Leisure Suit Larry Tries His Luck on Kickstarter

[Andy Chalk]

Leisure Suit Larry Tries His Luck on Kickstarter

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Al Lowe and Replay Games want to make Leisure Suit Larry come again!

It's true that I'm getting a little tired of talking about all these videogame Kickstarter projects but this one deserves a mention, I think, if only for its historical significance. Originally released in 1987, buy some candy [http://www.amazon.com/Leisure-Suit-Larry-Lounge-Lizards/dp/B000KF6K8Q/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1333394433&sr=8-8] instead], but Replay Games is now seeking to revive its past glories with help from the man who made it all happen in the first place - Al Lowe.

Not only was Leisure Suit Larry a ground-breaking adventure, as Lowe explains in the Kickstarter pitch video, it also invented shareware - sort of. "We didn't mean to, that's just kind of how it worked out," he says. "Larry was one of the most heavily-pirated games in history. How do we know? We sold more hint books than we sold copies of the game."

Replay's vision for the Leisure Suit Larry remake includes both PC and tablet versions of the game, updated, "ultra-high res" graphics, a modern interface, full voice acting and even more of that "great" Al Lowe humor. If the game is funded, excess cash will be used to pay for additional platforms like XBLA and PSN, localization into other languages, "a live orchestra performing all your favorite Leisure Suit Larry tunes" [I'm not sure if that's serious or not] and more.

The Replay team has actually been at work on the Leisure Suit Larry thing for quite awhile now: Replay announced [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113610-Leisure-Suit-Larry-Creator-Will-Make-Sequels] that a Lowe-powered remake was in the works in October 2011. And while there's presumably already funding in place for the project, a successful Kickstarter could make the long-term plan to remake all the "real" Leisure Suit Larry games and, if they're a success, possibly even create new ones a little easier to realize. Or maybe Al just wants more money. Who knows?

Like all the other Kickstarters kicking around, a pledge of $15 will get you a digital copy of Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards: Reloaded, while higher tiers bring greater rewards: $50 gets a digital "art book," $100 brings a physical copy of the game including a Leisure Suit Larry branded condom [still in wrapper!], $500 gets a signed "Descent Into Madness" special edition of the game with a whole bunch of bonus stuff like a hardcover art book and your name in the credits, and so on.

The Kickstarter [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1451923705/make-leisure-suit-larry-come-again] seems to be going pretty well so far, with a little over $24,000 of its $500,000 goal pledged in just a few hours. So whether you're an old Sierra fan, an adventure gamer with a taste for the "risque" or you just think it's time for Al Lowe to buy a new shirt, now's your chance to step up to the plate and help out. Do it for Larry - do it for love!


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[Lunar Templar]

and here we are reminded ...


not all old games are worthy of new life

 

[roushutsu]

Huh. Didn't think a lot of people still cared about that series. Hell, I forgot all about its existence.

 

[dyre]

Was the first of those games supposed to be actually good? That's news to me

 

[ritchards]

...*wonders if the Kickstarter will be more popular if it was to NOT make another LSL game*...

 

[6SteW6]

hehe Grewly

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

I love all these kickstarters. I hope they work and creative people can directly get paid for their work without having to sell their souls to publishers.

 

[subtlefuge]

Getting kickstarter fatigue already. 'Tis a shame, because it could be such a good tool if only good games were getting the treatment.

 

[karloss01]

Was the first of those games supposed to be actually good? That's news to me

Unsure of how the game would be received, Sierra's management chose to release the game with no publicity or advertising budget. Unsurprisingly, its first-month sales were lower than any new Sierra product launch in years; many large computer chain stores refused to sell it, finding the adult content unacceptable. However, word-of-mouth spread quickly; by year?s end, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards became a critical and commercial success, being named the Software Publishers Association?s "Best Fantasy, Role Playing or Adventure Game of 1987" and selling over 250,000 copies. According to marketing director John Williams, "Obviously lots of retailers were selling lots of Leisure Suit Larry, but no one wanted to admit it." LSL also became one of the most pirated computer games of all time, with some copies even reaching Eastern Europe where it became a hit on university computers in the Soviet Union and elsewhere. Al Lowe estimated that the amount of pirate copies in use exceeded legitimate ones by almost 6 to 1.

from that it sounds it was pretty good. i would guess the writing had to be good to have it succeed, plus Al seems like a nice guy.

 

[Aureliano]

The first game was indeed pretty good. I'm a little weirded out by the fact that it's being remade a second time (VGA version in 1991 was the first remake I know of with markedly different graphics) and nobody seems willing to mention that fact, but if the crew is willing to add a good number of new scenes (and boobs) then I'm on board.

Ultimately I wish the plan was to make LSL 4 though. That game would be brilliant if only because Al Lowe intentionally wrote himself into a corner and I have to know how he would get out of it.

 

[dyre]

Was the first of those games supposed to be actually good? That's news to me

Unsure of how the game would be received, Sierra's management chose to release the game with no publicity or advertising budget. Unsurprisingly, its first-month sales were lower than any new Sierra product launch in years; many large computer chain stores refused to sell it, finding the adult content unacceptable. However, word-of-mouth spread quickly; by year?s end, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards became a critical and commercial success, being named the Software Publishers Association?s "Best Fantasy, Role Playing or Adventure Game of 1987" and selling over 250,000 copies. According to marketing director John Williams, "Obviously lots of retailers were selling lots of Leisure Suit Larry, but no one wanted to admit it." LSL also became one of the most pirated computer games of all time, with some copies even reaching Eastern Europe where it became a hit on university computers in the Soviet Union and elsewhere. Al Lowe estimated that the amount of pirate copies in use exceeded legitimate ones by almost 6 to 1.

from that it sounds it was pretty good. i would guess the writing had to be good to have it succeed, plus Al seems like a nice guy.

Hmm, after reading the rest of the wiki article, it sounds like a humorous dating sim in which you can get killed pretty easily. Sounds alright, though not the sort of thing that would attract a loyal fanbase.

 

[SycoMantis91]

Haven't played the originals, though I'm now tempted to try them. If the games are as humorous as the guy making them, it'd be pretty awesome to see it get a reboot.

 

[Fredrikorex]

"Al Lowe and Replay Games want to make Leisure Suit Larry come again!"

I see what you did there... (it's kind of obvious)

OT: I think I played the game when I was six, I wonder why I didn't get it at the time.
I don't care if a new one comes out, I probably won't play it anyway.

 

[Zhukov]

I've never played a Larry game.

Consequently, all I know about them is that they're well known for something related to boobs.

 

[Aardvaarkman]

The sequels, sadly, grewly increasingly awful, culminating in the disastrous 2009 release...

Grewly??

 

[Formica Archonis]

our own Logan Westbrook recommended that gamers who see it in a bargain bin for a dollar use the money to buy some candy [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/6343-Review-Leisure-Suit-Larry-Box-Office-Bust] instead

I want to thank you for linking to that review. I skipped it first time around because like hell was I buying that piece of crap, but I rather enjoyed the well-deserved jabs Logan aimed at it.

but Replay Games is now seeking to revive its past glories with help from the man who made it all happen in the first place - Al Lowe.

Well, well, well. THIS will be interesting.

IMHO:
Double Fine Adventure was a massive success through the combination of a good developer reputation and an infusion of press caused by Notch's Psychonauts interest.

Wasteland 2 is a massive success because of the same kind of reputation plus the infusion of press from Double Fine's massive success.

Hardcore Tactical shooty shooty bang bang or whatever was almost a failure but somehow managed to pull through via a facelift and some eleventh-hour promotion, from what I hear.

And now, we have something different. A Kickstarter that's:

1) in the same(ish) genre as one of the previous ones,
2) is a game whose initial success was partly-to-mostly from the novelty*,
3) continuing a series that was in toilet several games ago and has been wallowing in ever deeper sewage with each new release.

( *There had been naughty games before, certainly, but this was far more widely available (albeit mostly pirated) and more professional than older fare like Custer's six-pixel wang.)

I wonder, will these things hurt it more than help it?

1) Could go either way. Will people help out something similar to what they've already shown interest in, or will they see it as an also-ran or a frivolous redundancy?

2) Again, could go either way. Will adults want to try relive that teenage-years electric thrill of sneaking looks at stolen/found Playboys? Or will it not interest them now that the excitement of the forbidden is gone and replaced with ubiquity and convenience?

3) Okay, this one's just a pit to dig out of. There's no positive way to spin this except "It won't be like that, we promise."

$100 brings a physical copy of the game including a Leisure Suit Larry branded condom [still in wrapper!]

An odd dilemma: The significant other wants some action but you forgot to buy condoms. The only one easily available is the LSL-branded one. Do you ruin any hypothetical collector or sentimental value it had and use it, ruin an evening of sexy times via lack of protection, or risk ruining both by letting your partner see the thing at any point during the night?

 

[Ewyx]

$100 brings a physical copy of the game including a Leisure Suit Larry branded condom [still in wrapper!]

An odd dilemma: The significant other wants some action but you forgot to buy condoms. The only one easily available is the LSL-branded one. Do you ruin any hypothetical collector or sentimental value it had and use it, ruin an evening of sexy times via lack of protection, or risk ruining both by letting your partner see the thing at any point during the night?

My experience is, that sex takes priority over sentimental condoms.

 

[Formica Archonis]

"Al Lowe and Replay Games want to make Leisure Suit Larry come again!"

I see what you did there... (it's kind of obvious)

I imagine it would be rather difficult for a guy to come without it being obvious.

The sequels, sadly, grewly increasingly awful, culminating in the disastrous 2009 release...

Grewly??

Trewly.

(Good catch! I didn't even see that, and I hinge a great deal of ego on my ability to proofread.)

My experience is, that sex takes priority over sentimental condoms.

Gonna take a sentimental condom,
gonna set my heart at ease.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)