Myst Online: Uru Live looks at the history of Myst going back all the way to 1993! Myst Online: UruLive launches this week.
In anticipation of the February 15th release of Myst Online: Uru Live on GameTap, we take a look back at the history of one of the most famous video game franchises of all time:
September 24, 1993- Designed and directed by brothers Robyn and Rand Miller and developed by Cyan, Inc., Myst is distributed by Brøderbund for the Mac. The game sets a new mark as the best-selling video game ever at the time and ushered in the first-person adventure puzzle game genre.
1995- Hyperion Books releases The Book of Atrus, the first book in the Myst series of novels, set in the same universe as the Myst computer games by Cyan. The Book of Ti'ana and The Book of D'ni, the second and third books in the series, are released in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Making it into the mainstream: In The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror VI, there is a segment in which a 3-D version of Homer Simpson encounters the library from Myst Island.
1997- Brøderbund's RedOrb Entertainment division releases Riven, the sequel to Myst. Riven, which is even larger and more beautiful than Myst, is considered the most mind-challenging chapter in the series.
1998- Virgin label releases Myst and Riven soundtracks, by artist Robyn Miller, in the UK. Selling more than 11 million copies, Myst and its sequels held the title of best-selling computer game of all time throughout much of the 1990s.
2000- Updating the original Myst with the latest technology, realMyst was released featuring realtime 3D graphics. This is the version of Myst that Cyan and the world-famous Miller brothers always wanted to make, but the technology wasn't available at the time. Myst fans could now experience a fully immersive, dynamic world that they could wander through and interact with.
2003- Ubisoft releases Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, the offline version of the planned online game Uru Live, but cancels the online version shortly before it is launched. Since the online version is halted, the offline Uru: Complete Chronicles is released. This special edition includes the original offline game and its two expansion packs, To D'ni and The Path of the Shell, which contain content that had been intended for the online game. To accompany the game, a soundtrack combining an eclectic collection of various rhythms, voices, and moods is also released.
2004- Ubisoft releases the fourth installment, Myst IV: Revelation. Myst fans travel through environments pulsing with life to unearth a treacherous scheme involving two of Myst's most sinister villains.
2005- Ubisoft rolls out Myst V: End of Ages, the fifth Myst installment. Players embark on an epic journey into the heart of a shattered empire as the only explorer who can still save it or destroy it with the wrong choices. Cyan Music Director/Composer Tim Larkin composes the game's original soundtrack with the tell-tale haunting and beautiful sounds that adeptly evoke the Myst series.
2006- GameTap announces it will be publishing Myst Online: Uru Live and opens the door to subscribers to check out the beta version of the game. In conjunction with the beta preview, GameTap launches www.GameTap.com/mystonline, a website that houses videos, podcasts, artwork, forums, wallpaper, game details and a host of other game-related offerings.
February 15th, 2007- GameTap introduces Myst Online: Uru Live, the newest chapter in the Myst story. This title gracefully fuses the social concepts of a traditional massively multiplayer online game with the mystery and problem-solving facets of an adventure game.
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