A copy of the On-Line Systems' 1981 Apple II game Softporn Adventure is about to sell on eBay, and you could still be the one to walk off with it!
On-Line would go on to become Sierra, and Softporn Adventure is commonly held up as a precursor to the publisher's more well-known sexytime adventure Leisure Suit Larry. Softporn Adventure is a text adventure in which your protagonist moves through seductive settings like a bar and a casino while trying to woo three separate women.
The current leading bid is… $304. Dang. A Steam sale, this is not. [Update: The auction is over, and the game sold for $810. Hopefully one of you snagged it!]
The game is available for free from Abandonia , which raises the question: Why are people willing to pay so much for the hard copy?
In this case, the raised price is almost certainly due to the packaging and cover art, which features three ladies and a gent hot-tubbing it. It's pure 70's 'stache-porn, straight out of Boogie Nights. But what's notable about the cover isn't so much the risqué nature, but the fact that the woman on the right side of the tub is famed (and at the time, future) Sierra owner and game designer Roberta Williams.
The cover is campy fun, and I can see why it's a collecter's item. As much as its an homage to cheesy 70's porn, it's also a relic of a bygone age of game development—I certainly couldn't imagine Cliff Bleszinski or Amy Hennig doing something like this today. Actually… I could kind of imagine Bleszinski doing something like this.
And.. now you're probably imagining Bleszinski doing something like this. Sorry. Or maybe: You're welcome.
Softporn Adventure Auction [eBay via Gamesniped]
You can contact Kirk Hamilton, the author of this post, at kirk@kotaku.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.