Al Lowe
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Al Lowe, born July 24, 1942, is a musician and game designer of Sierra On-Line mostly known for the creation of the Leisure Suit Larry series.
Lowe began his career teaching public school music for 15 years. After that time, he decided to teach himself programming and in 1982 he created three games for the Apple II: Dragon's Keep, Bop-A-Bet, and Troll's Tale. Sierra Entertainment bought these games in 1983 and Al worked for them as a programmer and game designer for 16 years, which he thinks may be an industry record for longevity.
His first projects include Winnie the Pooh in the 100-Acre Woods, Donald Duck's Playground, and The Black Cauldron, all based on Disney properties.
In 1986, he was lead programmer on King's Quest III and Police Quest I and also created the music for other Sierra games.
He is best known for his Leisure Suit Larry series of games and its infectious theme song, which he composed. After Larry's success, Al also designed other games like Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist and Torin's Passage. Throughout his career, Al was known for his distinctive bald head, full beard, and considerable belly. He liked to call himself "the world's oldest game designer."
In 1994, he moved with his family to Seattle and has supposedly enjoyed retirement since 1998. Al has played saxophone professionally since age 13 and still performs with local jazz bands. He maintains Al Lowe's Humor Site and CyberJoke 3000™, a daily joke mailing list where co-Sierra composer Mark Seibert is also a member.
In a 2006 interview,[1] Al revealed that he was not actually retired, but had spent well over a year secretly designing a new game Sam Suede: Undercover Exposure, an action comedy game developed by iBase Entertainment, which he co-founded with Ken Wegrzyn. In December 2006, Lowe's company iBase Entertainment has been declared closed down and Sam Suede cancelled. Following this setback, Lowe expressed serious doubts whether he'd ever reenter the gaming industry again.[2]
[edit] Trivia
- In several of the Larry games, Larry ends up on a game show. Al Lowe himself also appeared on a game show, having been a contestant on the Jim Lange version of Name That Tune.
[edit] References
- ^ Adventure Classic Gaming (2006). Al Lowe Interview.
- ^ John Callaham (2006-12-01). Interview with Al Lowe following the cancellation of Sam Suede. FiringSquad.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
[edit] External links
- iBase Entertainment Al Lowe's current company
- Al Lowe's Humor Site
- Al Lowe interview at Adventure Classic Gaming, 1997
- CyberJoke 3000™ joke list
- Al Lowe profile at MobyGames
- Profile at Game Writers Conference
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lowe, Al |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | musician and game designer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 24, 1946 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | St. Louis, MO |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
