My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

Simon Parkin
  • 4.8 (56)
  • VIDEO GAMES
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

In My Perfect Console, Simon Parkin, award-winning writer for the New Yorker and The Observer newspaper's video game critic invites a well-known guest from the worlds of gaming, film and television, music, comedy and more to pick the five video games they would like to immortalise on their very own fictional games machine. They discuss those five games in chronological order of release, interspersed with biographical chat about the guest’s life and career –– a lens that often leads to new and unexpected insights. "Thoroughly modern and ahead of its time...a gift." - NEW YORK'S VULTURE "Charming, insightful." -- THE GUARDIAN. TIME OUT'S 50 Best Podcasts. (Note: Episode descriptions may contain affiliate links). Be attitude for gains. https://plus.acast.com/s/my-perfect-console. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. Hannah Nicklin, playwright, narrative designer (Mutazione, Saltsea Chronicles).

    4 DAYS AGO

    Hannah Nicklin, playwright, narrative designer (Mutazione, Saltsea Chronicles).

    My guest today is Hannah Nicklin, a British writer and narrative designer for video games. After studying Drama at Loughborough University, and Playwriting at the University of Birmingham, she returned to Loughborough for a doctorate in interactive design as anti-capitalist practice. After several years working as a poet, theatre-maker, and academic, in 2019 she moved into games full time: writing, narrative designing and co-producing Mutazione, the most nominated game in the 2020 IGF awards. That same year she became studio lead of Die Gute Fabrik, an independent game studio based in Copenhagen, Denmark. There she led and creative directed Saltsea Chronicles, one of the most critically acclaimed games of 2023. After the studio was forced to close down, my guest joined the team at the Netflix-owned studio Night School, where she currently works as a narrative designer and writer on a yet-to-be-announced title.  LINKS Casual Games for Protesters Hannah on Bluesky Be attitude for gains. https://plus.acast.com/s/my-perfect-console. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 16m
  2. Danny Wallace, writer & broadcaster (Yes Man, Assassin's Creed series).

    OCT 15

    Danny Wallace, writer & broadcaster (Yes Man, Assassin's Creed series).

    My guest today is the award-winning humourist, writer, and presenter Danny Wallace. Born in Dundee, Scotland, he published his first professional video game review at the age of thirteen while conducting work experience for Sega Power, a magazine that subsequently offered him a job. At 22, after graduating from The University of Westminster, he became a BBC comedy producer at, working on hit series such as Dead Ringers and The Mighty Boosh. In 2003 he published Join Me, a book about how he accidentally started a cult. His next book, Yes Man charted a six-month-long experiment in which he said “yes” to everything. It later became a blockbuster film starring Jim Carrey in the lead role. A regular guest on radio and television panel shows, he has remained deeply involved in video games too, providing the narration for the hit indie game Thomas Was Alone, and writing and starring in several Assassin’s Creed game, work for which received an outstanding achievement award from the Writer’s Guild of America. Be attitude for gains. https://plus.acast.com/s/my-perfect-console. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 7m
  3. Nainita Desai, composer (Immortality, Call of Duty, Tales of Kenzera: Zau).

    OCT 8

    Nainita Desai, composer (Immortality, Call of Duty, Tales of Kenzera: Zau).

    My guest today is Nainita Desai, the British composer for film, television and video games. Born and raised in London by her Indian parents, she earned a degree in mathematics, then studied sound design at the National Film and Television School. She started her career as a sound designer on the films Little Buddha, Lessons of Darkness and Death Machine, before branching into composition for television, including, among hundreds of others, the Oscar-nominated For Sama, the hit Netflix series American Murder and the BBC drama series Unprecedented. In 2022 she won the Emmy for ‘Outstanding Music Composition’ for her work on The Reason I Jump, a film that explores the experiences of non-speaking autistic people around the world. More recently she has entered the world of video games, composing the scores for Telling Lies, Immortality, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and, most recently, Tales of Kenzera: Zau for which she has been nominated for a World Soundtrack Award.  Be attitude for gains. https://plus.acast.com/s/my-perfect-console. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 14m
  4. Eugene Jarvis, gamemaker (Defender, Robotron: 2084, Smash TV).

    OCT 1

    Eugene Jarvis, gamemaker (Defender, Robotron: 2084, Smash TV).

    My guest today is the American video game designer and programmer Eugene Jarvis. Born in California, he studied computer science at Berkeley, where, in the basement of the physics laboratory, he played the early video game Spacewar. After graduating he worked for Hewlitt Packard, but quit after three days to join Atari, where he began programming for some of the first computerised pinball machines. In the late seventies he joined Williams where he and a colleague came up with the idea for a side-scrolling arcade game set on an alien planet. Defender became a hit in the arcades; the game has grossed more than $1.5 billion since 1981. More hitsfollowed: Robotron 2084 –– the first twin-stick shooter -- Smash TV and Cruis’n USA. In 2008, my guest was named DePaul University's first Game Designer in Residence. He remains the only game-maker to have one of his creations featured on a U.S. postage stamp.  Be attitude for gains. https://plus.acast.com/s/my-perfect-console. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 16m
  5. Uwe Boll, film director (House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, Postal).

    SEP 24

    Uwe Boll, film director (House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, Postal).

    My guest today is the German filmmaker Uwe Boll. Born in Wermelskirchen he decided he wanted to direct films at the age of ten, after seeing Marlon Brando star in Mutiny on the Bounty. It wasn’t until he was in his mid-thirties, however, that he directed his first major motion picture, Blackwoods, a psychological thriller that a critic for the New York Times described as ‘smart and diabolical’. It was, however, his adaptations of video games for which he made his name. House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, BloodRayne, Far Cry and Postal were just some of the games he adapted to film. Not all of them lost money, but most were derided by reviewers. My guest did not shy away from engaging his harshest critics, however. In 2006 he challenged five of them to a boxing match. Ten years later he announced his retirement from filmmaking. Nevertheless, since then he has announced several new projects, including First Shift, a police drama set in the New York, that released in the summer. Links: Boll Films Official Website Game Over, Uwe Boll -- Vanity Fair. Be attitude for gains. https://plus.acast.com/s/my-perfect-console. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 13m
  6. Derek Yu, gamemaker (Spelunky, UFO 50).

    SEP 17

    Derek Yu, gamemaker (Spelunky, UFO 50).

    My guest today is the American video game artist and designer, Derek Yu. Born in Pasadena, California in the early eighties, he started mapping out games on graph paper when he was still a child. After graduating college with a degree in computer science, he moved to San Francisco to work as a freelance illustrator. In 2007 he developed a satirical run-and-gun freeware game titled “I’m O.K – A Murder Simulator”, a response to a challenge set down by the notorious critic of video games, (and previous guest of the show) Jack Thompson. He then formed a studio with one of his ‘I'm OK’ collaborators and together they released Aquaria, a critically lauded side-scroller. That game’s success enabled my guest to make Spelunky, one of the most popular and influential roguelike platformers yet made. Spelunky sold more than a million copies, won numerous awards, and begat an equally well-regarded sequel. Now, four years on, my guest is about to release UFO 50, a collection of games that combine an 8-bit aesthetic with pioneering design.  Be attitude for gains. https://plus.acast.com/s/my-perfect-console. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 11m
  7. Correspondence Special #4: Clickbait?

    SEP 13

    Correspondence Special #4: Clickbait?

    In this special correspondence edition, host Simon Parkin reads out listeners' correspondence and answers your questions. Hear Simon discuss the recent, headline-making episode with former PlayStation President Chris Deering, listener responses to the controversy, as well as discussion of what term we should use to describe the genre formerly known as 'Metroidvania', Maddy Thorson's grey label platforms, and much, much more.  Be attitude for gains. https://plus.acast.com/s/my-perfect-console. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    35 min
  8. Chris Deering, former President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

    SEP 10

    Chris Deering, former President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

    My guest today is an American businessman and the former and first president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Chris Deering. Raised in Boston, Massachusetts to immigrant parents, my guest had a strict upbringing. Despite the disadvantages he faced, he graduated with distinction with a degree in computer science at Boston College, then studied marketing at Harvard Business School. He first worked for the razor-manufacturer Gillette, rising to the rank of head of worldwide shaving, then joined Atari, then Columbia Pictures. In 1995 he became president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, responsible for launching the company’s first console, the PlayStation, remaining at the company until 2005. “They were,” he once told me, “the best ten years of my life.”  Be attitude for gains. https://plus.acast.com/s/my-perfect-console. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 14m
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About

In My Perfect Console, Simon Parkin, award-winning writer for the New Yorker and The Observer newspaper's video game critic invites a well-known guest from the worlds of gaming, film and television, music, comedy and more to pick the five video games they would like to immortalise on their very own fictional games machine. They discuss those five games in chronological order of release, interspersed with biographical chat about the guest’s life and career –– a lens that often leads to new and unexpected insights. "Thoroughly modern and ahead of its time...a gift." - NEW YORK'S VULTURE "Charming, insightful." -- THE GUARDIAN. TIME OUT'S 50 Best Podcasts. (Note: Episode descriptions may contain affiliate links). Be attitude for gains. https://plus.acast.com/s/my-perfect-console. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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