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Pyst
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==Development== The basic concept of ''Pyst'' was to show what Myst Island (from the best-selling game) would look like after four million people (that game's players) had visited and "explored".<ref name="BusinessWire19971021" /> ''Pyst'' developer and comedian [[Peter Bergman (comedian)|Peter Bergman]] wanted to give ''Myst'' players the ability to "'experience the island in a whole new light".<ref name="BusinessWire19971021" /> Palladium President Ed Bernstein wanted the game to be a "transformative work that moved way beyond ''Myst''", in order to avoid copyright issues with ''Myst'' publisher Broderbund, on the grounds of the new game being a parody work.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Popular-Myst-Proves-Fair-Game-for-Parody-2963172.php|title=Popular 'Myst' Proves Fair Game for Parody|access-date=September 11, 2016|date=1996-10-10|first=Laura|last=Everson|work =[[San Francisco Chronicle]]}}</ref> A spokesman from Broderbund said the company was unfazed by the project, commenting: "We've seen imitators and they usually just give us a good chuckle".<ref name=":1" /> Bergman discovered that the sense of comic timing he had for his live shows couldn't be replicated in the digital realm, and he had to adapt accordingly.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/creatingdigitalc00john|url-access=registration|title=Creating Digital Content|last1=Rice|first1=John|last2=McKernan|first2=Brian|date=January 1, 2002|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=9780071377447|language=en}}</ref> Firesign Theatre website ''Firezine'' said that the game was illustrative of Bergman's ability to "survey America's culture and obsessions like a maniacal monitor reflecting the absurdness of it all, while casting his iconoclastic eye to read the entrails of the present coarse and our delirious future".<ref name=":3" /> Bergman collaborated with David Ossman, Phil Proctor, Melinda Peterson, sound designer Ted Bonnitt and other players from his ''Radio Free Oz'' show to produce the game. In addition, he hired Mike Sansonia to create the game's music, while Ted Bonnitt directed mouth-sound-effects artist Fred Newman to record voice tracks to blend with recorded sound effects. The effect was to create a sound design with distinct, comedic character.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.firezine.net/issue1/fz1_05.htm |title=FIREZINE #1: Bergman Gets PYST Off |website=www.firezine.net |access-date=September 11, 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010127163600/http://www.firezine.net/issue1/fz1_05.htm |archive-date=January 27, 2001}}</ref> [[John Goodman]] plays "King Mattruss", the ruler of "Pyst Island". The 2004 book ''Game Work: Language, Power, and Computer Game Culture'' noted that this was an example of the then-recent trend of famous actors starring in digital movies within games.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/gameworklanguage0000mcal|url-access=registration|title=Game Work: Language, Power, and Computer Game Culture|last=McAllister|first=Ken S.|date=January 1, 2004|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=9780817314187|language=en}}</ref> Goodman and Bergman had worked together in radio, while Goodman also had appeared on the ''Proctor and Bergman Comedy Service'' series prior to ''Pyst''.<ref name=":3" /> The game also includes an original song, "I'm Pyst", performed by Goodman and written by Bergman.<ref name="schwartz" /><ref name=":4" /> ===Release=== Before the game's release, Bergman and the Parroty Interactive marketing department were both secretive about game-related information; Bergman said that this was unusual experience for him.<ref name=":3" /> The game was originally planned for release on October 15, 1996.<ref name=":3" /> Released for Christmas 1996, ''Pyst'' remained on the CD-ROM best-seller list through 1999, according to the ''Official Millennium Survival Handbook''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mocDD2SFyZMC|title=Official Millennium Survival Handbook: Don't Wait Till the End of the World to Get It|last1=Bergman|first1=Peter|last2=Samson|first2=David|last3=Rudnitsky|first3=David A.|date=February 1, 2001|publisher=SP Books|isbn=9781561719952|language=en}}</ref> The game was "highly successful";<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.firesigntheatre.com/fstonweb/cosmik_firesign/ft-act1.html|title=Firesign Theatre Interview (Cosmik Debris)|website=www.firesigntheatre.com|access-date=September 11, 2016|archive-date=April 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410165941/http://www.firesigntheatre.com/fstonweb/cosmik_firesign/ft-act1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> in 1997 Palladium's vice president of marketing Rob Halligan said that ''Pyst'' was "tremendously successful last Christmas and continues to sell well".<ref name="BusinessWire19971021" /> A [[Mindscape (company)|Mindscape]] press release issued through ''[[Business Wire]]'' said the game was the "top-selling parody product of 1996", selling over 200,000 copies worldwide.<ref name="BusinessWire19970508" /> There was a website extension to the game, which allowed players to further interact with the game by "download[ing] updated video and audio clips and chat[ing] with other ''Pyst'' aficionados",<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Labriola|first=Don|date=March 1, 1997|title=You've obsessed over Myst, now chill out with Pyst.|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19135477.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008194555/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19135477.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 8, 2016|journal=Computer Shopper}}</ref> the game being the first product by Palladium to include [[Dial-up Internet access|dial-up access]] to [[AT&T WorldNet Service]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Palladium+Interactive,+Publisher+of+the+Blockbuster+Parody+PYST,+Inks...-a018845421|title=Palladium Interactive, Publisher of the Blockbuster Parody PYST, Inks Deal with AT&T WorldNet Service; Beginning with PYST, Palladium to Utilize AT&T WorldNet Service on all its CD-ROM Products. β Free Online Library|website=www.thefreelibrary.com|access-date=September 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151206075506/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Palladium+Interactive%2c+Publisher+of+the+Blockbuster+Parody+PYST%2c+Inks...-a018845421|archive-date=December 6, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Hal Josephson, executive producer for ''Pyst'', said that there were few business models at the time for how to make money online.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K-JUAAAAMAAJ&q=%2522Pyst%2522+%2522myst%2522|title=Communication Arts|date=January 1, 1997|publisher=Coyne & Blanchard|language=en}}</ref> In 1998, after Parroty's acquisition by The Learning Company, Palladium founder and chief executive officer Ed Bernstein said that "it was a fun business, but not terribly lucrative".<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Learning-Company-Acquires-Again-Palladium-makes-2975919.php | title=Learning Company Acquires Again / Palladium makes genealogy software | date=December 1998}}</ref>
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