Oooh, it's so exciting. Since the last instalment, Parky's shut himself away in a small room and refused to speak to anyone. Seems to have worked though - we've nearly finished Rat Attack now - and in the nick of time.

We've got to the stage where some people HAVE ACTUALLY FINISHED ALL THEIR WORK!!

One such hero is Steve 'The Chief' Hales (below),

   

Phil 'hard man of the industry' Corbett is pretty much done and dusted and will also be moving on to work on a brand-new, top secret, classified project….I'm sure you'll hear more of this in 2000-and-something. He and producer Damian, who you'll remember will be sporting suave velour outfits at ECTS (see artists impression, bottom right), have been ferreting around the bargain bins of Camden Market, buying frilly accessories galore in a bid to out-Jarvis each other at the show.

We've been quite distracted this month by www.cat-scan.com an American Web site devoted to the popular pastime of scanning in our feline friends - check it out now (see our scan of 'Bob Cat' Robinson, left).

Latest on the game - the bonus levels are now done. In these, your chosen Scratch Cat is transported to New York where those pesky rats are popping up and down through manholes - jump on the manhole covers to kill the reckless rodents. Just a few more tweaks here, a nip and tuck there and we should be pretty much finished… check out these screenshots.

Bad News:   Tony Bourne, head of QA for Sony Europe, has left. This may not mean much to you, but I've spent many hours and large sums of money softening (and fattening?) Tony with all manner of vomit-inducing beverages, only for him to leave just before we submit our first PlayStation game. Tony, if you're reading this, I demand an immediate refund of all bribes.

Good News:   Rat Attack two page advert in CTW (Games Trade Newspaper in UK) and huge Rat Attack poster for ECTS. Even more, the Mindscape stand will be designed to look like a level from Rat Attack….our whiskers twitch with feline pride.