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Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded creeps to retail October 29
Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded is getting a boxed retail version, which will hit store shelves on October 29. The game is a remake of the first game in the series, and features music by Austin Wintory, the composer of Journey's Grammy-nominated soundtrack. Reloaded earned $655,182 on Kickstarter in May 2012, and launched on digital platforms in June, with the retail version originally being planned for July. Our review of the adventure game found it to be a "relic from a time when the thought of a video game character dropping an f-bomb was simply beyond consideration."
Leisure Suit Larry 'Greatest Hits and Misses' collection now on GOG
Classic PC adventure gaming examples of how not to pick up women have been spritzed with horrendous cologne and dressed up as GOG's Leisure Suit Larry "Greatest Hits and Misses" collection. The $10 pack includes the first five Larry jams, the oldest of which (Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards) comes in both Original and VGA flavors.The release of this collection marks the first time that Larry's adventures have swung both ways, by which we mean "been both PC and Mac OSX compatible," obviously. The collection also includes the 1981 text-based DOS/Apple II game Softporn Adventure, which despite how it sounds, is mostly about navigating a bar and reading newspapers. Not that we've played it or anything.Since this collection's screenshots and trailer are borderline not safe for work, we've decided to err on the side of caution and refrain from hosting them on our family friendly internet blog-o-site. Clicking all up on the source link below will take you where you want to go, if you're into that sort of thing.
La-Mulana, Leisure Suit Larry, more Greenlit on Steam
Twelve more games have made it through the Steam Greenlight voting process, and will be distributed through the store when they are ready. The games succeeding in this fourth round include Akaneiro: Demon Hunters, which is already aiming for a Jan. 24 release date, the remakes of La-Mulana and Leisure Suit Larry, along with Asylum, DLC Quest, Eador: Masters of the Broken World, MaK, The Age of Decadence, Unepic, and War for the Overworld.In addition, two non-game software titles, "game design tool" articy:draft and "modeling app" GroBroto, have been Greenlit.
Austin Wintory's journey to the 2013 Grammys
On the day Grammy nominations were scheduled to be announced, Austin Wintory didn't get much work done. As the composer for Journey, Wintory had an inkling that he might be nominated in Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, and he was distracted all day, constantly refreshing the Grammy page, scanning for his name. By evening the list still wasn't posted and he gave up on trying to focus. He got in his car, determined to go home, make dinner and then check the page again."The instant I got in my car, my email started blinking. Of all people, it was from my friend Christopher Tin, emailing me to say 'CONGRATULATIONS' – in all caps."Tin won the first Grammy for a piece of video game music, Civilization 4's "Baba Yetu," in 2011. He and Wintory had been friends for years. When Wintory saw that email, he quickly called Tin and the subsequent conversation went something like this:"What are you – are you on the website?" Wintory asked Tin. "What's going on?""Yeah, I'm looking right at it! There you are!" Tin replied. And then, after a second, the situation dawned on him. "Wait a minute – you didn't know this already?""No! I'm in my car right now.""Oh, this is perfect."Just then Wintory's phone began buzzing, beeping and possibly sobbing under the barrage of emails, texts and calls from friends and well-wishers. Two weeks later, Wintory agrees with Tin's assessment of events."As fate had it, I heard from Chris himself," he says. "I had no foresight, I had absolutely no plan, and yet in hindsight, I wouldn't have it any other way."
The Game Archaeologist: Steve Nichols' The Realm Online debriefing, part 2
This week we continue our interview with Steve Nichols, one of the original lead developers on The Realm Online. After his work on this pioneering title, Nichols expanded his MMO resume with projects such as the never-seen Middle-earth Online (MEO), the seminal Freelancer, the PvP-centric Shadowbane, and the cult classic Dungeon Runners. These days, Nichols is with Retired Astronaut Collective, continuing to create games for all of us nutty players to enjoy. In this riveting conclusion to our talk on The Realm Online, Nichols discusses the difficulties of the game's promotions, lessons learned from his time on the project, and the sundry secrets of hanky-panky in this early MMO.
The Game Archaeologist: Steve Nichols' The Realm Online debriefing, part 1
It's been called one of "the internet's forgotten games," and yet there are those who will never forget the impact that The Realm Online had in their gaming lives. For some gamers in the mid-'90s, it was the very first taste of a graphical MMO. Though it was little more than two-dimensional cartoon graphics added to the then-standard MUD setup, The Realm Online nevertheless helped to forge a path to the brave new world of MMOs. The Realm, as it was originally called, was a project of Sierra On-Line. Development on the title began in late 1995, with a 1996 beta and launch following soon after. As with other early graphical MMOs, Sierra had little experience or comparisons to draw from while making The Realm but somehow made it work anyway. The resulting game featured a strong emphasis on roleplay, trade, and turn-based combat, although a robust questing experience this was not. Sierra On-Line never fully got behind The Realm, eventually selling it off to Codemasters in the early 2000s, which then turned around and handed off the title to its current operator, Norseman Games. To date, it's one of the longest continuously operating graphical MMOs in existence and can still be enjoyed by today's gamers. We reached out to one of the lead developers on The Realm Online, Stephen Nichols, who agreed to an interview on the condition that we give him a very big horn in a tent. Just kidding; the horn is from his private stock. Let's get to it!
Leisure Suit Larry creator talks dirty about the past and future of the mature series
After seeing success, both Leisure Suit Larry and his creator Al Lowe fell upon dark times. Lowe and his polyester-clad protagonist have lived through the rise and fall of Sierra On-Line, multiple intellectual property changes, and two very poor attempts at bringing Larry to a new generation of gamers."It was like seeing a video from your son's kidnappers!" Lowe told Joystiq. "On one hand he's still alive but it's like, 'Oh God, what are they doing to him!' And it just pained me to watch it happen. You know I put ten years of my life into that guy and he was very good to me."Leisure Suit Larry starred in seven titles under the Sierra banner, turning it into a billion dollar business for founders Ken and Roberta Williams. But success would be bittersweet for both Lowe and the Williams family, as Sierra On-Line found itself ensnared in the middle of a hostile takeover that would evolve into one of most infamous scams in video game business history.
Leisure Suit Larry Kickstarter finishes, towels off with $655K
The HD remake of Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards has concluded its Kickstarter campaign, with $655,182 in contributions left on the nightstand. Another $20,000 more in PayPal contributions were wired for services to be rendered.The remake of the mature-themed sexventure series, about the down-on-his-luck and looking-to-get-down Larry Laffer, reached its $500,000 goal last week.Replay Games, which announced the venture last October, couldn't obtain funding through the regular venture capital channels and went to Kickstarter. Oh, Replay, you didn't have to go through all that effort earlier. Never doubt the internet's desire for smut and pervy puns.
Leisure Suit Larry HD meets its Kickstarter goal
Thanks to backers, Replay Games should have no issue finishing up work on Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards. With only six days left on the Kickstarter campaign, the $500,000 goal has been met.We wonder if somebody dropped the 50 grand to change the "Ken sent me" password? Replay Games has expressed interest in updating other Leisure Suit Larry titles, so we expect to hear about those soon enough – at least, after the folks at Replay finish counting their cash and wrapping up work on Leisure Suit Larry HD.[Thanks, Tom]
Leisure Suit Larry HD seeks a Kickstart
For $50,000, you can alter the "Ken sent me" password in Leisure Suit Larry, which is used to gain access to a room even seedier than the bar to which it's connected. You can forever change it to your own name. This profane act is the most tempting, most outrageous reward tier for a new Kickstarter by Replay Games, to fund continued development of the HD remake of Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards.Replay wants to localize the game into more languages and put it on more devices -- and it has plans for Larrys 2-7 as well -- so it's joined the Kickstarter gravy train to seek $500,000. Other reward tiers offer digital or physical copies of the game, posters, and even Larry-branded condoms.How much do we have to pay in for an updated Laffer Utilities?
Leisure Suit Larry coming in HD next year
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards returns in HD for the series' 25th anniversary in Q4 2012. This will be the second update of the bawdy 1987 Sierra adventure game classic, which went from 16-color EGA art and a keyboard interface to stunning VGA graphics and mouse controls in 1991. EGM reports the update will be handled by Replay Games, with the assistance and blessing of series creator Al Lowe -- something that the most recent entries in the series didn't have. The game is planned for almost every PC, console and mobile digital distribution platform. "I'm overjoyed to see Larry released from his digital dungeon after all this time, and be placed in the hands of someone who understands him and wants to see him, brought back to the forefront by people who love him and understand him," Lowe told EGM. If successful, Replay Games plans to keep on doing the HD updates, and doing them well, working its way through the series' original seven installments (Leisure Suite Larry 4: The Missing Floppies will remain missing). Replay is also planning on new adventures for Larry Laffer in the internet age.
Sierra On-Line games playable on iPad via web app (for now)
It's almost certainly a matter of time before the subject of this post is struck down with an Activision-branded cease and desist, so listen up: Using a bit of sorcery, Sarien.net has made its catalog of Sierra On-Line adventure games (including hits like Space Quest, King's Quest and Leisure Suit Larry) playable on the iPad. To access the games, just visit Sarien's website, pick your game and bookmark it. It's alarmingly easy. Again, we can't imagine Activision smiles upon any of its IPs being distributed so freely and simply, so the games probably won't be available for long. We suggest you get to perp-busting/galaxy-saving/womanizing at your earliest convenience.
Sierra On-Line games hit iPad via web app, those old enough to remember them rejoice
You may or may not be old enough to remember Sierra On-Line, makers of such fine games as Leisure Suit Larry, the King's Quest, and Police Quest, but none of that matters anymore. Thanks to the folks over at Sarien, you now have access to these glorious titles via your iPad's web browser. The entire catalog has been ported over, and the games which were previously available via the web only are now there on your Apple tablet! The whole shebang is now hosted on Amazon's content distribution network, and the games have been extensively tweaked for that multitouch interface. Sarien hasn't apparently been issued a cease and desist from Activision -- owners of the catalog -- yet, so get these free gems of yesteryear while you can.
Al Lowe reveals the 'real' Leisure Suit Larry 8 plot
[Hardcore Gaming 101] You may not remember this, but in the days before Magna Cum Laude, Leisure Suit Larry games were adventure games. And funny. Series creator Al Lowe has revealed what would have been the plot for Leisure Suit Larry 8: Lust in Space, had upheaval at Sierra not prevented it from ever happening. Essentially, Larry is captured by "amazonian warrior women" from a distant planet. They brainwash the perennially behind-the-times loser into believing he's in a disco paradise. Then, they plan to use Larry to father a race of alien-human hybrids to take over the earth. "When he finally woke up, he realized: he had to figure out what was going on, find a way to stop the invasion and literally save the planet!" So why didn't this happen? Sierra tried to hire Lowe to design the game with only a promise that a contract would come later. Considering that the last thing we heard about Al Lowe was that his Sam Suede was being worked on again (without him), and without his knowledge, we believe he was right to be suspicious. [Via Big Download]
Play classic Sierra adventures for free -- with multiplayer
Hopefully this gets to you before the inevitable cease-and-desist: right now, a site called Sarien (named after the antagonists in the original Space Quest) is offering a selection of vintage Sierra adventure games, playable right in your browser. If you've never known Leisure Suit Larry to be anything but a terrible minigame collection, you can check out the real game here, along with Police Quest, The Black Cauldron, and the first two wonderful Space Quest games.As if a free, simple interface for enjoying these games weren't enough, Sarien adds a bizarre twist: (optional) multiplayer. When you go into a game, you'll be surrounded by identical avatars, all playing their own adventures. You can watch them explore and type commands (that's right, typing), or you can provide tips to your fellow players. It can be pretty disorienting to adventure game fans (and creators) but once you get used to the crowd, it's an interesting variation on these old games.[Via What They Play, Offworld]
Leisure Suit Larry creator wasn't consulted on latest game, points out horrible reviews
Al Lowe, creator of Leisure Suit Larry, is just about as happy as a moist fish taco that he hasn't had to experience Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust. Lowe explains on his blog that he wasn't consulted at all about the latest title, which is funny considering the game's executive producer said they were trying to design a game that Lowe would like to play. Lowe also wasn't even sent a review copy -- in fairness, he points out that no advanced copies were sent to press either, "always an ominous sign."The current Metatcritic score is ... holy wow, a 28?! EuroGamer certainly wins the "best jab award" for writing the game is "less erotic than psoriasis." Lowe wasn't happy with Magna Cum Laude either. It's so sad to see how this once titular (don't care if it's the wrong usage, it's punny) sexual series has gone flaccid.[Via VG247]
Trophies: Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust
1 Platinum5 Gold10 Silver14 Bronze Difficulty: Easy Online Trophies? No Time to Completion: 10 hoursDLC Trophies? No View Trophy List Read More About the Game
Watch Carmen Electra and Jay Mohr 'act' in Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust
Codemasters, the recent proud owner and publisher of Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust, recently posted a couple of hard-hitting interviews with two members of the game's impressive voice cast: Carmen Electra and Jay Mohr. Electra, who voices porn actress-turned mainstream ingenue Ginger Vitus, speaks mostly on the importance of the use of innuendo when discussing boobies. Mohr focuses mohr more on his unconventional usage of sweatsocks. Will you find it particularly hilarious? Maybe. Did we specifically write this post so we could include the words "porn" and "boobies," thereby shamelessly boosting our traffic figures? Hell yes, son.[Via VG247]
Wii Fanboy interviews High Voltage on The Conduit (continued)
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/High_Voltage_reveals_gameplay_details_on_The_Conduit'; Stylistically, it's been compared to Half-Life and Perfect Dark. What games have inspired design choices in The Conduit?Rob: One of our goals from the very start was to make a fast-paced accessible FPS. To that end we looked at and stole shamelessly from mega-hits like Halo and Half-Life, recent titles like Resistance: Fall of Man and Metroid Prime Corruption, as well as classics like Goldeneye for the N64. We wanted to pick the best features from these titles, the things that made them fun and memorable and have features like those in The Conduit. Matt: We've done art direction for so many different titles, and we've learned a lot about establishing a strong and cohesive visual style. The Conduit's art direction has come mainly from taking real world styles and locations and combining them with our own alien technology concepts and aesthetic design preferences. I suppose that it looks similar to those other games, but in the end it's The Conduit's own unique premise that has largely driven the artistic vision. When combined with the features that are specific to our engine tech, The Conduit will look stunning by the time it reaches the player's hands.Will there be a calibration option, so we can "aim down the sights?"Rob: One of the things we learned in our development process was that customization of controls is essential to an enjoyable gameplay experience. To that end, we allow players to customize sensitivity, dead zone sizes, as well as control layouts. But, if you mean, can you actually use the iron-sights of your guns, that answer is "not exactly". The reason being that several of our weapons are alien in nature and don't even have iron-sights... but you will have sort of an alien vision mode with some of the weapons.Matt: There'll be on-the-fly, in-game look sensitivity adjustments, as well as a fully map-able control scheme, down to the button, in the game's front end UI. Players will be able to map the game's controls completely to their own liking. There'll even be a couple of alternate control methods for those that don't care as much for the Wii pointer style of directional turning. There'll be lots of options for maximum playability.%Gallery-25003%There hasn't been much word on who the publisher for The Conduit is. Rumor has it, Nintendo is actually going to publish the game. Can you comment on that? Can you announce one at this time?Matt: I can neither confirm nor deny this, senator. ;) All I will say is that thanks to the explosion of interest in this title, we've had a lot of publishers knocking on our door.Control-wise, will there be options for other methods outside of the Wiimote and nunchuk? Will it support the GameCube controller? Classic controller?Dan: There are movement and weapon functions in The Conduit that require the Wii Remote's pointer, accelerometer, depth, and cursor rotation functionality in order to perform. The Conduit isn't your standard ported-over-to-the-Wii style of game. Using the Classic or GC controller kind of defeats the purpose of what we are looking to do.Matt: With The Conduit we want to redefine first person shooter controls. Hard core FPS gamers that have played the game have told me that they are now convinced that Wii is the best system for the genre. When you play it you'll realize very quickly that the Wii Remote is an incredible control device for this type of game. It just feels amazing to play.Rob: I think if you are buying a Wii, you're buying it to make use of its motion sensitive controls, which are tailor made for an FPS game. Aside from the controls, what are the game's strengths that separate it from other existing PC/console FPSes?Rob: I would say that would be the ASE or "All Seeing Eye" device. In game, this piece of hardware allows a player to adjust the "phase state" of things. This makes invisible enemies and hazards not only visible, but able to take damage. It also makes invisible cover and platforms become solid, leading to more gameplay. We also reveal secret puzzle locks that must be solved to get to special weapons.Dan: We've put a solid amount of effort into enemy AI for The Conduit. A pet peeve of mine is single player FPS games where the enemies just stand there getting blasted, and don't seem to be reacting to the world around them. In The Conduit, our bad guys can hear and see, understand the use of cover, have variable levels of aggression, use grenades effectively, advance and retreat, and can determine when the player is susceptible to attack (i.e. reloading, exposed and moving in their firing cone). I think focusing a higher than normal amount of the dev time on AI makes our single player experience better than most other FPS titles out there. Of course, the overall look we're able to achieve with our advanced engine tech is also something the makes The Conduit a superior FPS game IMO.Matt: I think that going back to the Wii Remote, The Conduit has a unique control system that feels more like a VR experience than the typical spring loaded joystick controlled videogame. I also agree that the ASE device offers a unique style of gameplay that hasn't really been seen before in other games. Having the ability to discover and phase useful objects into the environment to assist with combat is a lot of fun. Beyond that, it's just rock solid action all throughout the game. There'll be fierce enemies, bad ass weapons, and white knuckle battles. It's going to be a hell of a lot of fun.Does the game run at 60fps? 30fps?Matt: If we can hit closer to 60, then that will be great! But for right now we are shooting for a steady 30fps, with zero drops in framerate. The whole team swears by the fact that a solid 30fps still feels great. Even our studio's most hard core PC FPS gamers think that The Conduit feels just right at 30fps. The quality will be there, and the game will look and run amazing by the time that it ships.Dan: The game will run absolutely solid at 30fps. For HVS, choice is either to have less visual splendor and run at 60fps or achieve the look we want for the game and run at 30fps. 30fps is a frame rate that is plenty responsive for FPS gaming and we are valuing the increased visual detail we can offer over the slightly smoother gameplay we might otherwise get by scaling this back.High Voltage has made an adventure game/minigame collection for the Xbox (Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, also on PS2 and PC), and now they're making an FPS for the Wii. Is this ironic or strategy?Rob: I like to think it's beautiful strategy. At the time Magna Cum Laude came out, the Adventure game market was woefully barren. So we found a title and a publisher willing to take the risk to revitalize that genre. Now we're trying to do the same thing with FPS's on the Wii. We feel that The Conduit will be like rain in the desert, which seems to be the case judging by the online response.Matt: Diversity is key. We don't like to sell ourselves short by sticking with one genre or style of game. High Voltage knows that it's okay to try new things. We've learned a lot after 15 years working with so many different publishers, developers, and licensors. I could go on about how licensed game restrictions, publisher mandates, and drop dead unmovable release dates ultimately affect the quality of your game, but this project is very different. The Conduit is something completely new for our studio. This game will rock! The company seems very (vocally) confident about the ability of The Conduit to revolutionize Wii gaming. Was it always in the plan to build up so much hype, or was the hype a natural product of enthusiasm? Has the hype been more than expected?Rob: The hype has certainly been more than I expected and I am grateful for it. However, it is a two-edged sword. While the hype has helped give us the pick of litter for a publisher, it does mean we have a LOT to live up to. But I think we are up for the challenge. =)Dan: There aren't many large scale multiplayer games for the Wii at this point, nor any that push the Wii graphics HW to the extent we are. So, from these standpoints – The Conduit will be revolutionary for the Wii gaming market. It is HVS's belief that although there are great FPS games on the 360 and PS3 – what they all lack is the kind of unique motion sensing based control schemes that makes The Conduit for the Wii more fun to play. Giving gamers a great looking, great playing, great controlling FPS title is something we feel is worth hyping!Matt: The plan all along was to maximize the potential of the system, and then build a game that showcases the engine tech and the fun of the Wii Remote. Every developer talks big about their own game, but no one at High Voltage could say for sure how well our audience would react to the screenshots and gameplay video release. We've always just been focused on making a great game, and the result is that The Conduit seems to be building its own hype. And we're very appreciative of all the kind words and support we've received from the Wii community.Is The Conduit sharing tech with Animales de la Muerte? Where did the concept for that one come from? Is it still on track? Really, anything we could learn about Animales de la Muerte would be wonderful.Dan: Animales is using the same engine tech as The Conduit, but in a much different way since it's a 'toon shaded game.Matt: I don't want to say too much more about the title until it's closer to completion, but I will say that it's going to be bloody fun. By the way, much respect to our friends in Mexico. However, screw PETA...no animal in this game is safe!Anything about multiplayer? Many of the folks interested in the game are looking to have some kind of online multiplayer, preferably something on-par with Medal of Honor: Heroes 2. Are you trying to implement Wi-Fi compatibility? Local multiplayer?Dan: We are working closely with Nintendo to be able to provide the kind of multiplayer gameplay that we know the market wants.Matt: Nintendo has been really helping us out with technical support but we still have more questions that will need be answered before we can release any specifics about our multiplayer modes. Obviously we want to be competitive with the other online console games, but we'd rather wait until we've got something great to show off before we make any announcements about this very important feature.Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions! When not writing about games, we enjoy talking to the people that make them. Be sure to check out our interview with Wii mastermind Johnny Lee, as well as our chat with Didian Malenfant from Ready at Dawn on Okami for Wii. Oh, and don't forget our chat with Hudson's Mike Samachisa on Deca Sports.
Game Melody Oratorio Volume Two: More music to our ears
Fresh off his success placing fourth in Neoflash's Spring Coding Competition, homebrew developer Multiple: Option has followed up his Game Melody Oratorio software with a second volume, packing ten songs and new features into the virtual piano update.Here's your chance to learn classic melodies from a diverse set of games: Double Dragon Dr. Mario Duck Tales (a woo woo) Final Fantasy VII Halo Leisure Suit Larry Metal Gear Solid Outrun Streets of Rage 2 Super Castlevania VI Game Melody Oratorio Volume 2's new features include an extra piano key (C3), a new Practice Stage with hidden notes, a new Recital Challenge mode, improved flashcart support, and the ability to preview melodies on the song selection screen. Wow! All that for free![Via DCEmu]
