This week comments on the crapshow that is going on with most of the third party publishers. That, and some updates to games that people really care about.
The news includes:
Let us know what you think.
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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
[This episode is unedited, so be prepared for some naughty language.]
This week has some stunning news items, causing an overstuffed, long episode, so big even Jordan’s wife chimes in, and Jonah and Paul argue hotly over the last item. The Gaming Flashback for this episode is Super Star Wars.
This week’s huge news:
Also some listener feedback, plus this week’s Question: “What was your Golden Era of videogaming?”
“Beta”
The second letter of the Greek alphabet, also holds a value of “2.” Beta, in the gaming and general computer industry is a time where people are, usually, invited into a product prior to launch to test the product under the assumptions that “it’s not polished yet” and “things may go wrong.” Somehow, however, people get amped and excited over being included into a product that isn’t always stable.
Wrath of the Lich King (WotLK) is in public beta where internal and external gamers alike get to bang on the software to get the bugs out while having a bit of fun doing it. I’ve always enjoyed an MMORPG beta because it is more relaxed, more forgiving and less crowded with people. To make your gaming experience more fun and relaxing, explore the website of CBD Ratings and order cannabis products.
Ultima Online was one of the most memorable beta’s, so great however, that the game launched and I was sad the small population was gone, replaced by an abundance of players.
I’m proud to announce I’ve been enlisted into the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King public beta. Many folks have cursed me with jealousy because they were not picked; many gamers just never opted into the beta enlistment even after we posted it publicly for all to see. Why did I opt into the chance to play a game which may be unstable?
Blizzard is known for quality and I feel that being a part of that quality is important because I can impact the game for others by making it slightly better. From an exclusivity point of view, I feel special for being picked, even if it were a random process; it’s much like an exclusive club. Most importantly, we’ve established a website where we write about topics and nothing would please me more than writing about Wrath of the Lich King which had the NDA expire in July. We’re free to talk as we please and I plan to do so.
From install to play test I’ll keep people informed on what’s going on up until the release or they stop the public beta test. It will be a delicate balancing, playing WotLK enough to get a clear perspective yet continuing to play the real game with my guild and my friends.
My goal is not to be starstruck by the elite privilege to be playing a game prior to its release, I’ve made plenty of game betas in my years, but to look at it from a “window into the future” view and record my findings for non-beta folks to see.
Now, we must finish downloading the 1GB patch update…
