Gaming Flashback: Myst

Myst was published by Brøderbund Software, developed by Cyan Worlds and created by two brothers that did the design and directed the game (it was, much like a movie).

The original game was released on the Macintosh (in 1993) and then later ported to Microsoft Windows and Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Jaguar CD, AmigaOS, CD-i, 3DO, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo DS.

Myst puts the player in the role of the Stranger, who uses an enchanted book to travel to the island of Myst. There, the player uses other special books written by an artisan and explorer named Atrus to travel to several worlds known as “Ages”. Clues found in each of these Ages help reveal the back-story of the game’s characters. The game has several endings, depending on the course of action the player takes.” (wikipedia)

The game was a success, no doubt, and was considered the best selling PC game of all time until TheSims dethroned it. Besides mind blowing graphics, at the time, Myst helped move the game and PC industry along by selling CDROM’s. The game required a CDROM, which was rare at the time, and I recall them bundling Myst with some CDROMS or hyping it as “you need a CDROM so you can play Myst.” On more than one occasion when a person game to me asking what they should get to show off their new (costly) CDROM I would say “you need to try Myst.”

The gameplay of Myst consists of a first-person journey through an interactive world. The player moves the character by clicking on locations shown in the main display; the scene then crossfades into another frame, and the player can continue to explore. Players can interact with specific objects on some screens by clicking or dragging them(wikipedia)

Franchise sales: 12-million copies (first Myst game alone in the franchise, 6-million), pretty impressive eh?

You don’t have to be a huge Myst fan to know how it changed the industry, grew the medium of CD-based games and entertained millions. A real gamers thinking game!

To hear our full impression of Myst, checkout the TD Gaming Podcast Episode 77.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

Gaming Podcast 168: Sixteen Dollar IncrementsGaming Podcast 168: Sixteen Dollar Increments

We’re back this week, and we’re busting through some news articles dealing with Electronic Arts, Activision, Warhammer and more. Community comments, feedback, flashback and game history. The news articles include:

Gaming flashback is R-Type, game history is Irem and the question of the week: Will the iPad steal market share from the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS product lines? Or mobile gaming in general?

Episode 665: Wild Hearts Can Be BrokenEpisode 665: Wild Hearts Can Be Broken

This episode is a short one as Jonah flies to Los Angeles in the morning. There’s a followup to the Grand Theft Auto 6 leak, and Aaron Judge hits his 61st home run.

The news includes:

  • Wild Hearts announced by EA and Koei Tecmo
  • Alleged Grand Theft Auto 6 hacker pleads not guilty
  • Skull and Bones delayed yet again, now launching March 2023
  • King of Fighters 15 “Samurai Shodown” character DLC launches in early October

Let us know what you think.

Gaming Podcast Episode 218: Introducing PaulGaming Podcast Episode 218: Introducing Paul

The listeners of Gaming Podcast finally get introduced to the third member of the Videogame Roundtable podcast team, Paul S. Nowak, who only desires hate mail and more time playing Dungeon Overlord on Facebook. This week, the Gaming Flashback looks back at the Gamecube title mentioned by Jordan Lund last week, Eternal Darkness, and the guys respond to the reader mail from episode 217, and if you’re interested in other types of games such as escape rooms you can visit the Room escape games in Portland Oregon just for this.

The trio also discuss the following news items:

  • Microsoft: Halo won’t be a yearly franchise
  • Analyst: Kinect appealed to “more hardcore” than expected
  • 2M users sign up for COD: Elite beta
  • Wizardry Online announced, will feature permadeath

This week’s Question of the Week: How much do you think the Wii U will cost? All this and more in this delightful podcast that will have you begging for more.