Tale of Tales is a Belgian developer of art and screensaver games founded in 2002. It consists of only 2 permanent members of staff. They mostly offer small titles to download such as 'The Endless Forest' and full titles to buy such as 'The Path'
'The Endless Forest' is a screensaver game available for free download from the Tale of Tales website. In it the player is a deer with a human face and can interact with other players through actions only. There is no real explanation of what to do or even that the player has goals to fulfill. The environment appears to have no boundaries or restrictions and players can explore whatever they please. When I started to play I realised that other people's deers looked different and discovered when sleeping in certain areas my deer gained extra characteristics. You learn how the game works by playing it which I think is a really interesting way to play. Normally when playing a game you are very much guided through it, with markers or visual clues or even the game simply directing you where to go and what to do next, so it was nice to experience a game that didn't give you any hints at all.
'The Path' is a full game which you can download from the website but it is not free to play like 'The Endless Forest', however you can play the trial version for free. It is based on the fairy tale Red Riding Hood. The player is in control of a small girl on her way to her grandmothers house. When the game starts the game tells you to go to your grandmother's house and makes it very clear that you're not to leave the pathway that runs down the middle of the forest. If you follow the rules and simply walk down the path you arrive safely and see the girl's grandmother and the game is over. What is interesting is that the game only becomes interesting and fulfilling when you ignore what the game tells you to do and do the opposite. If you leave the path the game then really starts.
This is a very original and innovative use of gameplay and rules. Normally rules are there to dictate how the game is played and one has to follow the rules in order to play the game successfully. 'The Path' turns this idea on its head and encourages the player to break the rules of the game in order to play it properly.
Activision
'Activision' was founded in 1979 and was the worlds first independent developer and distributer of video games for consoles. Since then the company has become the largest third party games publishers in the world. A lot of the most popular gaming titles in recent years have been published by 'Activision' including major franchises such as 'Tony Hawks', 'Guitar Hero' and 'Call of Duty' plus a lot of major movie tie in games such as 'Transformers; War for Cybertron' and 'Spiderman'.
The type of games 'Activision' make are definitely aimed at the masses. Unlike 'Tale of Tales' who aim at the minority audience and try to provide something out of the ordinary, 'Activision' are providing the ordinary to a wide market, they produce the titles that everybody likes. Also unlike 'Tale of Tales' who try and make the player think and engage with the game intellectually most 'Activision' games are the type of games that hold your hand and guide you through game play in a very obvious way, you don't really have to think outside the box.
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