"P.T." is one promotional strategy that you'll definitely swear and scream at. Why? Because it will warn you of the terror that's coming your way.
"P.T." (short for "Playable Teaser") is a free interactive teaser created by a non-existent 7780s Studio, released on the PlayStation Store for PlayStation 4 and first presented during Sony Computer Entertainment's presentation at Gamescom 2014 on August 12, 2014 in Cologne, Germany. Completion of the gameplay reveals that "7780s Studio" is not real and ultimately unveils it to be a teaser for a new Silent Hill game called "Silent Hills." It is a collaboration between Metal Gear series creator, Hideo Kojima and Hollywood director, Guillermo del Toro, featuring the voice, facial capture and motion capture of "The Walking Dead" actor, Norman Reedus.
"P.T." may have featured some indirect references to Silent Hill (such as the grotesque baby in the sink, "Lisa" written on the wall, the radio static) that could've made some to luckily guess the revelation, not to mention that Kojima, in a report by Forbes, originally thought that it would take more or less a week for anyone to solve the in-game puzzle and reveal the surprise ending, only to have it cracked in a matter of hours.
But he slipped in a vague clue that nobody got. It turns out that 7780s Studio, the fake developer of P.T., derived its name from the total land area (7,780 km²) of Shizuoka, a prefecture of Japan located in Honshu's Chubu region. "Shizuoka" means "Quiet Hills" in Japanese. Many Japanese people, as EuroGamer reports, simply refer to the survival horror game series as "Shizuoka".
In the walkthrough videos (part 1 and part 2) uploaded by IGN on YouTube, "P.T." begins with an unknown protagonist waking up in a mysterious house which eventually becomes haunted. Following a first-person perspective, the goal of the demo game is to explore the creepily looping hallways and solve the puzzles until a phone rings. By zooming in on the phone, the player can hear the message "You've been chosen." After the message, the final door unlocks and the "Silent Hills" trailer can be viewed.
"Silent Hills" is an upcoming Silent Hill game exclusively for the PlayStation 4, and will be the tenth installment in the franchise, following "Silent Hill: Book of Memories". It is being developed by Kojima Productions using its proprietary Fox Engine.
Kojima intends to make the game terrifying enough to make gamers sh*t their pants - literally. During a livestream in Sony's Gamescom 2014 press conference, Kojima said, according to a Forbes report, "If you don't want to continue playing through the game, so be it. We don't care. We are aiming for a game that will make you s**t your pants. So please make sure you have a [change of clothes]."
No specific date has been given for the game's release as it is still in its early phases of development. Kojima said, in a TechTimes.com report, that "it will not be out more than likely until 2016."
So if "Silent Hills" is as frightening as "P.T." portends it to be, then prepare to lose control of your bowel movement with a ready set of fresh clothing (including underwear).
You've been warned.
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