Welcome to The Hot Spot, PC Gamer's brand spanking new interview column. But this is going to be an interview column with a difference - there'll be no soft-soaping, no avoiding of awkward questions, no unquestioning rehashing of pre-prepared press releases and no uninterrupted plugging of forthcoming 'products' - The Hot Spot is where we'll be putting the questions YOU want answered, and keeping right on putting them until we get those answers.

Now, if you've been used to regular games magazine interviews, you may well find this a bit of a tricky notion to grasp, so by way of example, we're going to start this month with PC Gamer's very own Editor, Jonathan Davies.

JD: (Eh?-Ed)

PCG: So, Jonathan, PC Gamer It's a bit dull, isn't it? Worthy, informative and all that stuff, but just slightly dull.

JD: (Now look, stop this. At once. - Ed)

PCG: Come on, stop avoiding the question.

JD: (This is a terrible idea. Stop it. - Ed)

PCG: So, you're refusing to deny the allegation.

JD: (I'm saying nothing. You won't get paid for this, you know. - Ed)

PCG: Right then. Dull.

JD: (Look, I'm trying to change all that. Find someone proper to interview. - Ed)

PCG: What, at half past two on a Saturday afternoon? You're joking.

JD: (Silence.)

PCG: Look, this feature was your idea, you know.

JD: (Look, who are you, anyway? What's all this 'PCG' nonsense? - Ed)

PCG: I'm the vocal embodiment of the spirit of magazine. Every magazine has one, it's what writes all the bits that don't have anyone's name them. But we're not here to talk about me. it about that Magic Carpet 2 review this month? Everybody else in the entire world likes it, you're just trying to be controversial, aren't you?

JD: (I think you should phone up Microsoft in England on Monday morning. We're just going to have to give up on trying to reach anyone in the American office, they're eight hours behind us and no-one's ever in when we tiy to ring them at 10 o'clock at night. - Ed)

PCG: Look, there's no point in phoning Microsoft in England. The whole point was that we called them in America and confused them with our non-stop barrage of ridiculous questions and our curious British ways into saying something rash about Bill Gates being the AntiChrist and Microsoft trying to take over the entire world as we know it before the year 2000. The bloke in England's just going to go, "Oh, it's you" and put the phone down. So, Magic Carpet 2, then.

JD: (Shut up, I'm busy. Go away. - Ed)

PCG: Yes, just like that. Okay, so you don't want to talk about Magic Carpet 2. Well, you're not getting out of it that easily - there's loads of page space to fill yet, and the interview isn't stopping until it's done. About 700 words, wasn't it?

JD: (Look, really, Microsoft. On Monday. That's a much better bet. - Ed)

PCG: Oh yeah? My lino deadline's on Tuesday, as I'm sure you know. What happens if I stay in the office till midnight on Monday, like I did every day last week, but still don't get hold of anyone? It'll be too late to do anything about it then. Besides which, everybody in the games industry's going to be at the ECTS on Monday.

JD: (Er. Talk to them there, then. - Ed)

PCG: We haven't made any appointments, and they're bound to be incredibly busy. And also, everyone's still going to be there on Tuesday, so how can I get anything written and printed back at the office in time? So we're still on that Magic Carpet 2 review.

JD: (Er.. I didn't write it. - Ed)

PCG: So you're abdicating all responsibility? Washing your hands of the matter? "Sorry, Mr Molyneux, it was someone else. I was on holiday all month." Is that it?

JD: (You could ask Microsoft why nothing ever, ever works on PCs, even after I've sworn at them continuously for anything up to two hours. - Ed)

PCG: Stop trying to change the subject. We're going to get some answers from you if it's the last thing we do. How come half the magazine seems to be full of 'news' stories? Couldn't you think of any good feature ideas this month or something?

JD: (There was just lots of news. We, er, did lots of investigating. - Ed)

PCG: Oh yeah, like the world just couldn't have lived without yet another 'Stonekeep almost finished' story. Hah. A likely story.

JD: (And anyway, there are plenty of perfectly fine features as well. - Ed)

PCG: Such as?

JD: (Um... well all right, you've got me there. - Ed)

PCG: A-ha! At last! Jonathan Davies, thank you very much indeed.