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{{shortShort description|American video game designer (born 1946)}}
 
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Al Lowe
|image = Al Lowe! 3 3 (9559468220).jpg
|caption=Lowe at [[Gamescom]] 2013
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1946|07|24}}
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==Career==
===Teaching, early programming===
[[File:Al Lowe on programming the monorail in Leisure Suit Larry II (1989).mp3|thumb|Al Lowe on programming the monorail in Larry II (Interview 1989)]]
Lowe began his careerworking life teaching [[Public school (government funded)|public school]] music for 15 years. AfterHe thattaught time,himself heprogramming decidedduring toa teach[[Sick himselfleave programmingin the United States|sick leave]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.superjumpmagazine.com/al-lowe-reflects-on-leisure-suit-larry/ | title=Al Lowe Reflects on Leisure Suit Larry | date=August 2019 | publisher=SuperJumpMagazine.com | accessdate=2024-11-07}}</ref> He quit teaching and pursued a career in programming. In 1982 he created three [[Videovideo game|games]]s for the [[Apple II family|Apple II]]: ''Dragon's Keep'',<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rS8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA39 | title=Dragon's Keep, learning game for first graders | magazine=InfoWorld | date=October 24, 1983 | volume=5 | issue=43|access-date=June 14, 2016 | author=Lucas, Jay | pages=39 |quote=Dragon's Keep is a graphic adventure originally designed by Al and Margaret Lowe and Micheal and Rae Lynn MacChesnet ... Originally they worked under the corporate name of Sunnyside Soft.}}</ref><ref name="InfoWorldBop">{{cite magazine| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA16 | title=Neighbors from game-software firm | magazine=InfoWorld | date=January 17, 1983 | volume=5|issue=3|access-date=June 14, 2016 | author=Mace, Scott | pages=16 |quote=The company is Sunnyside Soft, which last month released two educational games for the Apple, Dragon's Keep and Bop-A-Bet. ... Al Lowe is head programmer}}</ref> ''[[Bop-A-Bet]]'',<ref name="InfoWorldBop"/> and ''[[Troll's Tale]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.digitpress.com/library/newsletters/arcadeexpress/arcade_express_v1n18.pdf | title=SIERRA GOES ON LINE WITH SUNNYSIDE SOFT | magazine=arcade express | date=April 10, 1983| volume=1 | issue=18 | pages=3 |quote=Sierra On-Line has acquired the product line originally developed by Sunnyside Soft. ...The three educational programs developed by...are 'Bop-A-Bet', 'Dragon's Keep' and 'Troll's Tale'}}</ref> He was on ''[[Name That Tune]]'' in the 1984–85 season and was a semifinalist in one of that season's Tournaments of Champions.
 
[[Sierra Entertainment]] bought these games in 1983 and Lowe worked for them as a programmer and game designer for 16 years. His first projects included ''[[Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood]]'', ''[[Donald Duck's Playground]]'', and ''[[The Black Cauldron (video game)|The Black Cauldron]]'', all based on [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] properties. Later, he was lead programmer on ''[[King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human|King's Quest III]]'' and ''[[Police Quest|Police Quest I]]'' and also created the music for other Sierra games. Lowe is best known for his ''[[Leisure Suit Larry]]'' series of games. After Larry's success, Lowe also designed other games such as ''[[Torin's Passage]]'' and ''[[Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist]]'' (with [[Josh Mandel (video game designer)|Josh Mandel]]). Throughout his career, Lowe was known for his distinctive bald head, full beard, and considerable [[beer belly]], and liked to call himself "the world's oldest game designer". ''[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]'' listed Lowe in their "75 Most Important People in the Games Industry of 1995", chiefly for the ''Leisure Suit Larry'' series.<ref>{{cite journal|title=75 Power Players|journal=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=11|publisher=[[Imagine Media]]|date=November 1995|page=51}}</ref>
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[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Sierra On-Line employees]]
[[Category:VideoAmerican video game composers]]
[[Category:VideoAmerican video game writers]]
[[Category:American voice directors]]
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