Confirming recent rumors, Konami today announced that a PlayStation 2 version of the former PSP-exclusive Silent Hill Origins is in development.

Released on PSP last fall, Silent Hill Origins details the exploits of hallucinating trucker Travis Gordy as he explores the creepy-as-hell town of Silent Hill. Konami mentioned that the game would sport updated controls, through no further details, such as a release date or developer, were provided. It is believed that Climax Studios, which handled the PSP edition, is behind the PS2 version.

"Console gamers can now expect the same chilling, suspenseful and fear-filled experience that handheld gamers encountered when we released Silent Hill Origins on the PSP system," said Konami marketing VP Anthony Crouts.

Silent Hill Origins marks the latest PSP title to be ported to the PS2, following in the footsteps of such former exclusives as Rockstar Leeds' Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories, Tecmo's Tokobot, Sony Bend's Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror, and High Impact Games' Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters. A PS2 port of Ready at Dawn's upcoming God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP) is heavily rumored as well.

Climax Studios' PSP Silent Hill prequel has undergone a lot of changes over the past year. Once a departure for the series in many ways--featuring over-the-shoulder shooting a la Resident Evil 4--it now instead plays a lot like a direct sequel to Silent Hill.

You are cast in the role of Travis Grady, a trucker with an appropriately dissheveled appearance. As I moved Travis throughout the town of Silent Hill, I couldn't help but feel like I was playing one of the earlier titles in the series, only on a smaller screen. Behind the curtain of the grain filters, the graphics appeared to be somewhere in the Silent Hill 1.5 domain. This game could have easily passed as Silent Hill 2, had that brilliant title never been released. In all, it's a satisfying level of detail. But with the town already feeling familiar from the get-go, my only question going into the demonstration was whether or not that was a good thing.

Wandering about the misty streets from the familiar fixed-camera perspective, I ran into a few annoying quirks early on. Moving from one screen... Read more

Eurogamer's been updated with a Silent Hill Origins preview, taking a three page look at the PSP survival horror game.