Oh god. I’ve put a lot of words on the internet in forums and I realise I’ve never actually put anything down here about my admiration for the stuff Croucher was doing in the Eighties. I’m not going to do that now as it’s far more worthy of a post of its own. However, whilst googling for a line from the script to Deus Ex Machina earlier (don’t ask!) I stumbled upon this.

Unlike certain UK-centric folks and their want to claim importance in the UK games scene (yes, you, Langdell), Croucher really was a pioneer. As I’ve said many times, the stuff a lot of the nu-arterati think they’re pioneering? Bollocks. Croucher got there first and with a far more pleasingly anarchic bent. A true auteur and a brilliant, brilliant mind. And y’know, he never really went away – columns in Computer Shopper for many a year and it would seem a thriving web design/marketing business are fine and dandy but there’s something a bit special to me about the thought of Croucher returning to games. And with Deus Ex Machina 2? Oh yeah, please.

Aside from teasy teasing us with scant information, there’s a wonderful archive of original material from Deus Ex Machina: The First on the site to rummage through – design sketches, the complete soundtrack, outtakes from the soundtrack (getting to ask Frankie Howerd “could you be more evil?” being the highlight there) and some cracking recent interviews.

First officially exciting news of 2010, right there. And if Croucher is returning to games? Fuck it, you lot might as well pack your bags and go home. Yes, you – arthouse mob. Go home.