One of the best things about working on video games is walking into a shop and seeing the finished product on the shelf. Most games are developed over 12-24 months (ATV Pro was ~18), and looking at the end result of something that was a large part of your life is a very rewarding feeling.

So far our Metacritic score is 78%, which is good but a little disappointing. I’m very happy with ATV Pro and feel it deserves more. I think we’ve delivered a title that really pushes the PSP and is fun for portable play.

Two of our biggest goals were to have a 60fps framerate and keep most loading times under 20 seconds, both of which we achieved. Very few titles on the PSP have either of these, and for a good reason - they’re hard to do! We also wanted to do something else that few other games do; PS2<=>PSP connectivity. For example; When unlocked, certain mini-games and vehicles can be transferred from the PSP to PS2 (and vice-versa) and played on that platform. It’s a great feature for people who own both versions, or have friends that do.

While I’m happy that ATV Pro has shipped, I’m also a little sad. 

For close to six years now I’ve worked for Climax Racing, first in Brighton and for the last two years from our LA studio. When Climax Racing was sold to Buena Vista my choices were either return to the UK, or remain in LA working for Climax. I chose the latter. I’m sad to leave Racing, but I’m also excited to see what the future holds.

Last week I moved on to a new game team. I can’t say what I’m working on just yet, but it’s for the PC and scheduled to ship for Thanksgiving 2007. This’ll be the first time in five years that I’m not working on a PlayStation title. It’s going to be a little strange, but I’m looking forward to it!