Holy smokes this guy is a ‘huge wow’
Last Sunday on Sup Holmes (also on Libsyn and iTunes) we talked with Oddworld series creator Lorne Lanning… a lot. It’s the longest episode we’ve done, chalking in at almost 2 1/2 hours. I know that sounds like a long time, but it really flew by. On top of that, I think I talked for total of 10 minutes, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Much like his games, Lorne’s brain is an endless landscape filled with surprises, insights, oddities, and brilliance. I hope to go back there soon.
He’s also lived quite a life. I had no idea he worked on an Academy Award winning film, and that his wife helped create the God damn Labyrinth owl. That puts Abe just one degree of creator separation from Jennifer Connolly, Kermit the Frog, and the naked organist from Monty Python. It would be cool to see the those four in the same room someday. I bet they’d get along great.
On top of his sizable body of work, we talked with Lorne on the multiple influences that helped him to birth the Oddworld series, his experience working with (and later rebelling against) the big publisher system, his confidence that VR is on the cusp of going mainstream, why he’s chosen this time to bring back Oddworld, teases of future projects, and a lot more.
He also confirmed that the critically acclaimed Oddworld New N’ Tasty is still in development for all previously announced platforms, and that Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath should be coming to smartphones any time now. Lorne said he’s played through the game twice on his phone already, despite the fact that he doesn’t generally like playing through his own stuff, due to habitual self criticism. As someone who tends to avoid playing more complicated games on touch devices, I was left feeling pretty optimistic about the port. That said, Lorne is so packed with positive energy that I could have just been drunk off of his chutzpah.
Thanks again to Lorne for appearing on the show, and tune in today at 4pm EST when we welcome Dina Abou Karam, community manager at Comcept to the program. We’re going to be giving away new CDs by Mega Man/Mighty Number 9/Shovel Knight/Target Acquired composer Manami Matsumae. Tune in to win (maybe)!
