Myst and Good Ol' Text
In addition to sound, video, still images, Myst uses traditional text: the player may find him/herself examining a bookcase in one of the many rooms. While most of the books are burned and unreadable, several still contain crucial information for completion of the game.
Myst is unique in that by using this form of the traditional book, it calls attention to the 'textness' of such a medium. With hypertext, simple text (words displayed on the screen) is only one choice of many. Such a choice forces the reader (player) to question why such information is in text form.
So, why?
Screeen Shots