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The Beige Years

How Myst Got the Credit for the CD-ROM Boom

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Myst set a one-month record for a CD game in December 1996, three years after release: 320,000 copies, by PC Data.

Myst didn't start the CD-ROM boom; the drives came first. This is how the Miller brothers' quiet game rode it.

Subject
Myst, 1993
Chapters
7
Sources
8
Credits
36
Corrections
0

Sources

8
  • Interview5
  • Article3

The sources the story leans on most, primary sources first. Read dates are when the page was consulted; the live page may have changed since.

  1. [1]
  2. [2]
    Article Game Developers Conference Robyn Miller

    Classic Game Postmortem: Myst

    archive.org/details/GDC2013Miller ↗
  3. [3]
  4. [4]
  5. [5]
  6. [6]
  7. [7]
  8. [8]

Image & music credits

36
  • License unknown29
  • CC BY-SA 3.03
  • CC BY-SA 2.02
  • CC BY-SA 4.01

35 photos, from the hosts linked below. Each file name links to the file's page, which carries the full license terms.

#UseFileAuthorLicense
1 Photo https://archive.org/download/myst-mac-box-scans/Myst1.jpg Myst Macintosh retail box (Brøderbund and Cyan, 1993), scan on the Internet Archive, item myst-mac-box-scans License unknown
2 Photo https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/ROoAAeSwnCZqdSq~/s-l1200.webp AppleCD 300 External SCSI CD-ROM Drive (Apple, 1993), eBay listing photo License unknown
3 Photo https://archive.org/download/myst-mac-box-scans/Myst3.jpg Myst Macintosh retail box (Brøderbund and Cyan, 1993), scan on the Internet Archive, item myst-mac-box-scans License unknown
4 Photo https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/RandMiller2014.jpg RandMiller2014.jpg, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 License unknown
5 Photo https://archive.org/download/myst-mac-box-scans/Myst5.jpg Myst Macintosh retail box (Brøderbund and Cyan, 1993), scan on the Internet Archive, item myst-mac-box-scans License unknown
6 Photo https://archive.org/details/Computer Gaming World Issue 170/page/n55 archive.org License unknown
7 Photo https://archive.org/download/myst proposal/mystisland.png Cyan, Myst Game Design Proposal (1991), scanned by Robyn Miller, Internet Archive item myst_proposal License unknown
8 Photo https://archive.org/download/myst proposal/Cover.png Cyan, Myst Game Design Proposal (1991), scanned by Robyn Miller, Internet Archive item myst_proposal License unknown
9 Photo https://archive.org/download/myst proposal/Selenitic.png Cyan, Myst Game Design Proposal (1991), scanned by Robyn Miller, Internet Archive item myst_proposal License unknown
10 Photo https://archive.org/details/wired-magazine-02.08-1994-august/page/n78 archive.org License unknown
11 Photo https://archive.org/download/myst proposal/Page1.png Cyan, Myst Game Design Proposal (1991), scanned by Robyn Miller, Internet Archive item myst_proposal License unknown
12 Photo D&D Game 1.jpg Philip Mitchell CC BY-SA 3.0
13 Photo https://archive.org/download/myst proposal/Page2.png Cyan, Myst Game Design Proposal (1991), scanned by Robyn Miller, Internet Archive item myst_proposal License unknown
14 Photo https://archive.org/details/from-myst-to-riven/page/n2 archive.org License unknown
15 Photo Comic Mural Tintin, Hergé, Brussels (cropped) (cropped).jpg Ferran Cornellà CC BY-SA 3.0
16 Photo https://archive.org/details/MacWorld 9403 March 1994/page/n79 archive.org License unknown
17 Photo https://archive.org/download/myst-mac-box-scans/Myst2.jpg Myst Macintosh retail box (Brøderbund and Cyan, 1993), scan on the Internet Archive, item myst-mac-box-scans License unknown
18 Photo https://archive.org/details/Computer Gaming World Issue 113/page/n143 archive.org License unknown
19 Photo https://archive.org/details/wired-magazine-02.08-1994-august/page/n77 archive.org License unknown
20 Photo Eesox ATAPI CD-ROM Drive.jpg Chris Whytehead CC BY-SA 3.0
21 Photo https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-003/page/n70 archive.org License unknown
22 Photo Vintage cast iron manhole cover (T7) - geograph.org.uk - 8390218.jpg Chesham United Fan CC BY-SA 2.0
23 Photo https://archive.org/details/ElectronicEntertainment09Sep1994/page/n60 archive.org License unknown
24 Photo https://archive.org/details/Computer Gaming World Issue 125/page/n144 archive.org License unknown
25 Photo https://archive.org/details/bub gb wgsEAAAAMBAJ 2/page/n67 archive.org License unknown
26 Photo https://archive.org/details/MacWorld 9501 January 1995/page/n103 archive.org License unknown
27 Photo https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-006/page/n112 archive.org License unknown
28 Photo https://archive.org/details/NextGeneration23Nov1996/page/n20 archive.org License unknown
29 Photo Silicon Graphics Indigo (1).jpg James O'Gorman CC BY-SA 2.0
30 Photo https://archive.org/details/from-myst-to-riven/page/n6 archive.org License unknown
31 Photo Ibm-pcmcia-scsi-cd.jpg Shelby Jueden CC BY-SA 4.0
32 Photo https://archive.org/download/myst-mac-box-scans/Myst2.jpg Myst Macintosh retail box (Brøderbund and Cyan, 1993), scan on the Internet Archive, item myst-mac-box-scans License unknown
33 Photo https://archive.org/download/myst-mac-box-scans/Myst6.jpg Myst Macintosh retail box (Brøderbund and Cyan, 1993), scan on the Internet Archive, item myst-mac-box-scans License unknown
34 Photo https://archive.org/download/myst-mac-box-scans/Myst1.jpg Myst Macintosh retail box (Brøderbund and Cyan, 1993), scan on the Internet Archive, item myst-mac-box-scans License unknown
35 Photo https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Robyn Miller GDC 2013 (8604248684).jpg Paris Buttfield-Addison, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 License unknown

Music: Myst: The Soundtrack, by Robyn Miller (Cyan, 1995; Virgin Records America, 1998)

Corrections

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