We’ve been interviewed by Alistair Wallis for GameSetWatch.
Possibly one of the more interesting things that came up during this interview with Belgium based indie development duo Tale of Tales was the idea that they are, effectively, experimental outsiders in the games industry simply because of their focus on story based, artistically motivated work.
Isn’t that weird? Can you imagine what the film industry would be like if narrative works were substantially less popular than action based films?
If you have half an hour to kill, have a read!
um, reading back on it now it sounds kind of…. inflammatory.
i know that may be the aspect that gets some attention, and its not like we don’t feel that way. but to talk to us IRL we’re not so extreme sounding… and really the important bit is:
For us, it’s about creating the potential for interesting stories. Not in a linear sense, as a story you listen to from beginning to end. But sort of as a mini-version of life itself: an experience you are embedded in, an environment that is filled with narrative elements, and the possibility to explore them. The story doesn’t need to be a report of activity either. It can be a mental process , too. If anything, we try to stimulate the player’s imagination.
But there’s something about talking about ‘games’ that gets us in a contrary frame of mind. So we end up saying some other things… >.<
Nice interview. I espelly liked when you talked about the ” testosterone-troubled kids”, i see you have the same feeling about them.
And, if i understood well, are you seeing with sony if you could make a ps3 network game? It will help change the image of the ps3 as the “hardcore violent games and sport games” console that sony had with the ps2.
It’s nice to see sony changing a little of targets. They already started looking for emo-gamers with flow, echocrome [wich i think has a very nice ambiance], and the upcoming eden and flower.
Yes, we’re in contact with Sony about a Playstation Network game. It’s indeed interesting that they’re doing several of these small experimental games. I’m not sure if that will be enough to change their image, which I don’t think they have as badly as the XBox anyway.
It would sure be nice if the PS3 could evolve into a diverse interactive experience machine rather than silmply a games console. But I doubt that will happen soon.
I think they are on the good starting blocks, but it can’t be done in several months.
But it sure will be very strange if in several years, the playstation becomes the “officiel” emo-console. Anyway, i doubt that the majority of emo-games leave the computer. But we never now, i guess.
Well, games consoles are still considered largely childern’s toys. Even Nintendo has not been able to change that image. And I don’t think the games industry has any interest in changing that. Children are the games industry’s main source of income, no matter how mature they claim their games to be.
Yes, but i think this and the next generations that lived with the games since childhood will want to continue they’re gaming experience, and so there’s going to be a big market opening with that, i suppose. But maybe they will stay with the childs game, but i’v seen more and more young people, who have been raised with games, starting to enjoy more “experimental” games, and more “mature”.
So i really think somebody is going to jump on the occasion, and invest in more mature games.
Auriea and Michaël, I have a quick question. I know that in the interview the XBLA and PSN were mentioned, but have you two looked into Nintendo’s WiiWare?
Oh, yes! In fact, we have at least two games we would like to create for the Wii, and more specifically WiiWare. This is one of the reasons why we used Unity for making The Graveyard. Because Unity has a Wii extension. This would allow us to create Wii games without requiring external programmers.
We have applied to become WiiWare developers a while ago already. And we’re still waiting for a response. I takes forever. But as soon as it comes, we will move at least one of those projects into a pre-production stage.
The only real reason why we’re even considering Playstation, is that several people at Sony, and at other publishers, have expressed interest in publishing our work on the Playstation Network. And one of them has invited us to propose a project. But the Wii seems to be much more suitable for our games in terms of the kind of audience it attracts.
Just waiting for Nintendo now…
It’s great to hear that the interest is out there among larger developers and that Tale of Tales already has some plans. I hope everything goes well with Nintendo and WiiWare, as well as Sony and the PlayStation Network. (I have a Wii already and I’m hoping to get a PS3 soon. So I shouldn’t miss anything you guys do. :P)
I really have grown to love Tale of Tales. So I’d be thrilled to see it reach a wider range audience.
Much luck to you all.
This interview was re-published, in a slightly more readable form, on Gamasutra.