Al-Lowe
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Journey composer Austin Wintory writing score for Leisure Suit Larry
We can't think of two games that could possibly be more disparate from one another than Journey and Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, but we apparently live in the wackiest of all possible universes because Journey's Grammy-nominated composer Austin Wintory will also be lending his talents to Larry's upcoming adventure. Weird."That's my era as a gamer growing up," Wintory told Polygon. "This was like a fantasy to work on a game like that." Leisure Suit Larry creator Al Lowe confirmed with Wintory that he was okay with writing "seedy, back alley kind of stuff" before finalizing the deal, so we probably shouldn't expect the same sort of grand, sweeping orchestral majesty that Wintory penned for Journey, as heard above.Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards is slated to really class up the joint sometime next year.
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 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.
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]
Apogee and Icarus Studios resurrect Sam Suede [update]
[iBase Entertainment] Apogee and Icarus Studios have announced a new "action comedy" game called Sam Suede in Undercover Exposure. No platforms were noted, but Icarus's past developments have all been PC-based (with the exception of Dexter on iPhone). In fact, nothing at all was said about the content of the game other than the title and a characterization as a "comedic twist on the action-adventure genre." If the title sounds familiar, you're probably an adventure game nerd. Leisure Suit Larry creator Al Lowe was working on a game with the exact same title, which was cancelled in 2006 when developer iBase Entertainment shut down. The fact that a new company has announced that it will complete the title should be encouraging to Lowe fans -- but the fact that the legendary Sierra game designer's name is mentioned nowhere in the announcement is probably not so encouraging. Update: Al Lowe told Big Download that "This is the first I've heard of it," wondering "who's going to finish the design and add the humor?"
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]
Happy belated birthday to (Leisure Suit) Larry Laffer
Larry Laffer, better known as Leisure Suit Larry, turned 20 years old yesterday. Sadly, like many child stars, he didn't have a huge celebration. It merely passed with a statement by his father, Al Lowe, in his daily joke.Lowe writes, "Today is the 20th anniversary of Leisure Suit Larry. On June 4th, 1987, LSL1: Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards shipped ...to the lowest sales of any game in the history of Sierra! I assumed I had just wasted six months of my life and immediately started work on Police Quest I with Jim Walls and Greg Rowland. We worked long hours while, unknown to me, each month Larry's sales doubled. A year later, Larry was in the Top 10 and soon after that was number one. So lift a glass with me to my dear departed friend, Mr. Laffer! Together we had one hell of a decade of great times."Although Mr. Laffer will be appearing in some upcoming mobile games, it'll be hard to recapture his glory days where he taught young boys around the country lessons about the opposite sex. Oh well, although Lowe thinks Larry is dead, we do hope that one day -- and soon -- a Leisure Suit Larry game will return the series to raunchy greatness.
