[remixor]

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure...w_6086364.html

Some parts were reassuring, but on the whole it has me a bit worried...

I didn't see this on the AG front page or the forums, but I haven't had time for the forums much lately, so apologies if I'm repeating information.

[mycroft]

It is not a case of we already hate your game, but I feel a little disappointed. Hell, even Marweas' little entry was more encouraging than this. It may turn out to be a good game nonetheless. Just not a good adventure game. Anyway, it still is too early to come to conclusions such as this. From this miniscule piece of information, I get the idea that LSL:MCL is some sort of 'chick sim' with minigames thrown in. Not what I would an adventure game. Also, as an amusing observation, note that the guy didn't even say the word adventure in the two page entry. The Sims, is of course another story. This, obviously , has no relevance whatsoever yet I found it rather amusing.

[remixor]

Well, it sounds like they're steering pretty clear of a lot of the influence of The Sims. Most of the stuff that worries me is that they're going out of their way to be as deliberately and ridiculously offensive as they possibly can. The ending quote was particularly disappointing to me, and considering some of the games that have come out in the last few years I do hope he's exaggerating. Certainly by the time the series got to LSL7 there was a good deal of explicit material in the games (as opposed to mainly innuendo, of which there was still plenty of course), but I'm not really sure Al Lowe's goal was just to go out and there and be as offensive as he possibly could be.

[mycroft]

Originally Posted by Tom Smith

In fact, based on what we have right now, I'm quite positive this will be the most offensive game ever. What red-blooded American game designer wouldn't be proud of that?

Hmm...
This sounds a bit arrogant to me. As if they expect (want ?) it to be a controversial game. And controversy sells.

Yeah, I'm sure that Al would definitely be against any offensive material. I read the design docs and almost everywhere he had hinted that the visuals be arousing yet not lewd or inappropriate. And I think that the developers being fans of Larry was all PR crap. Do I think that they're about to turn Larry into a porn fest ? I still feel it is a little too early to be coming to any conclusions, but comments like that are certainly not helping.

[charybdis]

"I'm quite positive this will be the most offensive game ever. What red-blooded American game designer wouldn't be proud of that?"

That's really stupid, and even thinking it shows a fundemental lack of understanding. The Larry games were almost completely inoffensive, bar a handful of distasteful, if basically off-screen scenes (the gynacologist in LSL5 and the death of the old man in LSL7 are the only real ones I can think of). The rest is very much Carry On humour rather than Farelly gross-out fare, and that's largely why it managed to acquire around a 25% female fan-base, despite being constantly rubbished as a puerile, boys only girl-get game by the press and general game community. Rather than just a comedy adventure series about a pathetic guy trying to get laid.

"Certainly by the time the series got to LSL7 there was a good deal of explicit material in the games (as opposed to mainly innuendo, of which there was still plenty of course)"

There wasn't that much, really, and crucially it was all intended to be funny - the gaming equivalent of the hotel scene at the end of Austin Powers, with a couple of drugs jokes thrown in for free. There isn't even any real graphic nudity, save Larry's, unless you punch in an Easter Egg, despite one of the girls being a nudist and another losing at Strip Liar's Dice.

[Erwin_Br]

"I'm quite positive this will be the most offensive game ever. What red-blooded American game designer wouldn't be proud of that?"

Ha! As if it takes much to offend people in a country where they even censor a middle finger on TV or bleep out the word 'shit'.

--Erwin

[eriq]

Originally Posted by mycroft

Hmm...
This sounds a bit arrogant to me. As if they expect (want ?) it to be a controversial game. And controversy sells.

Yeah, I'm sure that Al would definitely be against any offensive material.

I agree. Larry has never been "offensive". There was always a cartoony touch to everything.

[Tamara]

In a not unrelated tangent..

From Al Lowe's site:

January 12, 2004
Today I received a phone call from VU's Eric Hayashi, Executive Producer of the new Larry game. He said that there had been "considerable turnover" of people involved and they were regrouping. He also said they wanted to restart negotiations with me in order to get me involved, possibly as early as next week. Stay tuned to this page.

[remixor]

I have doubts as to how much creative control Al Lowe is ever going to get on this game, but that is definitely welcome news to me.

[Erwin_Br]

Originally Posted by remixor

I have doubts as to how much creative control Al Lowe is ever going to get on this game, but that is definitely welcome news to me.

Heh, you must've read my mind. Either that, or you read my message in this neglected thread

--Erwin

[fov]

It may come as a bit of a surprise to hear that the original idea for the new Leisure Suit Larry was pretty much a knockoff of The Sims.

Actually, it's not a surprise at all. Ever since this game was announced, it's been screaming "Lookit... we're capitalizing on Larry because we can't come up with an original idea to save ourselves!" And this article confirms it.

This is not an adventure game. Adventure games start with STORIES. As far as I can tell, this game doesn't have any sort of a story behind it whatsoever. "Talking to girls" is not a story.

I asked before, and I'll ask again... WHY does this game have to have the Larry name on it? Initially they didn't even want Larry to be a character. Then they decided he would be. Then they decided it would take place on a college campus and would consist of college-themed minigames (all of which, by the way, I've already played... in COLLEGE... and they were only fun then because I was hammered). Then they decided it wouldn't star Larry after all. Why? Because he's too old for college.

Fine, make a college game if you want, don't give it any point whatsoever, and put it out on consoles. You'll probably make a lot of teens and twenty-something guys very happy. But WHY call it a Larry game when it's clearly not?

(Oh yeah, because adventure gamers are dumb enough to buy anything with a franchise name slapped onto it, regardless of the fact that the game lacks any of the elements that would make it an adventure... like STORY.)

Okay, I'll stop now.

-emily

[Kolzig]

Originally Posted by fov

I asked before, and I'll ask again... WHY does this game have to have the Larry name on it?

I really would like a name change for this game, but a game that has no Leisure Suit Larry name on it's package will not sell as well as a "LSL sequel". So the name change will never happen.

[Deshrill]

I thought the latest Designer Diary on Gamespot was pretty interesting... I'm in college right now myself studying game design, so it's a bit refreshing to hear that the designers tried out various prototype. How the mini-game packed approach is going to work is up to anyone's guess because the game isn't actually out yet.

Even more interesting is the recent update on Al Lowe's site. Vivendi Universal, the company that owns Sierra On-line (or Sierra Games, whatever it's called now), has been having financial problems lately, requiring restructuring in a lot of the video game companies they own. While I'm pleased that Sierra is trying to get Al Lowe onboard, I hope the game doesn't end up cancelled as a lot of recent attempts to revitalize classic adventure game franchises has (Space Quest 8, LucasArts' Full Throttle 2, etc.).

[redhotray]

That was part of the mystique and the drawing power of the Leisure Suit Larry games. The games stank of innuendo, and in reality, you never saw anything except for busty racks and tight butts, and Larry drooling a lot!

There is an age old saying that rings very true here, 'Less is more', and from what you guys have been saying, this sounds like Lulu revisited for the 21st century than a Leisure Suit Larry game.

It's not a very promising beginning, I must be honest. However, it is very early to be judgemental, and so I'll remain as objective as I possibly can.

Yet, it makes one wonder just what has the influence of Grand Theft Auto, and games similar in taste to it, have done to the minds of not only the game developers but the GO public themselves.

After all, from the guys own lips...'Controversy sells!'

[Jake]

While I can't say that was the most reassuring thing ever, it does at least sound like they're trying. Its sad that they started out with a knockoff of The Sims, but it sounds like they've very much deviated from that since, and maybe at least somewhat learned their lesson about making a story-based game out of it (the "wait we forgot to actually plot the game around what Laryr would do, so we went back and re did things" bit in there is what I'm referring to).

[Deshrill]

Redhotray, you're absolutely right on suggestiveness being part of the Larry games. I agree with the "less is more" theory in some respects; even with nudity this can be the case (not quite seeing everything can be more erotic than seeing a nude figure).

Controversy sells, more specifically controversy with sex, violence, and religion (although not a combination of all three, although that could work as well). If you these two examples of box art for a game, which would you pick: a business man sitting in a cubicle eating some Fritos or a business man leering at a busty secretary wearing a silk red dress?

I think Grand Theft Auto has been both good and bad for the game industry. On the positive side, the open-ended gameplay (you can complete missions, but you can also drive around exploring the city) has been influencing other games to have more dynamic game worlds (the new Spider-Man game for the PS2 looks GTA influenced in this regard). On the negative side, the immense violence of the GTA series makes companies think that you can do a game where you can run around shooting civilians and it will sell well; this is not always true, because I think it is the gameplay that is the most important part of a product.

However the new LSL game turns out, I'll be interested in renting it, at least.

My favorite of the old LSL games would be LSL 3. Being able to play the second half of the game as Patti was a great idea and livened up the game. I never got to play LSL 7, though most people I've talked to liked it a good bit.

[eriq]

Larry is shaping up pretty nicely actually. I just love this screenshot. It looks like they're adding more detail to the textures at this stage.

[remixor]

Yeah, it's shaping up pretty nicely in the visuals department. As I may have implied in my AG news post today, though, I'm slightly worried that the team is going out of their way to just be as offensively hilarious as possible, which doesn't really automatically capture the essence of LSL. Their conversation engine sounds pretty intruiging, however. Let's hope it isn't wasted on bland dialogue.

[Cellardoor]

What I think is most interesting about the diary is the screenshots... Take a look at the control panels. They appear to have replaced the previous ones with what looks like "eye", "hand", and "mouth" icons, much like in the SCI-1 Sierra games.

[fov]

I think you'll be amazed when you see how much bizarre and funny stuff we've packed into every environment. The levels are funny, the characters are funny, the minigames are funny, the new sound volume control sliders are funny...

Notice how many times they use the word "funny" in this article? Almost as if they're trying to convince us of something...

But I have to say my favorite line is this one:

I think it's a real testament to the team, both artists and designers, that each of the 15 main girls in the game is so interesting and unique. You're going to have a great time chasing after them when you get your hands on the finished product.

Know what's funny? (ack... now they have me saying it...) Even though I'm a girl (a straight one!), I enjoy the Larry games. Those games are about getting the girl... and there's a challenge in that. But there's a difference between trying to get the girl, and just chasing after them. Chasing girls doesn't sound like fun to me... it sounds like something Kindergartners do on the playground.

Ugh.

-emily