This man is responsible for Half-Life, the PC game we dubbed "one of the finest titles the PC has ever seen" back in FG2. He and his Seattle-based team are currently putting the finishing touches to Team Fortress Classic. This man's going to be a videogame legend. And you saw him here first...
Neil West

FG: Played any good games lately?
GN: I am playing a ton of Team Fortress Classic lately as we polish it up before shipping. At home I'm playing The Legend of Zelda, and have just started Alpha Centauri. Having met the designer of Battlezone at an awards party, I'm going to be playing that shortly.

FG: What do you think of Lara Croft?
GN: I think Liz Hurley would be a much better choice than Demi Moore.

FG: What name or initials do you enter on high-score tables?
For some reason I've been using the nickname "Rabscuttle" lately. This was one of the characters in Watership Down. I'm sure my wife, who is a psychologist, would be able to explain the deep psychological significance of picking the name of a rabbit as my nickname, or she might just point out that I've had to play Team Fortress Classic against the two guys who designed Team Fortress for the last six weeks.

FG: What games systems do you have at home?
GN: A dual Pentium II 375 with a Quantum Obsidian 2 and an ADSL connection to the Internet, an NES, SNES, N64, and a PlayStation.

FG: If you could keep just one, which would it be?
GN: You will pry my PC out of my cold dead hands with a crowbar.

FG: What's your favourite bit in Super Mario 64?
GN: The Metroids wall jump action to get those damn blue coins in Rainbow Ride. I hated it until I could do it. The first time I got up there in time, I was so excited I fell off the ledge and splattered myself.

FG: Who'd win in a fight, Sonic or Mario?
GN: Having seen Bob Hoskins in Super Mario Brothers (and Mona Lisa), I'd have to put my money on him. As Tim the Enchanter says, "that [bloke]'s got a vicious streak a mile wide".