Heather Chaplin has interviewed us and made a piece about The Path for “All Things Considered” on NPR. It’s running today at 4:50 East Coast Time.
An MP3 version of the piece can be downloaded here.
John’s head
A 15th century Italian painting of the Head of John the Baptist. Painted by Giovanni Bellini in 1464-1468.
This head is very similar to the one Cranach painted almost a century later. That same mix of agony and ecstasy, blood dripping out.
I love that it’s round. Makes me wish we could make round games. The shape reminds of the platter that the head ended up in after Salomé got her wish granted. Similar to how Caravaggio painted Medusa on a round canvas, referring to Perseus’s shield. Both Medusa and John lost their head! John’s hairs look a bit like snakes…
Oscar Wilde does a similar thing in his play by turning the full moon into a recurring theme.
Oh! How strange the moon looks! Like the hand of a dead woman who is seeking to cover herself with a shroud.
Moon, platter, neck, head. Aureola.
Gaming is for bachelors?
While Auriea is away, visiting family at the other side of the globe, I find myself more interested in improving personal skills than otherwise. I usually don’t care much for challenging myself or developing personal routines when I’m with her. I guess the relationship itself brings enough challenges and routines. Plus any free time spend on my own, doing personal things like learning to play a certain piece on the piano, feels like time away from her. Which is not how I prefer to spend my free time.
If I have the choice.
But if I don’t have the choice. If I am alone. Then suddenly those options become available. I do think it’s mostly because it takes my mind off of being alone -something which I deal with very badly, Auriea and I having done virtually everything together for the past 10 years.
And I find myself thinking of the challenges that players of videogames enjoy so much -and that I often fail to understand or appreciate. Maybe they are similar to learning a piece on the piano: trying to do something for no other reason that being able to. Dedicating yourself to the task of developing the skill. It passes the time and takes your mind off of your life for a while. And your death. And your loneliness. And it makes you feel like you’re improving yourself.
Maybe I just don’t understand videogames because I’m happily married. Maybe this is what is keeping games from breaking through as a medium. That most people are.
A handsome couple
A 16th century German painting of Salomé holding a platter with the head of John the Baptist. Painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1530.
Notice how both characters are looking at the spectator. Salome is appropriately dressed as a noble woman (though typically anachronistically so). And John is opening his mouth as well as his eyes. In ecstasy? Or to allow his last breath to escape? I guess since his neck is “open”, he might as well open all orifices he has left.
The platter seems like an oversized common kitchen plate. I wonder if anyone ever made the association with food when Salome requests the head on a platter. Like the spider eating its mate. And instead of saying “I have kissed thy mouth, Jokanaan”, she’d say “And I will eat you!”. Little Red Ridinghood popping up again? What’s up with that?
She is holding him like a lover, not like a dish. And the red of her mouth easily leads the eye to the red on his neck. It’s cute how they look at us. Like a couple caught doing something they didn’t want others to witness.
She has an awfully large necklace. I wonder if she fears decapitation herself…
Welcome the the 21st century, Tale of Tales
So, I bought an iPod touch.
Which prompted one of my friends to say “Welcome to the 21st century! :p”
The implication of which being that he couldn’t believe I didn’t have one already.
Yeah, here at (ToT) we’re a *little* slow to accept new technology. Not dripping with ready cash, are we.
Anyway, I got it day before yesterday and have now spent some time figuring it out. And downloading some apps. And games, of course!
Here’s what I’m starting out with:
Top of my list was ZenBound. A good friend of mine, I stayed with in San Francisco during the last GDC, was OBSESSED with this game. She kept showing it to me and even made me get autographs from the team that made it when she found out I was going to be at the conference with them! With such a glowing reccomendation I knew it had to be the first game on my iPod.
ZenBound is indeed a very beautiful thing to look at and interact with. I’m finding it quite inspiring so far.
I guess i like the idea of slow contemplative games (go figure ;)) because I also picked up Ian Bogost’s Guru Meditation. A good deal at €0.79 and while I have not spent enough time with it to see what “happens”… I am willing to bet, based on its theme, that *nothing* happens and that is just exactly the point.
I wouldn’t dream of not having a paint program on the iPod touch. I chose Colors! from Jens Andersson because I had become addicted to his homebrew version on Nintendo DS. I am only too happy to finally be able to give him some money for this. It is a step up for sure from the DS version with the online gallery integrated into the app and several new options for the brush behaviour. Most interesting of which is the use of tilt controls to change the width and opacity in lieu of pressure sensitivity on the screen (which unlike the DS the iPod lacks). Brushes and PaintBook also look interesting. But I like how in Colors! you can calibrate an offset of the brush from your finger so you’re not right on top of where you’re painting. Still, it is going to take some getting used to.
MYST. I am playing MYST. I played it last in 1994, or something. I am surprised to say that I still really really enjoy playing MYST. I think this touch adaptation is very well done. I had forgotten how much of an open world the game is. Somehow even the “slideshow” presentation of it still feels immersive. Is that because of the small screen? I like how perplexing it is to be walking about in this world alone… not knowing exactly what I should do, and then figuring it out; No tutorial necessary, no intro movie. Maybe this game was more of an influence on me as a game designer than I imagined.
PhiLia is an artwork for iphone/ipod touch by lia, who rules. See here for a better description than I can write.
Lastly, finally Eliss. I love its graphical representation and its sound. I am a bit annoyed at its traditional GAME OVER type gameplay but I enjoy it while it lasts. I would recommend at least trying it (there is a free demo version available.) Because its fun to interact with and very well done of indie developer Stef Thirion.
ADDENDUM: Maybe the next version of the iPod touch, coming in September according to some sources, will have the camera and digital compass feature from the iPhone. Sure, I’ll upgrade for that.
Face It (working title..) from zach on Vimeo.
People don’t stop talking about The Path
We may have been a bit quiet lately about The Path, but that doesn’t mean that other people don’t talk about it anymore. Most of the time to share their joy and attempt to express why they think The Path is interesting. The only really negative reviews are passionate expressions of hatred and disgust and disapproval that sadly don’t contribute much to anything -apart perhaps from being amusing in their own right, for some. So please forgive us if we skip those.
This first quote is actually from a comment on an early review of The Path. But we thought it very poignant.
The Path reminds us of how innocent and hopeful most video games are. Look, say, at Doom. Man with shotgun takes on the Devil and destroys Hell. That’s optimism. Unrealistic, but a nice thought to keep you warm at night when things aren’t going well.
Real life is a variable experience where you learn things, have some enjoyable experiences, some nasty ones, and then… you die. That’s The Path.
The experience of the journey is what The Path is about. What you find in the forest, who you meet, and your girl’s eventual fate intertwine into an experience that’s almost certainly not a game in the classic sense, but does bring to mind the awesome power of interactive experiences in a way many games simply don’t do.
Matt “Steerpike” Sakey on Tap Repeatedly
There is no doubt that Tale of Tales is showing the gaming world exactly what it needs to see: that there is more to this new medium than what we are familiar with, that video games can be emotionally evocative in their own right, and most importantly that we, as gamers, should expect more from developers than overused conventions.
C.T. Hutt on Press Pause To Reflect
Der Wald kann Spiegel eurer Psyche sein, sofern ihr es zulasst. Es gibt keinen Lösungsweg, keine vorgekauten Richtungen. Ihr selbst seid Teil des Spiels, müsst euch aber darauf einlassen können.
Markus Grunow on The Gamer’s Base
O objetivo de cada uma das irmãs não é chegar sã e salva à casa da vovozinha. Na verdade, o que cada uma delas busca é encontrar o seu próprio lobo mau na forma humana. Enfrentar esta tendência pode ser tão denso e visceral que faz com que ser devorada viva pareça um final feliz.
What if the wolves you meet are not furry creatures with sharp teeth, but rather metaphoric wolves constructed from your past experiences, fears, and future desires that you need to understand and confront in order to be ready to cross the threshold into grandmother’s house?
The music and ambiance of the game is the one that will really mess with you. Not only is it suitably haunting, which leaves you feeling a bit unsettled like something is out there watching you (guess what you’re right!), but the sound effects that are playing, while random, always seem to be happening right when your nerves are frayed from the music.
What if ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ was not simply a cautionary tale, but a metaphor for life instead?
A The Path egy olyan bizarr mese, mely teljesen új megvilágításba helyezi gyerekkorunk egyik meghatározó, mindenki által jól ismert, “happy enddel” végződő történetét. Egy metaforikus költemény, melyben mindennek mondandója van, minden utal valamire, amit vagy megért a játékos, vagy nem. Döntéseinknek súlya van, rajtunk áll mikor és mit csinálunk, és hogy mindezt hogyan éljük meg.
Obwohl kein Blut fließt, wirkt “The Path” ausgesprochen
verstörend und unheimlich.
Nico Nowarra in c’t magazine #13
Iedereen die geïnteresseerd is wat er allemaal mogelijk is met games en de manier waarop men op interactieve wijze verhalen kan vertellen, is het aan zichzelf verplicht dit grimmige sprookje te gaan spelen.
Jan in Power Unlimited magazine #186
The Path, while minimalistic, provides a magical setting in which the player’s mind blooms with imagination as they discover the beauty and terror that encircles the safety of the beaten path.
Indie game developer Tale of Tales’ The Path pulls off the virtually impossible: to create a new genre of video games that is not only addictive in its replayability, but more psychologically challenging, haunting, and disturbing than the average horror game, all at a fraction of the developmental cost and manpower of the average title.
aybendito on Ay, Bendito… UFF DA!
The last article also calls The Path “The Blair Witch Project of video games” which is enormously flattering but sadly incorrect giving the discrepancy between the two in terms sales figures. At least, so far… So don’t stop talking about The Path! 
What big eyes you have, Herod!
Salome, come drink a little wine with me. I have here a wine that is exquisite. Caesar himself sent it me. Dip into it thy little red lips, that I may drain the cup.
– I am not thirsty, Tetrarch.
…
Salome, come and eat fruits with me. I love to see in a fruit the mark of thy little teeth. Bite but a little of this fruit, that I may eat what is left.
– I am not hungry, Tetrarch.
…
Salome, come and sit next to me. I will give thee the throne of thy mother.
– I am not tired, Tetrarch.
…
Dance for me, Salome.
– I have no desire to dance, Tetrarch.
…
I command thee to dance, Salome.
– I will not dance, Tetrarch.
– from Oscar Wilde’s play Salome
Pina Bausch
Thinking a lot about women, dancers, choreography and dance vocabulary
because of Fatale.
And it saddens us today the world has lost a great artist.
Farewell to Pina Bausch, the dangerous magician of modern dance
Salome in the Bible
But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger. And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.
And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.
This is all the text referring to Salomé in the Bible. Note that her name is not even mentioned. She was named almost 100 years later by a Jewish/Roman historian.
Announcing: Fatale
image: “Salomé” by Lucien Lévy Dhurmer, 1896