Myst + iPhone = iMyst, cue iGag over iNaming iScheme

by Kevin Kelly { Aug 22nd 2008 at 8:00PM }

Oh Myst, whatever happened to you? We loved you when you were original, and we loved you even more when Riven came out. Then we were rudely slapped in the face when the game left Cyan and Ubisoft released Myst III: Exile and later Myst IV: Ages of Revelation. We tried to be chipper when you went back to Cyan and Myst V: End of Ages came out, but honestly too much water had passed under the bridge. Maybe because of the Uru: Ages Beyond Myst / Myst Online: Uru Live debacle.

But... what's this? You're coming to the iPhone? And you're being developed by Cyan? Well, glory be. However, you promised as a PSP version, and we're still waiting on that. It came out in Europe in 2006, so what gives? We know your DS version came out recently, but it is not being universally loved.

We know you might be too busy and Hollywood now, with your movie deal and iPhone announcement. But, we're still smarting from our past experiences. We'll give you another chance, but you'll need to hurry along while we're still smitten with the iPhone. And please, don't call it iMyst. Myst will do just fine. You wouldn't want us to get Pyst all over again.

[Update: We just heard from one of the gents working on the game (Yeah, that's the kind of pull we have) and they tell us "I'm pretty darn sure we're only calling it iMyst internally as a goofy moniker. I really doubt you've got anything to worry about with regards to rebranding of the game. Who knows, maybe if it does well, other Cyan games will follow." Good news all around!]

Tags: Apple, Cyan, iMyst, iPhone, Myst, Rand-Miller, Retro

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mr.ESC @ Aug 22nd 2008 8:03PM

Alright first level,ops death battery.

Cody @ Aug 23rd 2008 10:59PM

More like "Whoops dropped another call!!" Stupid ass iPhone, my Dare runs laps around you.

Obie @ Aug 22nd 2008 8:04PM

I could never get into Myst, it bored the SHIT outta me.

giantenemycrab @ Aug 22nd 2008 8:11PM

iPuke.

Mr.ESC @ Aug 22nd 2008 8:13PM

iLol'd

dark_inchworm @ Aug 23rd 2008 1:57AM

FUCK, ESC beat me to it.

+1

Vault @ Aug 22nd 2008 8:38PM

Who gives a crap about Myst? Sure, it was the first of it's kind, but there's a billion better games now.

BigD145 @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:40PM

A billion, you say? Let's see that list. Put up or shut up.

Tiptup300 @ Aug 23rd 2008 2:04AM

Did someone say list wars!?

MTigerV @ Aug 22nd 2008 8:50PM

Hey, I thought 3 and 4 were pretty good actually. No where near the difficulty of Riven, but they still had that great cinematic quality.

Seeing as Myst and Riven were basically really complex hypercard stacks and 3 and 4 were QTVR's why couldn't the whole series be ported?

Zack @ Aug 22nd 2008 9:02PM

Oh man this is pretty awesome.

StuScotsLazyEye @ Aug 22nd 2008 9:36PM

Honestly, if you thought Myst and Riven were boring, bad, or whatever, you seriously need to go back and recheck your definition of a good game, because games aren't made anymore like they used to make games back then. Myst and Riven trump ANYTHING released nowadays, and are considered two of the best games of all time.

Alex K. @ Aug 22nd 2008 9:43PM

I really liked Myst III, am I the only one? It was good especially considering it wasn't even from the same developer.

As for Myst IV, I never finished it, but the cinematic quality was the best out of any of them. Myst V looks to fake and plays like crap. Myst Uru feels too empty and puzzleless (and pointless).

But yeah there's my analysis of the Myst series. Of course I and II were excellent.

Oh yeah, and don't underestimate hypercard, it could do alot of stuff while being relatively simple.

ww3ace @ Aug 23rd 2008 2:26PM

I personally loved myst III, for the same reason I loved myst I: I could beat it without any outside help.

BigD145 @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:40PM

I'll laugh if it uses the DS graphics.

Tim Burns @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:42PM

iname, ename, xname

they all suck

Xoviet chiK @ Aug 23rd 2008 2:36AM

Myst? We had to play Maabus, because this trailer and it's awesome music were just too awesome. Bumdiggydiggydiggybomediggybum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UvB-_n2PN8

Actually, we had been constantly watching the trailer for about 2 years (I think it was on our Microprose "Greatest Shareware of 1995" disc), and luckilly enough we found it at Babages one day while carousing import SEGA Saturn titles. iMaabus, make it happen! This terrible game shall not be forgotten!

Burnt Meatloaf @ Aug 23rd 2008 2:39AM

Yay... pixel hunting with big, fat fingers.

Wiinterfang @ Aug 23rd 2008 10:44AM

Says the big ,bad wolf.

C-Dub @ Aug 23rd 2008 10:14PM

Come on Joystiq Pyst was awesome and you know it. John Goodman deserves every amount of respect from us gamers. Have you ever seen The Big Lebowski? I know that has nothing to do with anything but regardless.... I love that movie.

vidkid7 @ Aug 23rd 2008 6:35AM

If you're pixel hunting in Myst, Riven, Myst III: Exile, or Myst V: End of Ages, you're doing it wrong.

If you're pixel hunting in Myst IV: Revelation... yeah. That game was a pain in the ass like that. Definitely my least favorite.

But I'll stand by that the other four Myst games, as well as it's online game (in both of it's incarnations, and soon to be third...) have been amazing. Myst was simple, but effective... and Riven took Myst and extrapolated it to the nth degree.

Exile was more involved in the overall story than Myst was, but nowhere near the quality of Riven. And Revelation... well, let's just say I've gone through all of the games multiple times, except for that one. I can't bring myself to even look at Revelation again.

End of Ages is a tricky beast. It's a great game with some very clever puzzles, but it's meant to be a conclusion to the story that was started in the original run of Uru Live rather than a final Myst game. So people going directly from IV to V will be very much confused as to what's going on.

Regardless, I absolutely love the first game, and will certainly be picking it up on my iPod Touch. And since Cyan is doing the work, instead of whoever was to blame for the shoddy DS and PSP versions, I trust that it'll play every bit as well as it should.

SkreeHunter @ Aug 23rd 2008 9:02AM

iMyst is when I have a bladder infection.

Jay @ Aug 23rd 2008 10:52AM

but I loved Myst III too :( that marble island puzzle was my single favorite myst puzzle of all time. Overall it maybe wasn't on par with Myst and Riven, but it was still a great game. And the acting was amazing too!! They had Wormtail from LOTR!

Callum Alden @ Aug 23rd 2008 11:35AM

Myst could be really good on the iPhone- if it has a good pause / resume feature I can imagine playing this between bus stops. I don't actually remember completing Myst (could I have really played that on a Saturn?) but Riven required a notebook.

btw, did Pyst ever exist? I remember a feature on 'Games Master' back in the day, thought it was a joke.