GDAA's Tom Crago

It certainly has been a tougher 12 months than the 12 months before - of that there can be no doubt. But we've managed to win work in the genres and on the platforms on which we're strong. It's just been much more difficult to do that, and certainly there have been times when we've had to dig a lot deeper than previously in order to get those titles through the door.

That said, we're encouraged - we feel we're in the right part of the industry, they types of games that we're making and the platforms that we're on... it's arguably been easier for us than for some studios who have chosen to have a different focus.

Our core business remains work-for-hire - we continue to try to develop titles with top tier publishers on that basis.

However, we are beginning to experiment with new distribution models - and it's really, from our perspective, about doing that from a position of strength, and getting to the point where we can afford to make an appropriate investment in that.

And we're at that point, so we're starting to take those first steps.

Yeah - I think most independent studios who have had a few good years, and we count ourselves fortunately in that category, are doing exactly that. They're making an investment in trying to commercialise an original concept, or taking a concept and putting into a new space in terms of distribution.

We're doing that. It's scary, but exciting at the same time.

We've had a good deal of success on DS and PSP, so we're interested in the digital distribution opportunities that those platforms are starting to provide. That's a very natural space for us.

But similarly we recognise the need at some point to move to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and a natural avenue there is through PSN and XBLA.

Well, it's the future, no doubt about it. The PSPgo is an important step along that road. There's not a great deal that can be done to turn that tide, and as a developer we're extremely excited to be able to get that one step closer to the consumer.

It doesn't mean that retailers or publishers are going to go away, but it is the start of a new model.

Absolutely, we hope that will be the case. From our point of view we're heavily dependent on the processes of publishers. We hope their outlook is rosier, particularly into 2010 and 2011, and that the volume of titles that are being commissioned increases.

Well, they must be, because there hasn't been a great deal of discussion about titles for that period.

Partly, yes.

No, exactly, and similarly you get into this cycle of titles starting too late, not having enough time to do the job that you'd like to do on that game. We'd like to prevent that.

But from a publisher standpoint you can understand the wait-and-see approach, but there needs to be a meeting in the middle.