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
Rumor:
@Microsoft Beginning Work on Xbox 720:
From the type of jobs listed there (lots of VLSI there), it looks like it will take a good couple of years before it is close to becoming a prototype.
@AAA Titles and Indie Games Matter:
… that’s so ambiguous. I don’t get the point here. As Derrick mentions, any ‘middle’ game can be turned into a AAA game. Some fail, but some succeed. Is it about marketing muscle?
Was Valve’s Portal a middle game?
@Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm Not Coming Til 2012:
I don’t get it, again. Maybe I’m dumb, but I think it’s about milking it, because:
– the units are there (see the multiplayer, which is already playable)
– some balancing is already done (again, see MP)
– normally, the script should be done already; we’ve seen a fragment of it in the first game, and, for the entire thing to be coherent, the script should be done.
– all remains is to make maps.
@Netflix Coming to 3DS This Summer:
Funny, I know a bank that issued a warning regarding the value of stock shares of Netflix, on account of Facebook trying to penetrate the video streaming market.
I guess expanding to other devices will give them a stronger foothold on other platforms Facebook is not yet threatening.
Yet.
@Question of the week:
Man, tough one! I’d go for Mission Impossible for NES. I couldn’t find how much it actually took to develop, unfortunately. My estimate is about one year.
@Microsoft Beginning Work on Xbox 720:
From the type of jobs listed there (lots of VLSI there), it looks like it will take a good couple of years before it is close to becoming a prototype.
@AAA Titles and Indie Games Matter:
… that’s so ambiguous. I don’t get the point here. As Derrick mentions, any ‘middle’ game can be turned into a AAA game. Some fail, but some succeed. Is it about marketing muscle?
Was Valve’s Portal a middle game?
@Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm Not Coming Til 2012:
I don’t get it, again. Maybe I’m dumb, but I think it’s about milking it, because:
– the units are there (see the multiplayer, which is already playable)
– some balancing is already done (again, see MP)
– normally, the script should be done already; we’ve seen a fragment of it in the first game, and, for the entire thing to be coherent, the script should be done.
– all remains is to make maps.
@Netflix Coming to 3DS This Summer:
Funny, I know a bank that issued a warning regarding the value of stock shares of Netflix, on account of Facebook trying to penetrate the video streaming market.
I guess expanding to other devices will give them a stronger foothold on other platforms Facebook is not yet threatening.
Yet.
@Question of the week:
Man, tough one! I’d go for Mission Impossible for NES. I couldn’t find how much it actually took to develop, unfortunately. My estimate is about one year.
Hey, one question: did you guys consider making a profile also on moddb or maybe indiedb? You could post the podcast there as well. Might get some extra listeners.
And if you need help maintaining the profiles there, I can lend you a hand.
Hey, one question: did you guys consider making a profile also on moddb or maybe indiedb? You could post the podcast there as well. Might get some extra listeners.
And if you need help maintaining the profiles there, I can lend you a hand.
@Microsoft beginning work on Xbox 720
Yeah, from the wording of those ads, it doesn’t sound like it’ll be ready anytime soon. I’d say 2013 at the earliest.
@CliffyB says only AAA and indie games matter
I disagree with good old Cliffy B. There’s games that would probably be considered middle of the road games that I love and that still make enough profit. An example is Sam and Max. You wouldn’t call that a AAA game, but it’s not an indie game either. It is still an awesome game, however, and was quite successful.
@Netflix coming to 3DS
Too bad Netflix isn’t in Australia. This was kind of expected though, since Netflix is on pretty much every other tech device.
Also, Nintendo making a loss on the 3DS? I find that very strange. Unless they’re just trying to smash the NGP straight off the bat, then put the price up with a revision later on once they’ve “beaten” the NGP. I dunno, how reliable are the sources of the rumour Jonah? 😛
@Will Wright making a new game
As far as “game-making legends” go, Shigeru Miyamoto, Sid Meier and Will Wright seem to be the ones that everybody knows. Then there’s a heap of ‘lesser’ gaming legends, like Peter Molyneux, Gabe Newell, Hideo Kojima and good old Cliffy B 😛
@QOTW
To be honest, I first started gaming on the SNES, so I didn’t really play any ‘old school’ games. Except some on MAME.
@Microsoft beginning work on Xbox 720
Yeah, from the wording of those ads, it doesn’t sound like it’ll be ready anytime soon. I’d say 2013 at the earliest.
@CliffyB says only AAA and indie games matter
I disagree with good old Cliffy B. There’s games that would probably be considered middle of the road games that I love and that still make enough profit. An example is Sam and Max. You wouldn’t call that a AAA game, but it’s not an indie game either. It is still an awesome game, however, and was quite successful.
@Netflix coming to 3DS
Too bad Netflix isn’t in Australia. This was kind of expected though, since Netflix is on pretty much every other tech device.
Also, Nintendo making a loss on the 3DS? I find that very strange. Unless they’re just trying to smash the NGP straight off the bat, then put the price up with a revision later on once they’ve “beaten” the NGP. I dunno, how reliable are the sources of the rumour Jonah? 😛
@Will Wright making a new game
As far as “game-making legends” go, Shigeru Miyamoto, Sid Meier and Will Wright seem to be the ones that everybody knows. Then there’s a heap of ‘lesser’ gaming legends, like Peter Molyneux, Gabe Newell, Hideo Kojima and good old Cliffy B 😛
@QOTW
To be honest, I first started gaming on the SNES, so I didn’t really play any ‘old school’ games. Except some on MAME.