Myst is a graphic adventure puzzle video game designed by the Miller brothers, Robyn and Rand. It was developed by Cyan, Inc., published by Broderbund, and initially released for the Macintosh personal computer platform in 1993. In the game, players travel via a special book to the island of Myst. There, players solve puzzles, and by doing so, travel to four other worlds, known as Ages, which reveal the backstory of the game's characters.
Riven is a puzzle adventure video game. It is the sequel to Myst and second in the Myst series of games. Developed by Cyan Worlds, it was initially published by Red Orb Entertainment, a division of Broderbund. Riven was distributed on five compact discs and released on October 31, 1997, in North America; it was later released on a single DVD-ROM on August 17, 1998, with improved audio and a fourteen-minute "making-of" video. In addition to the PC versions, Riven has been ported to several other platforms.
Cyan, Inc., also known as Cyan Worlds, Inc., is an American video game developer. Founded as Cyan Productions by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller in 1987, the company is best known as the creator of the Myst series. The company is located in Mead, Washington, just outside Spokane.
Pyst is an adventure computer game released in October 1996. It was created as a parody of the highly successful adventure game Myst. Pyst was written by Peter Bergman, a co-founder of the Firesign Theatre, and was published by Parroty Interactive, with Bergman, Stallone, Inc. as co-publisher. Mindscape began distributing the game on August 20, 1997. The parody features full motion video of actor John Goodman as "King Mattruss", the ruler of "Pyst Island". Versions of the game were produced for both the Windows PC and Apple Macintosh operating systems.
Myst is a franchise centered on a series of adventure video games. The first game in the series, Myst, was released in 1993 by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller and their video game company Cyan, Inc. The first sequel to Myst, Riven, was released in 1997 and was followed by three more direct sequels: Myst III: Exile in 2001, Myst IV: Revelation in 2004, and Myst V: End of Ages in 2005. A spinoff featuring a multiplayer component, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, was released in 2003 and followed by two expansion packs.
Wetrix is a 3D puzzle video game, created by Zed Two and sold to Ocean Software in 1997 for publication on Nintendo 64 in 1998. The game was ported to personal computers running Microsoft Windows 95/98; to the Dreamcast, as the enhanced remake Wetrix+; and to the Game Boy Color, as Wetrix or Wetrix GB.
Robyn Charles Miller is the co-founder of Cyan Worlds with brother Rand Miller. He served as co-designer of the popular computer game Myst, which held the title of best-selling computer game from its release in 1993 until the release of The Sims seven years later. He also co-directed and co-lead designed the sequel to Myst, Riven, which was the best-selling computer game of its year of release, 1997. Miller composed and performed the soundtracks to both games. He also acted in Myst, portraying one of the antagonists, Sirrus. He co-wrote the first Myst novel, The Book of Atrus.
Jonathan "Seamus" Blackley is an American video game designer and former agent with Creative Artists Agency representing video game creators. He is best known for creating and designing the original Xbox in 2001.
SingleTrac Entertainment Technologies was an American video game developer, mostly for the PlayStation platform. The management team and much of the original development team came from Evans & Sutherland, bringing their 3D graphics and software engineering skills into the video game industry. Its most famous titles were the Twisted Metal and Jet Moto video game series.
Actua Sports is a sports video game series published by Gremlin Interactive which competed with Electronic Arts EA Sports label during the second half of the 1990s, until Gremlin was acquired by Infogrames. The term "Actua" is a play on Sega's line of "Virtua" titled games, which included Virtua Fighter, Virtua Racing and Virtua Striker.
Red Orb Entertainment was a publishing division created by the Broderbund software company to market its video game titles, distinguishing them from its library of edutainment titles, which it marketed to schools. Launched on May 21, 1997 and based in Novato, California, the name comes from the first six letters of "Broderbund," which spell "Red Orb" when reversed.
Chicken Little is a 2005 action-adventure game developed by Avalanche Software for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Microsoft Windows, and by Artificial Mind and Movement for the Game Boy Advance; both were published by Buena Vista Games. Based on the 2005 film of the same name, they were released in October 2005.
Star Warped is a first-person point-and-click adventure video game that parodies the Star Wars universe, specifically the original trilogy released between 1977 and 1983: Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. It was created by Parroty Interactive, which was a division of the game's publisher, Palladium Interactive. Star Warped was released in the United States and Canada, for both Windows PC and Macintosh, in late 1997 as a follow-up to their debut Myst parody, Pyst. The game is no longer in release, as Parroty's parent company folded after being bought by The Learning Company in 1998. The game invited players to "Be seduced by the power of the Dork Side". Star Warped received mixed reviews from critics: some praised the game's variety, originality, and humor, while others dismissed it as lazy, unfunny, and dull.
Mashed is a vehicular combat racing video game developed by Supersonic Software. The game was originally released in Europe for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows in June 2004. An updated version with additional features, titled Mashed: Fully Loaded in Europe and Drive to Survive internationally, was released in Europe in March 2005 and in North America in December 2006. The direct sequel Wrecked: Revenge Revisited was released in 2012.
Forsaken is a 3D first-person shooter video game. The game was developed by Probe Entertainment for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation and Iguana Entertainment UK for the Nintendo 64 and published by Acclaim Entertainment. A remastered version was released in 2018 for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux and Xbox One.
Egypt 1156 B.C. – Tomb of the Pharaoh is a 1997 adventure video game co-published by Cryo Interactive Entertainment, Canal+ Multimedia and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux for the Microsoft Windows and PlayStation. It was later released in North America by DreamCatcher Interactive.
Cyclone Studios was an American video game developer and publisher based in San Mateo, California. It developed several titles for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and later Microsoft Windows.
Microshaft Winblows 98 is a 1998 interactive comedy video game for Windows and the Classic Mac OS. It parodies the then-popular Windows 98 operating system, as well as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Released by Palladium Interactive during the United States v. Microsoft Corp. case and at a time when Microsoft, Windows, and Gates were easy targets for jokes, the game offers a satirical take on this ripe subject matter.
X-Fools: The Spoof Is Out There is an interactive comedic 1997 video game developed by Parroty Interactive. Not to be confused with a radio show series of the same title which aired on Beacon Radio sometime during the mid-1990s.
It is a parody of supernatural television series The X-Files, which ran from 1993 to 2018. Released on the Mac and PC, it was the company's third game after Myst parody Pyst, and Star Warped which lampooned Star Wars, and would be followed by Microshaft Winblows 98, a parody of Microsoft Windows 98. The game was distributed throughout North America by Mindscape.
