Huh! So how was the experience as a whole? I might get it when it comes out on mac in september

A! thought that last one might be fatal frame! thnx

Nice! But what are the screenshots at the bottom? I only recognize Assassin's Creed

Yeah, I dunno, just decided to post this. I don't have a Mac, so I've no idea what it's like, seemed to like the concept

http://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2010/03/subcondition-j.html

Anyone heard of this? Sounds interesting enough, but unfortunately I don't have a PC.
From the author's description: "There is a victory condition; it doesn't make much sense, but it is possible to reach a "you win" screen. Don't feel compelled to aim for this though, just do whatever." Sounds kinda like what notgames are trying to achieve!

Also, sorry if this has already been posted in the forums

Wow, looks like I'm going to have to get this now. Is the experience as a whole good? Looking forward to the Bioshock article and wondering if it still references to the whole Ayn Rand Objectivism thing like the first one. And after that maybe we can have something on Shattered Memories?

Very interesting, but still not sure about how we are supposed to convey meaning in notgames without the use of narrative. I mean, it's down to the same problem, isn't it? It's either we give the person experiencing the notgame freedom of choice at the loss of meaning, or we tell a story and therefore restrict the freedom of the interacter. My thoughts are somewhat like what you expressed in Vanitas - having objects to display meaning. Create a world without as much freedom as possible, but have the things in the actual world conveying something that the author wants to get across.

Michael - The narrative is extremely disjointed and is very fun to piece together. I have heard that the last Silent Hill games, especially Homecoming, have been pretty dire, but this one, even though not developed by the Japanese, remains an extremely intelligent psychological thriller. Of course the only problem is that it comes at a price of scary at all. There is no suspense or genuine fear felt during the entire experience, but mostly feelings of confusion - of course, this turns out to be a good thing, as memory is a key theme in the narrative.

Thomas - Once the main twist is revealed, the nightmare sequences and their trial and error and general confusing nature becomes clear. This is a definite design choice and not a fault of the developers. The puzzles are pretty simple apart from one or two fantastic ones (especially one that involves you casting shadows on the walls) but they are merely there to advance the story and the experience.

Has anyone played it? This is, in my opinion one of the best games of 2010 so far. It's hard to describe in depth without spoiling the massive plot twist at the end (although I'm not sure about how original it is, it was my first time in the series) but all the mechanics have a symbolic meaning, which is pretty deep for a mainstream game. I say mechanics, but there is virtually no gameplay in Shattered Memories, except for the occasional puzzle, which helps to increase atmosphere dramatically. The story is fairly linear, but because of the ridiculously accurate psychological analysis you really want to play through the game differently again to see how it will turn out this time. As a psychology student, the Freudian aspect of this game completely blew me away (again I can't say much because it will ruin the story). The nightmare sequences are disorientating and make you feel like you're trapped in some sort of limbo. Very cool. I played this game twice since I bought it and the touching finale gets me every time. I don't know, maybe it's because the last game that I've played was Dante's Inferno, which I bought for the art direction (and it really wasn't worth it, it's such a rip-off of God of War that it's embarrassing). So yeah - very interesting in terms of progress in mainstream games!

Hey guys, I'm new here, first of all congratulations for starting a new art movement  I like to think of notgames as dada mixed with surrealism, if that makes any sense - we're not following the strict conventions that have been set out over these thirty-odd years of gaming, and a lot of the content created seems to have a strange, dream-like quality to it (i.e. "The Path" when you go to grandmother's house). Anyways, even though I have no programming skill whatsoever I do wish to contribute ideas and I'm a little confused about the whole narrative issue. I've read over a few of the topics here and there seems to be some confusion as well. Is the narrative of a notgame kind of like "Majora's Mask", where you have a set of events which happen over the three days, but you have (more or less) the freedom to navigate the story as you wish? Or is it simply existentialism, where the character just interacts with the world, because it is through the scenery of the world that we convey meaning? If it is the latter, then surely notgames should mostly incorporate 3D graphics because they are more immersive (this is my opinion, but I'm sure other people will agree)? I hope that we can find a balance between the two, because, inside all of us, there is still a desire to be told a story (mirrored, I think, in the Tale of Tales' own name). So, any ideas on how to tell a story through the medium of notgames? Thanks

A mixture of both, in my opinion. I like what you guys did in "The Path", with just a simple statement at the beginning telling the player what to do - whether the player follows the advice or not depends on him or her only. On a separate note, I believe that notgames should be in 3D - the level of immersion increases dramatically even if the gameplay is shorter. I still replay "The Graveyard" from time to time just because of the beauty of the actual scenery. Also, the player would want to explore your work more just to take in everything that the author wants to offer.