Developer, Tale of Tales has recently published their Art History of Games presentation onto their website. It’s a worthwhile read, and fairly thought provoking even if one disagrees with the core ideology. This presentation is a bit of a continuation of their recent New Year’s Resolution, which can also be read over at their site.

Here’s the gist of the Tale of Tales presentation (which I remind you again, is definitely worth reading). They start off with the very broad statements, each one extremely controversial in its own way, then they explain what they mean for each: Games are not art, Art is dead, and Videogames are not games. They continue by talking about the funk which video games have sunken into and become quite comfortable with. Then they declare an intention to make “notgames.” Interactive art that is not within the genre of video games.

A quick summary doesn’t really do the presentation ANY justice. But, there have been a couple reactions from people within the independent gaming community. A comment from Daniel Benmergui (“Today I Die”) on their New Year’s Resolution post seemed to empathize with their goals:

“‘Let’s focus on interactive entertainment that is not games.’
Odd… I’ve been having the same kind of thought lately… the problem is, that something needs to be really good. They need to be among the best of that unnamed class of work.
Also, I just noticed that you ‘not’ a lot.”

Josh Larson of Intuition Games (“fig.8″) commended the thinking of Tale of Tales and said that his next game might be “Myst minus the puzzles.”

This isn’t exactly “video game” related news, but it is an interesting direction for some game developers to head. I would love to see more interactive entertainment emphasizing interactivity and not “gaming.”

“Vanitas” is the iPhone game developed by controversial games developer Tale of Tales.  By “controversial” I mean that you will either love their games, or hate them.  And since I buy each of their games when it comes out…I must be in the former category.  That said, I’m not one to praise without qualification, and I believe that their games often provide intriguing perspectives and rarely seen gameplay, which is outside of convention.  So the question is does “Vanitas” live up to their previous works?

The premise of “Vanitas” is this: “the best way to spend time is to waste it.”  And this sums up the game pretty well.  While you plan “Vanitas” your iPod is temporarily changed from a normal music player into a box with sliding lid (not literally, of course).  When you slide it open with the touch screen three random objects will be inside.  You can play around with them, see how their physics interact with each other, but there’s nothing you can really do with the items.  Then you can close the lid and open it up again for three new items.  The game works in stages, every five times you open the box a new stage begins and a few items change appearance.  Every three stages new items are added to the ones you find within, and there are a total of twelve stages.  Every time you open the box there’s a chance the items will be three of the same, and then you get a star on the box.

“Vanitas” is actually pretty appealing in it’s own way.  As I play it, I’m always just curious enough to see just what will be in the box next to put it down.  Yes, I’m well aware that the items don’t really do anything (unless I toy with them rolling them around and such), but there’s something addicting and often (dare I say) fun about playing with the toys and seeing their interaction.  I also have yet to receive a star, and for some odd video game-related reason, want one.

This is probably where “Vanitas” gets a little bit meta.  What the game sets up is a random chance that I will be rewarded (literally) with a gold star.  It is a well noted fact that gamers do nothing but work for stars as the famous statement goes: “It is always stars.”  This seems like a fairly effective commentary of goal based games and achievement hunting.  The other thing I discovered was that “Vanitas” is easy to compare to games like “Flight Control.”  Both are about repetition and pointless joy, rewarding you slightly (but not really) for coming back again and again.  It seems to be commentary on aspects of the medium which waste a lot of time, but provide no real rewards for the player’s mind.

The art style in “Vanitas” is lovely as one would expect.  It’s dark, but strangely beautiful.  The more the game is played the more objects change, often becoming ruined or darker.  Cherries will rot, you’ll find torn papers, and glass cracks.  There are a couple things I won’t mention though, as they can be a bit surprising or interesting when you find them on your own. Like most their games before, everything seems to have a kind of symbolism – most likely it is of wasted time.

All this aside, there is a complaint to make with the game.  The actual mechanics are somewhat unresponsive.  When moving the objects around they seem to be sluggish, and thin items are virtually impossible to pick up sometimes.  Some will mesh together and flop around, going through each other on occasion.  This never ruins the game, but it can sometimes make it unintentionally frustrating.  I assume this problem will be addressed with updates, but it’s very important to note.

“Vanitas” is a game definitely worth playing, and for 99 cents, there’s no reason not to get it.

You can find a link to the Tale of Tales site HERE.

And here’s a link to the Art History of Games website, for which “Vanitas” was commissioned.

There have been a few occasions where I had planned to move to Atlanta…and HERE‘s another big, fat middle finger to me from the city with the nicest airport.  The Art History of Games is “a three-day public symposium in which members of the fields of game studies, art history and related areas of cultural studies gather to investigate games as an art form.”  Which would be really interesting for anyone living in Atlanta (who are not me).

They have commissioned art by Jason Rohrer (“Passage”/”Between”), Tale of Tales (“The Path”), and Nathalie Pozzi and Eric Zimmerman for the event.  So it’ll be probably the most interesting thing in the world if you are like me and enjoy video games and museums.  Since I can’t go, I might as well spread the word.

Also, this may be worth noting: Tale of Tales has created an iPhone app as their commissioned piece, which should be released in time for the event.

A new game by Tale of Tales called “Fatale” came out this week, and I haven’t gotten to play it yet.  It’s only 7 dollars, which is a price worth supporting any indie developer with, but I just keep waiting for a Steam release announcement (because I’m OC and want all my games to be in neat little rows) and I’m also trying not to spend any money (because I have to make a trip down south soon and fear that when I get there I will be very poor).  But I wanted to show at least a little support for what I think is a great company with great ideas, so here’s me “spreading the word” like a cheap jerk.

Tale of Tales games are always for a special audience that don’t want traditional gameplay, in fact my major criticism of “The Path” was that it was trying too hard to be a normal game, mostly through item collection.  Their games are usually pretty short and linear with little to no free will, but that’s not always a bad thing.  Their art style and atmosphere is absolutely peerless and they try to do something completely different with video games, as well as really pushing the concept of video games as a new and exciting art form.

“Fatale is based on the story of Salome by Oscar Wilde and there’s a short synopsis given on their website (and right here):

“Salome is a first century Judean princess mentioned in the Christian Bible by Matthew and by Mark. But it is Oscar Wilde’s 19th century play “Salome” that really inspired Fatale. In the Bible, Salome is a child who dances for King Herod and asks the head of John the Baptist as a reward. In Wilde’s version, Salome falls in love with the prophet. He rejects her and she has him executed. The play ends with her kissing the lips of his decapitated head.

Most of Fatale takes place in the aftermath of this event, when all has turned quiet and the moon brings comfort to troubled hearts.”

So if you have a taste for the unconventional and love to support your local indie game developer there are a lot of worse ways you could spend seven bucks.

I will continue being poor and pathetic.

The Path is a “horror adventure” game by developer Tale of Tales that acts as a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood set in modern times.  With absolutely no combat and a plethora of exploration this game definitely caries the indie torch.  But while there’s a lot to be admired about The Path, it occasionally sink into old video game cliches.

I’ve been looking forward to this game’s release for a little while now, but I can’t whole-heartedly say that it’s completely met my expectations.  This is mostly because The Path is trying harder than previous Tale of Tales entries to be like all the other games.  Item collection and a grade at the end for “how well you did” are typical cliches in the video gaming world, and definitely two of my least favorite.  While trying to gain a larger audience the developers of The Path have sunk to this level from their non-traditional origins.

I don’t use this lightly, because it’s a dirty word that should almost never be uttered, but The Path is (cover your children’s ears) pretentious.  The first sign is the game’s main objective “Don’t wander from the path.”  Well, you have to wander from the path or else you “fail.”  Because of that dumb grading system the only way you can actually “succeed” is by frolicking off into the wilderness, meeting a stranger, letting your little girl get raped, and then shuffling to granny’s pad a dramatized wreck.  The aforementioned pretension comes from The Path’s attempt to send out some sort of message about “forging your own path” or “making your own rules,” but I’m not sure that’s really what it’s about, because if I get raped in the end I’d be happier not wandering too far off.  The letter grade at the end of a play through is a tell-tail sign of generic, unoriginal thinking.  To put it another way, The Path tries hard to be smarter than it actually is.

A slow moving gameplay should alienate all but the most patient players, but there’s nothing wrong with patience.  The incredibly slow pace of the little girls can be exchanged for running while the camera shifts to an awkward overhead view, so the game really does want player’s to take things slow.  The environment is dark and mysterious, and fairly interesting to explore.  Music is creepy, making one dread every step they take away from grandma’s house.  So exploring the scary woods has just the right atmosphere to keep the player looking around nervously, while still intrigued.

The two biggest highlights of The Path are grandma’s house and the “wolves.”  The wolves are the people you’ll run into out in the forest, and at least every time I’ve met one it ended badly.  They’re intriguing, scary, and sometimes a little bit too creepy (i.e. don’t take cigarettes from that nice, handsome boy).  That stupid grade at the end of the game aside, the fun really does come from frolicking off into the wilderness, meeting a stranger, letting your little girl get raped and then shuffling to granny’s pad a dramatized wreck.  Then inside of grandma’s house the camera moves to first person and no matter what you press you’ll keep going forward.  This gives a fantastic feeling of helplessness.  And whatever fate you meet decides what grandma’s house will look like on the inside, and sometimes where you’ll go inside the house.

While The Path is an interesting concept and a unique play, it feels like Tale of Tales’ sell-out game.  So hopefully their next release will be a first person shooter with bullet time (OH BOY!).  But, even with all it’s weaknesses The Path is a lot more compelling than 90% of what’s out there.

Ten dollars on Steam is all it takes to get a copy of this game, and I think whether it’s worth buying is largely up to the kind of person you are.  If you love video games as a potential art form and have a lot of patience, I’m going to most certainly recommend it.  If you are the kind of person that just wants to have fun blasting the heads of baddies, please oh please do not buy.

A Final Thought: I would like to see more games trying to be daring and different, instead of seeing a company known for being daring and different trying to make something more like all the other games.

Oh, and Final Final Thought: You don’t always get raped.  Just sometimes…

Tale of Tales is a game company that’s set out to prove video games as a true art form.  So I’m inclined to like them.  And I do!  Their games typically aim to evoke emotions from within the player, genuine emotion, and they experiment with new concepts and ideas.  So with “The Path” (Tale of Tale’s new game) coming out the 18th, I’m going to do a quick review of their last project, “The Graveyard.”

The Graveyard opens up with the player controlling an old woman as she enters a (you could have guessed) graveyard.  You shuffle her over to a bench (very slowly) and she’ll sit down on her own when she gets to it.  The road to this one bench is linear and aside from looking around at the beautiful scenery, there’s no exploration.  Once she’s sat down, a song starts to play and her profile appears at the side of the screen.  Now, if you’ve paid the whole 5 bucks for the full version, she dies.  That’s not a spoiler, it’s how they advise the game.

This might not sound like much fun.  But it is interesting.  Video games are very good at connecting to player to their persona.  The shock of seeing her die will jar anyone, even if they know its coming.  And much like film, literature, and music, it ain’t all popcorn, violence, and rock’n'roll.  The Graveyard presence the player with an experience, and not a lighthearted one.

You can check out the game RIGHT HERE.  There are two versions, the one where you just visit the graveyard (which is free) and the full version.