My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

A special episode to celebrate the life and work of Brett Jones , an artist and animator for video games, film and television who passed away in July. Jones worked on the seminal N64 movie tie-in game, Goldeneye 007, which successfully brought the first person shooter genre to consoles. He made instrumental contributions to its sequel, Perfect Dark , then left the games industry to create VFX for...

My guest today is the American video game developer Steve Meretzky. Born and raised in Yonkers, New York, he attended MIT , where he earned a degree in construction management. In 1981, after two years spent working in the construction industry, a friend asked him if he would like to become a tester for Infocom , a publisher that specialised in interactive fiction. He agreed and was soon invited t...

My guest today is an English writer for video games, TV, film, comics, and books. Born into a literary household – her father was the celebrated fantasy novelist Terry Pratchett –– she studied journalism at the University of Arts in London. After graduating she joined the staff of PC Zone , where she worked her way up from editorial assistant to the role of section editor. In 2002 she left journal...

My guest today is the British scriptwriter and librettist for opera, Richard Sparks. In 1978 he wrote a sketch for Rowan Aktinson , the actor who later played Mr Bean , which Atkinson performed in the Secret Policeman’s Ball , a series of benefit shows organised by John Cleese to raise funds for Amnesty International. The success of the sketch led my guest to become a writer for BBC2’s ‘ Not the N...

My guest today is the American game writer and narrative designer Kelsey Beachum. After graduating from Michigan State University , she worked in publishing, first as editor of the Cryogenic Society of America , then in editorial operations for the satirical current affairs publication, The Onion . In 2012 stared work on a space-mystery game titled Outer Wilds . Published in 2019 by A nnapurn...

My guest today is Mike Drucker, an American comedy writer and producer. After graduating with a master’s degree in literature from New York University , he worked as a localisation editor for Nintendo, writing English language jokes for games such as Kid Icarus: Uprising . After a year working as Head Video Writer for the website IGN , he joined Late Night With Jimmy Fallon , then, in 2014, went w...

My guest today is Michael Sherman, director of esports for Riot Games . While attending the University of Texas at Dallas for Computer Science, he worked as an Automotive Safety Software Engineer for Texas Instruments , inventing a wireless car-seat that would sound an alarm if a child was left in the car. In 2013 he moved into the emerging world of competitive video game playing, developing broad...

In this special correspondence edition, host Simon Parkin reads out listeners' correspondence, answers questions, and offers at least one clue about a forthcoming special guest. Hear Simon discuss which was the best year for video games, which video game characters would make the best stand-up comics, and what Hollywood will do for #content when the only video game left to adapt is Fortnite... Bec...

My guest today is the American game designer and musician Eric Barone. Born in Los Angeles, he spent his childhood in the suburbs of Seattle. In 2011 he graduated from the University of Washington Tacoma with a degree in computer science, but was unable to find employment. He started developing a video game to hone his programming skills. Supported by his girlfriend, and an evening job he took as...

Nina Freeman is an American independent video game writer and designer. While a student at  Pace University  in New York, she was drawn to the work of Frank O’Hara and other poets of the New York School, who documented their lives through witty, confessional verse. She began to explore ways in which she could employ a similar tone, not in poetry, but in video games. Her 2014 game “ how d...

My guest today is the British actor Abubakar Salim. Born in Hertfordshire to a family of first-generation Kenyan immigrants, he joined the National Youth Theatre at the age of sixteen, then won a scholarship to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art . He made his professional stage debut in 2010 playing Osric in Prince of Denmark at the National Theatre . After securing minor roles...

My guest today is the American writer and game designer Chet Faliszek. In the nineties he and his friend Erik Wolpaw founded the website Old Man Murray . The satirical online publication poked fun at video gaming’s sacred cows and established a tone that is still prevalent across the internet today. After catching the attention of Half-Life creator Gabe Newell, the pair joined the video game devel...

Friend of the podcast Glenn Moore  joins Simon for a special bonus episode to discuss April's book-club-game, Stephen's Sausage Roll edition. This previously supporter-only episode gives a taste of the bonus monthly episode My Perfect Console supporters receive through Patreon. Throughout April 2024, Glenn and Simon, together with many of the My Perfect Console listeners, played through the s...

My guest today is the American novelist and short story writer, Veronica Roth. Born in New York and raised in Illinois, she studied creative writing at Northwestern University . While a student, she wrote Divergent , a dystopian science fiction novel set in a post-apocalyptic version of Chicago. The book sold to a publisher even before she graduated, and the film rights a few months later. Two seq...

In this special correspondence edition, host Simon Parkin reads out listeners' correspondence, answers questions, and offers at least one clue about a forthcoming special guest. Hear about the genius game that Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi never made, the latest on film director Steven Spielberg's adaptation of 'A Game of Birds and Wolves', and whether or not video game journalists face...

My guest today is the American videogame designer and writer, Teddy Dief. Born in Illinois, they graduated from Columbia University  with a degree in music, computer science, and Japanese. Then while studying for an MFA in filmmaking and game design at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts , they worked on Pirates of the Caribbean Online , and as a designer for the Kinect at Xbox . In 2013, my guest...

My guest today is the English author and journalist, Keith Stuart. He grew up in a town near Stockport in Greater Manchester, then studied English and Drama at Warwick University . After graduating he joined Big Red Software , testing Game Genie codes for the Game Boy , and coming up with names for the vehicles and tracks in Big Red Racing . In 1995 he joined the team of the recently launched Edge...

My guest today is Masaya Matsuura, a Japanese musician and game designer widely considered to be the inventor of rhythm action video games. Born in Osaka City, music ran in the family; his father often performed with his guitar in clubs around Shinagawa Station in Tokyo. My guest was an unruly student until he discovered a love of keyboards and synthesisers, and found his people. in 1983 he formed...

My guest today is the English stand-up comedian Sarah Keyworth. Born in Nottingham in 1993 they studied drama at De Montfort University, where they became an active member of the university's comedy club. After graduating, my guest then worked for the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art , while performing on the circuit. Their first show, Dark Horse , was nominated for best newcomer at the 20...

My guest today is John Johanas, creative director at the Tokyo-based studio Tango Gameworks . Born on Long Island, New York, he played in a Radiohead covers band while in High School. After graduating with a degree in East Asia studies from Brandeis University , he moved to Japan to work as an English teacher. He started translating Japanese books into English in his spare time. A keen player of v...

My guest today is Siobhan Reddy, a video game executive and the co-deputy chair of BAFTA . Born in South African to Irish and Australian parents, at the age of four she moved to Campbelltown, New South Wales in Australia. There as a student she became interested in filmmaking and technology. At eighteen she moved to the UK and began working for Perfect Entertainment , the independent game studio b...

In this special correspondence edition, host Simon Parkin explores feedback from the recent episode with Jack Thompson, reads out listeners' correspondence, answers questions, and offers at least one reveal about a forthcoming special guest... Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole Take the Acast listener survey to help shape the s...

My guest today is Wes Fenlon, a San Francisco-based writer and senior editor at the video game publication  PC Gamer . Having graduated from The University of Georgia with a degree in journalism and magazines, my guest freelanced for The Wirecutter –– the product review website now owned by the New York Times –– and Tested.com where he reviewed and recommended PC hardware. In January 2014 he...

My guest today is former lawyer who gained recognition in the late nineties and early 2000s as an "anti-video game activist", criticizing the content of violent video games and their alleged effects on children. Via a series of high-profile lawsuits, including several against Rockstar , the creator of the Grand Theft Auto series, he claimed that Mature-rated games are marketed and sold to children...

My guest today is a game developer and founder of Visai Games . At the age of twelve he moved to Canada from Southern India, then, hoping to enter the games industry, studied Computer Science at the University of Toronto . After graduating, my guest took a programming job at the mobile games studio, Uken Games. In his spare time he and an artist friend started working on a project of their own, a...