I have to admit: I love getting fan mail.

When you work at a big company like EA you don't really get much correspondence from the people who play your game. I'm sure Spore and Madden fans send plenty of emails, but most of them end up in some PR inbox and rarely trickle out to the team that made the game.

Ever since HTH came out this summer, Vector Unit's received a pretty steady stream of emails. Here's a particularly great one we got today, from Will Smith (I'm assuming not the Fresh Prince):

Just a very short note to say thanks. I have been playing games for so many years and this year have played all the "BIG" hits like Splinter Cell: C and Alan Wake; solid properties for sure.. But I have not enjoyed any game more than Hydro Thunder Hurricane. You guys and that SMALL team you have there have brought gaming back for me to what it once was.. I simply cannot believe how awesome this game looks, plays, and feels.. Ring Master is beyond addictive! Cannot wait to play Tempest Pack tomorrow!!

Thanks again of this great game -- please have more DLC for HTH! You've done wonders with this property!!

Ahh...that feels good. Sometimes a bad review or a negative comment can get you down, and then an email like this makes it feel like all the hard work was worth it.

Most of the emails we get are people like Will who just write to say that they like (or love!) the game. Some suggest ideas for DLC or future updates or games. A few complain about this or that feature.

But we love reading all of them, even the occasional snark. It just feels really good to know that there are people actually playing your game, and that they cared enough about it one way or another to take the time to write an email to us.

So thanks, Will, and the rest of you emailers! You are the wind beneath our wings. Sniff. I'm getting all verklempt.