This week Brad and I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with Matthew Allen, the Community Manager for 22Cans, Community Manager for The Dead Hamster, and Community Contact for Lionhead Studios. For the last couple of months Brad and I have discussed the importance of what goes into making a successful game; the topic almost always falling back to how a company embraces the community. After months of discussing this, it seemed time to bring someone on to explain to us what goes into the process, and how he found himself in that career.

It's not all community relations topics though, as we pick Matthew's brain about his thoughts on companies like 22Cans and Lionhead Studios, as well as what he thinks is going on with both current and next-gen gaming.

It's a long one (so to speak), so strap yourself in (seriously, so to speak) and get ready to listen to some fun conversations on gaming.