Formerly a games journalist at EMAP (The One Amiga, PlayStation Plus), Matt now works in a public relations capacity for GT Interactive. And he still hasn't sent us a review copy of Driver.

What's the best and worst thing about working at GT?
The best thing is easily the developers and products we work with. Having properties like Abe, Duke, Mortal Kombat, Unreal, Total Annihilation, Driver, etc. etc. to work on is a dream. The worst? Probably having so many US-based developers. That time difference makes communications a nightmare! There are also some pretty big egos out there...

You used to work in magazines.
Indeed. Five years man and boy. Hardest game in the world that...

What's it like working on the other side of the business?
A real eye-opener. In retrospect it makes me more sympathetic to PR people I worked with, because as a PR manager you get just as frustrated not being able to come up with the good as the journos get at not being able to receive the goods. The old image of PR lunches and an easy life is - I can confirm from my mental institute - completely fictitious!

Played any good games recently?
Lots actually. Most recently Rollercoaster Tycoon on PC and Street Fighter Zero 3 on PlayStation. In the office I've recently introduced the lads to the ancient delights of Red Alert. Always a good after-hours entertainer. I remain unbeaten...

What non-GT game are you most looking forward to this year?
Probably Tiberian Sun. After Zelda my life is empty, so I shall attempt to fill the void with tank rushes and Tesla Coils! Why? I've always been a real RTS (realtime strategy) fan, and it was the likes of Dune 2 (Amiga), Warcraft (PC) and C&C (PS) that got me started. Part nostalgia, part sheer excitement at getting those Cyclops defences back online... of course, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't mention that Total Annihilation: Kingdoms looks a damn sight better than Tiberian Sun! (We can't corroborate this, readers: FG)

Which is the best industry party you've been to?
Oo-er - so many people, so many parties... I guess the best one in recent memory was the Bizarre Love Triangle party at Cafe de Paris a few ECTSs back. It just had a really good crowd of people - as always, including a shirt-less Keith Sloan (very tall man from Ubi Soft) - 'giving it large' (as I understand the young people say). Of course, I'd give it all up for one of those classic EMAP nights down the City Pride...

What games systems have you got at home?
Oh lordy - now you'll see what a sad gamer I am (deep breath). PC, PlayStation, N64, Amiga, SNES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color and an Atari Lynx (but we don't talk about that).

Do you fret about scores GT games receive in mags?
Because of my background I do accept that you can't ask someone for their opinion and then make a fuss if it's not what you'd like to hear. When the pressure's on it is horrible waiting for an important mag to spill the beans, but people here do tend to trust me, so if I tell them to expect between 80 and 85 per cent for a game, they won't start making stupid demands. It's incredibly rare that I'll make a fuss - only when I know that some freelance spud or deadline-hassled journo has spent about an hour reviewing a game we've been developing for two years!

What about PlayStation 2 then?
OH BABY!

Great specs?
I wear contacts actually.

Do you think Dreamcast will sell in the UK?
Hmm. Tough. It needs some real knockout games sitting ready next to the machine when it launches if it intends even vaguely making an impression, but I fear it's simply the next generation Saturn. Uranus perhaps?