Presto Studios was a

computer game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

development company of the 1990s. The company is notable for its award-winning series ''

The Journeyman Project ''The Journeyman Project'' is a series of award-winning first-person science fiction adventure games, created by Presto Studios and released by various publishers, including Bandai, Sanctuary Woods, and Red Orb Entertainment. Plot The central ...

'' as well as '' Myst III: Exile, the'' 2001 sequel to

Cyan Cyan () is the color between green and blue on the visible spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength between 490 and 520 nm, between the wavelengths of green and blue. In the subtractive color system, or CMYK color ...

Myst ''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 in 1993. In the game, the player's character t ...

series. In August 2002, Presto Studios shut down new development after the release of the Xbox title '' Whacked!''. In a statement, Greg Uhler (executive producer) announced the closing of the company:

Due to business, financial, and personal reasons, Presto Studios is discontinuing software development. Whacked! for the Xbox will be the last product that we ship. The company will remain as a corporate entity for many years, but will not be developing products. A minimal staff, including Michel and myself, will be here until the end of October.

Closure of the company

'' Whacked!'' for Xbox was Presto Studios' final title before closing its doors shortly afterward. Though still in decent financial shape, Presto was facing an uphill challenge in the transition from the PC to console game market. The directors of the company anticipated a rapidly shrinking PC game market and decided to close the company while it was ahead. A significant number of the creative staff moved on to high-profile roles in motion picture and animation production.

Games

*''Hi-Rez Audio Volume 1'' (1992,

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

) *''

'' (1993, Macintosh,

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

) *'' The Journeyman Project Turbo!'' (1994, Macintosh, Windows) *'' The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time'' (1995, Macintosh, Windows) *'' The Journeyman Project: Pegasus Prime'' (1997, Macintosh, Windows,

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

) *'' Gundam 0079: The War for Earth'' (1997, Macintosh, PlayStation, Windows) *'' The Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time'' (1998, Macintosh, Windows) *''Beneath'' (cancelled, scheduled for 1999 release) *'' Star Trek: Hidden Evil'' (1999, Windows) *'' Stephen King's F13'' (1999, Macintosh, Windows) *'' Myst: Masterpiece Edition'' (2000, Macintosh) *'' The Journeyman Project 4: Resurrection'' (cancelled, scheduled for 2000 release) *'' Myst III: Exile'' (2001, Macintosh, Windows,

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

) *'' Whacked!'' (2002, Xbox)

''Beneath''

''Beneath'' is a third-person

action-adventure game The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...

developed by Presto Studios that was scheduled to be published by

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, but was cancelled. In 1906, Jack Wells travels to the Arctic in search of his father, who has gone missing on an archeological expedition. The exploration leads underground into a vast subterranean world. The 3D game engine was to feature 16-bit graphics and

hardware acceleration Hardware acceleration is the use of computer hardware designed to perform specific functions more efficiently when compared to software running on a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU). Any transformation of data that can be calcula ...

References

External links

Presto Studios ArchivesPresto Studios
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...

Tommy Yune on history of The Journeyman Project
at Adventure Classic Gaming {{Authority control Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game companies established in 1991 Video game companies disestablished in 2002 Video game development companies Companies based in San Diego County, California 1991 establishments in California 2002 disestablishments in California