Al Lowe returns to videogaming
By Michael Lafferty

Famed Leisure Suit Larry creator has a new project, new company

“A funny thing happened on the way from Sierra Entertainment,” said Al Lowe, during a press event held Tuesday night in Los Angeles during the E3 press events.

Kohnke Communications was the host, but the focus was on iBase Entertainment and Al Lowe.

Now, if you don’t know who Al Lowe is, and are not familiar with the original Leisure Suit Larry titles, then you are relatively new to gaming. Leisure Suit Larry, in the original form, was smart, tongue-in-cheek humor that tickled on many levels.

iBase’s Ken Wegrzyn had an idea for a new game and Al Lowe was approached. He liked the idea and said, ‘get me a couple of million dollars and I will make the game.’ A couple of million dollars later and Sam Suede: Undercover Exposure began development.

The story is a simple one. Sam is a fan of detective fiction and goes to Ecstasy Island to take part in a fantasy detective camp sort of thing. While there, a murder actually occurs and Sam is called in to help on the case.

“I want to do to action games what I did to adventure games,” Lowe said during a humor-filled introduction to the rudiments of the game. “It’s the same old puzzles you have seen in other games, except with a twist.”

Although a level was shown, details of the game were very sketchy – including projected release dates and platforms. The event, while it was to announce the new project, was more about Lowe re-entering the video-game business than it was about the game. What was seen, though, was highly irreverent and poked fun at a lot of modern pop culture icons.

And, as Lowe stated, “it’s good to be back.”

del.icio.us | Digg This | Glink It

---