Crafting the Horrifying World of Siren, Out on PSN Tuesday

The SIREN project started in the autumn months of the new 21st century. I was very fortunate to have been surrounded by a very talented team of people on my team. Together with Game Director Keiichiro Toyama, Scenario Writer Naoko Sato, and Art Director Isao Takahashi, I sat down to discuss concepts. We then extended the discussions to excellent creators both internally and externally for a collaborative production effort.

We were on a mission to formulate a form of fear or horror that would resonate with an audience regardless of their cultural background, and to deliver that from a very intentionally Japanese perspective. Thorough studies sprung our inspirations, which then became our core for producing SIREN. No room for compromise, but plenty of room for the sense of playful creativity, we progressed to develop a Japanese Modern Horror that could reach out and be appreciated by the world. The feeling of hopelessness caused by close ones, who, one by one are transformed into your enemy, the dreadful or creepy feeling of seeing yourself through the eyes of others, and an environment unique to SIREN that pulled you right in all led to the bloodcurdling experience that only a game could take you through.

SIREN enjoyed a worldwide release along with sequential releases, and expansions into a movie, novel and other forms of multimedia, something that I along with the team are very grateful for. The most memorable moment was being approached by the master of horror movies, Sam Raimi, with an offer to make a movie based on SIREN. I must say this was a very rewarding moment for all of us who had worked very hard to make SIREN what it was.

I am delighted that SIREN will be published on PSN. Over time, SIREN is now re-introduced to a whole new audience. It is gratifying to know the experience can potentially reach out even further. This not only makes me happy, I am sure this will be quite motivating for everyone who was involved in the SIREN project to further excel in what they do in hope of delivering new and exciting content.

How long can you withstand the world of SIREN?