Ahead of the next GameSetNetwork early next week, I wanted to point out the in-depth interview with Rare's James Thomas and Justin Cook we just posted over at Gamasutra - notable because the 'iron curtain' that the Stamper-era Rare used to veil over its employees is over, and they can speak openly about their projects and ethos now.

In some ways, this is particularly fascinating because Thomas and Cook are honest in a peculiarly British fashion, which leads to them answering some fun questions they might demur on otherwise, such as Cook on what the Stampers are up to now:

"We talk about it quite often, because Tim [Stamper]'s wife still works for Rare, so she comes to the place regularly, and they've still got premises in Twycross itself, and we sometimes see them going in and out. We were whispering amongst ourselves about what they might be doing... but nobody knows! " So, big headline... 'Stampers Have Office, May Be Doing Games!'

Also notable is Thomas' slight grouse at Microsoft for not promoting Viva Pinata enough - even being a bit of a Pinata booster, I'm not sure I agree with this, but:

"I think from our point of view, it was interesting to see how the marketing budget was split last Christmas, because obviously everyone knew that Microsoft were publishing Gears of War and Viva Piñata. Yet, so much of the money went towards Gears of War, which is going to sell millions anyway. It was a bit of like, "What about the other franchise?" I think we got left in the wake somewhat. Hopefully with the PC version this Christmas, it might get something of a second wind."