Actually, the woman you marry winds up tying you to a bed, stealing your money and leaving you. The "final girl"/true love, who appears later, is named Eve and requires nothing but an apple (such are the jokes of the Apple II world). I thought alot about the listservs recent discussions re: journalism vs. academia while writing this piece. It was certainly a new challenge to balance historical accuracy with the tightness, focus and accessibility (and lack of footnotes!) of mainstream journalism, but one I certain encourage others to pursue. And for those that are interested, I had phenomenal support in obtaining some of these images from the folks at the Softalk Apple Preservation project: http://www.softalkapple.com/ <http://www.softalkapple.com/>. If you're looking for some primary documents from the early PC era to throw at a class, you couldn't do better than these folks. Thanks for the circulation, Tom! Laine Nooney www.lainenooney.com ISTC <http://socialcomputing.uci.edu/> @ MCC <http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/> @ NYU <http://www.nyu.edu> Postdoctoral Associate On Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 6:42 PM, Thomas Haigh <thaigh@computer.org> wrote:
Hello everyone,
A teaser on the Onion's AV Club just alerted me that our own Laine Nooney has published a fascinating article in The Atlantic showcasing her work on the history of Sierra Online's early Softporn Adventure (later remade as Leisure Suit Larry). I was lucky enough to comment on this material when she presented it at SIGCIS-sponsored session during the SHOT 2012 meeting in Copenhagen. Laine also served on our workshop organizing committee earlier this year.
http://www.avclub.com/article/read-how-first-erotic-video-game-presaged-cult ure--212483
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/12/the-odd-history-of-the -first-erotic-computer-game/383114/?single_page=true
As Laine explains, the Softporn advertising shoot featured a bounty of naked women (all Sierra employees) in a hot tub with a butler and a computer. In contrast I recall Larry itself, played with my fellow interns during the lunch break at a small computer company in 1990, as curiously reluctant to engage in wish fulfillment or titillation. The pathetic antihero spent the game squandering money in a depressing environment humorously attempting with little success to score. Also no onscreen nudity. Checking an online walkthrough suggests that it was necessary to get married to complete the game! No consequence-free hot tub orgy for you. Also great: her quoted characterization of the computer as a "sexless tool".
Best wishes,
Tom
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