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Sierra Entertainment sent out a press release announcing press release announces the return of the Leisure Suit Larry game franchise. Dubbed Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust, the title details the exploits of Larry Lovage, the nephew of former series mainstay character Larry Laffer, as he goes to work on Laffer's movie lot. Lovage first appeared in Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, which was developed by High Voltage Software. The game is being developed by Team 17 (best known for their Worms series of games) but the press release does not mention the involvement of Leisure Suit Larry creator Al Lowe. More details offers this PC.IGN's Q&A with the game's Executive Producer John Melchior:
John Melchior: Al Lowe is not involved with this project, he created this franchise over twenty years ago and it's still going strong. I think with regards to this particular title we really want to go back to the style of humor that made this character and universe great. Taking it back to its roots and updating the gameplay has been the focus from the start. Hopefully when Al plays this game he cracks a smile and laughs a little knowing we did right by the franchise.
IGN: Would you describe this as an adventure game? If so, what do you think makes a good modern adventure game?
John Melchior: LSL is most certainly an adventure game. I think a good adventure game is when you can make player "lose time". We want them to look up at the clock and be shocked at how long they have been playing. We design these styles of games to flow smoothly through the story and entertain all the way. Great mechanics combined with dialogue and stories that keep the player wanting to see what is next, "will they take this gag farther?" or "what possibly could be next?"
IGN: How naughty is too naughty? How do you gauge what is appropriate for a LSL game these days?
John Melchior: I think the last game was built on jokes and dialogue that was just trying to "shock" the player. We are trying to create an American Sex Comedy in the style of American Pie, Superbad and Animal House. A good solid story, clever set ups and great pay-offs with dialogue and gameplay. I have always been a believer that Nudity is a mask for poor gameplay. There is no Nudity in this version of Larry, in the old days it was "Taboo" to see nudity in games but now people are just a google search away on the internet, it has lost the "cool" factor it once had. We gauge everything in this game on how far we can push the humor without going overboard into offending anyone. We walk the line a lot in this game and it pays off. I think the last game Larry came across a little too predatorily, not the lovable loser he is. It seemed that in the last game he was Sweet Tea and Chris Hanson away from being on Dateline. Larry is a perv, that is for certain but he always needs to come across as the lovable loser. At his core he is a very nice guy who just wants a piece of the action, literally.