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Most probably imagine Al Lowe’s retirement from game development as a scene from one of his Leisure Suit Larry games. Perhaps he’s being pulled along on a wakeboard by a yacht filled with beautiful women, a la the Love For Sail cover.
However, it seems recent years have been modest and productive, seeing Lowe doing what he does best: being funny. With the recent release of Cyberjoke 3000, bringing his popular mailing list to the iPhone, we couldn’t turn down the chance to chat with him about the platform and what he’s been up to.
Despite technical problems preceding the interview — and ultimately cutting it short — Lowe was jovial, talking about the iPhone, his role as Jokemaster General and making the both of us (and the PR guy listening in on the conference call) laugh.
Can you tell us a bit about Cyberjoke 3000?
No.
No?
Sure, of course.
Cyberjoke started almost ten years ago, because when I got out of computer gaming I had a lot of jokes left over and thought I’d give them all away. I’ve sent out two jokes every morning for about nine years. This summer, I flew to Hollywood, where we recorded with a professional comedian. The wonderful folks at Binarymill put it all together and, luckily, we got through on our first pass.
Really? You’re known for your lewd humor.
No, no problems.
What do you think of the iPhone as a platform?
I think it’s great. I love my ‘Touch’. I don’t have an iPhone yet. I’ll get one as soon as they get released from the grasp of AT&T.
The service is terrible in my area.
How about as a gaming platform?
You know, I think it needs its own ‘sorts of games’, but I think it’s going to be a very successful gaming platform. I think there’s been lots of games… I don’t think there’s been an iPhone game that really sells the platform. It’s a different medium. It’s not the same as a computer, and I think someone will figure it out.
We’ve definitely seen a healthy environment for adventure games on the iPhone.
I’m obviously an adventure game fan, I think the platform is excellent. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more interest in adventure games in the near future.
You have no desire to get back into development?
No, I haven’t developed a game in a long time. The last code I wrote was in 1991. For ten years or so following that I was just a designer, director and producer.
So you pretty much just run your website now?
I’m the sole slave to the website.
Can you send us off with a joke?
No.
No?
No. No, no, no.
Go to allowe.com to sign up on the Cyberjoke mailing list and I’ll send you two jokes a day. Or, visit the iTunes store and search for ‘Cyberjoke’ and [the Cyberjoke 3000] will come up. You can also find it at tinyurl.com/cyberjoke.
[...] Interview: Cyberjoke 3000’s Al Lowe “Recent years have seen Lowe doing what he does best: being funny. With the recent release of [...]