in April '07 when the first new details of Silent Hill: Origins were revealed. The game had been completely revamped into what we see today. The changes were stunning. The laser site was gone, the over-the-shoulder camera was no where to be seen and it looked like Silent Hill again. Even though it wasn't exactly the same in terms of being able to punch things snd throw toasters, it was definitely and improvement on the Resident Evil style we had before. Most people have received the changes very well and many believe it was an improvement on the controls/"battle system" from the other games.

Very little of Silent Hill: Origins was shown until E3 2007 where a new trailer was shown, mainly all pre-rendered CG which showed us the direction in which the scenes are going to take. From strange masked figures, to car crashes to seeing the world change from "normal" to alternate, seeing the pavement peel like dry paint to reveal the metal grate beneath right before your eyes. The trailer was a graphics showcase and the CG is truly stunning.

On August 19th, 2007 the internet found itself a copy of the Silent Hill: Origins demo. According to Climax CEO, the code did not leak from Climax, so it is assumed that someone had stolen it while it was being transported to Konami for marketing purposes.

Leipzig this year will show us another trailer and SilentHillOrigins.com will get to play the demo liveo n the show floor and attend the Silent Hill V / Silent Hill: Origins conference presented by William Oretel.