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[Michaël Samyn]

Our Sato-Jarboe-Wilde extravangaza has been released.
Get it here!

Fatale is an interactive vignette in realtime 3D inspired by the story of Salome.
Explore a living tableau filled with references to the legendary tale and enjoy the moonlit serenity of a fatal night in the orient. Fatale offers an experimental play experience that stimulates the imagination and encourages multiple interpretations and personal associations.

Or as someone on GameSetWatch said: "Utter pretentious crap"! 

[ChevyRay]

"Utter pretentious crap"

 

This looks wonderful, you guys. $7 is a great price, too! I'd totally pay that much to get some of this delicious looking "pretentious crap". I love your audio trailers for this.

Is there no demo available? My only question.

[Michaël Samyn]

Nope. No demo. We didn't really know how to make one. It's not exactly a level-based game... 

Besides, we figured it's only 7 Dollars. Should be worth the risk.

[ChevyRay]

Yeah, certain types of games don't warrant a demo. Just wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing one if there was. And $7 is most certainly worth the risk 

[mirosurabu]

Can I pay via moneybookers?

[mcc]

Goodness, a mac version! There's a pleasant surprise.

[Melly]

Certainly seems to have an intriguing style. Not sure what to expect from it, but I guess that's the norm for a Tales product.

I'll consider getting it. I did get The Path last time.

By the way, I was curious as to how well that one went financially.

[Michaël Samyn]

Can I pay via moneybookers?

What is moneybookers? 

Currently payment goes through Paypal, which also lets you use your credit card.
If you don't use Paypal, you can email us (reception at tale-of-tales.com) and we can send you instructions for direct wire transfer.

[Michaël Samyn]

Certainly seems to have an intriguing style. Not sure what to expect from it, but I guess that's the norm for a Tales product.

We do our best. 

I'll consider getting it. I did get The Path last time.

By the way, I was curious as to how well that one went financially.

Thank you for getting The Path!
But why speak about its sales in the past sense? It's still going! We are giving it at least 2 years before we evaluate. So far so good, we'll be able to pay back the loan we took out for producing it. But I feel there's still a big audience out there that we haven't been able to reach yet.

[jazmeister]

I didn't like your Path demo at all, and the game was way better. The last thing you want is for the demo to do the game an injustice and turn people away.

[Melly]

Yeah, the Path demo seemed a good bit weaker than the full game, in my opinion.

[Michaël Samyn]

I agree. The Path - Prologue was really conceived of more as a free chapter for people who had already played The Path. But since we didn't have time to create a proper demo, we just figured we'd release it as such. It was a bad choice, commercially, indeed. Hopefully we can make a new demo for The Path later.

I do wonder, though, if games with such a low price really need a demo. I guess for some people, 10 Dollars is still a lot of money (even if their computer costs a hundred times more and they're paying twice as much for simply connecting to the internet, let alone some candy or a can of soda)? But the financial concerns of gamers have always eluded me to some extent.

Anyway, thanks for your interest in our work! It's deeply appreciated.

[jazmeister]

I agree that people should just loosen up and take a crack at things that cost ten dollars. However, in an attempt to explore why people make these decisions, I'd say that in the case of the computer and the internet connection, you know what you're getting. The Path is an unknown quantity for gamers - what is it? Will I like it? Isn't it just a story? Can't I just watch it on youtube and get the same experience? You'll know better than I that it doesn't take much to tip that scale in the "I probably won't bother" direction, and it worries me, because watching The Path on youtube is like watching Mirrors Edge on youtube - the point isn't seeing it, the point is doing it.

People really don't have their rationales straight in terms of what they feel like paying for stuff, obviously. You'll get people bitching about an indie game using Steamworks (and thereby becoming steam-only) because it restricts their options, but they'll pay the same to go see a movie only once in very uncomfortable seats. I guess the challenge facing ToT is to convey what it feels like to play without A) spoiling the experience or B) misrepresenting the product. Testimonials are a great way, I think - I got it after hearing some people talk about what they found, who they picked, where they went - just like with Oblivion or Wurm Online. A game is a set of experiences, no?

[Michaël Samyn]

Indeed. I can see here a failing of game journalism, in fact. Reviews are often too much about grading a game in terms of expectations. If game reviews would be more critical and if game journalists would talk more about their own experience, it would be far more useful for the kinds of people interested in our kinds of projects.

[C.A. Sinner]

Reviews are often too much about grading a game in terms of expectations.

Very much agree. Games journalism still seems to be stuck on reviewing games by ticking off a "check list" of things that supposedly make a "good game". This is also reflected in the horrible "rate various categories on a scale from 1 to 10 and then calculate an average" rating system that a lot of mags and sites still use.

Anway, Fatale seems interesting. I've never played The Graveyard and didn't particularly like The Path (yes I have the full version), mostly because I couldn't relate to the theme (I'm not too hot for this Brothers Grimm stuff) and the somewhat goth/emo looks of the girls  .
But from the few screens I've seen, I like the art and atmosphere in Fatale a lot. I guess I'm waiting  till it comes to Steam though. I seem to be among the few people who actually like Steam :D