My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin
In My Perfect Console, Simon Parkin, award-winning author video game critic for The Observer invites well-known guests from the worlds of gaming, film and television, music, comedy and more to pick the five video games they would like to immortalise on a 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
VULTURE's Best Podcast of the Year
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- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 70 minutes
- Episodes
- 152
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
Keith Stuart, journalist & novelist (A Boy Made of Blocks, Love is a Curse).
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…
Masaya Matsuura, musician, gamemaker (PaRappa the Rapper).
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 oft…
Sarah Keyworth, comedian.
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 …
John Johanas, creative director Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within, Hi-Fi Rush).
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…
Siobhan Reddy, co-deputy chair, BAFTA.
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 Sout…
Correspondence Special #1: Revisiting Jack Thompson.
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…
Wes Fenlon, senior editor, PC Gamer.
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 ma…
Jack Thompson, Former lawyer, "anti-video-game activist."
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 …
Abhi Swaminathan, gamemaker (Venba).
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 U…
Val McDermid, crime writer, Booker Prize judge.
My guest today is a Scottish crime writer. Born into a working-class family in Fife, she studied English at St Hilda’s College Oxford, where she was the first student to be admitted from a Scottish s…
Patrick House, neuroscientist and writer.
My guest today is an American neuroscientist and writer. Born in New York, he earned his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Stanford University in 2014, researching Toxoplasma gondii, the single-celled felin…
Yoshinori Kitase, director & producer (Final Fantasy series, Chrono Trigger).
My guest today is a Japanese video-game director, producer, and executive officer of Square-Enix. Born in 1966 in Fussa City in the suburbs of Tokyo, he studied filmmaking at Nihon University. After …
Rod Fergusson, SVP Blizzard Entertainment (Gears of War, Bioshock Infinite, Diablo IV).
My guest today is Senior Vice-President of Blizzard Entertainment and General Manager of the Diablo video game series. After attending the University of Ottawa for Computer Science, my guest joined M…
Helen Macdonald & Sin Blaché (Writers, H is for Hawk, Prophet).
My guests today are co-authors of the techno-thriller novel Prophet. Helen Macdonald is an English writer, naturalist, and an affiliated research scholar at the University of Cambridge. Their 2014 bo…
Iain Lee (broadcaster, comedian, counsellor).
My guest today is an English broadcaster, writer, television presenter and stand-up comedian. Born in Slough, he began working as a comic in the early nineties, soon landing a gig as co-host of Chann…
Gary Whitta, screenwriter (The Book of Eli, Star Wars: Rogue One).
My guest today is a British author and screenwriter for film and video games. Born in London, he began his career as a writer for the games magazine Commodore User, then joined the team that founded …
Best of 2023 (Part 2).
Another selection of some of our favourite clips from My Perfect Console's amazing line-up of guests from 2023.
Cast in Order of Appearance
- Henk Rogers
- Dylan Cuthbert
- Charles Cecil
- Jörg Tittel
- Ellie Gibson
- …
Best of 2023 (Part 1).
It's been a thrilling first year for My Perfect Console. Here are some of our favourite clips from 2023.
Cast in Order of Appearance
- Dara Ó Briain
- Heather Ann Campbell
- Pierre Novelli
- Ashly Burch
- Jennifer H…
Console of the Year Award (2023)
A special episode announcing the winner of the My Perfect Console of the Year (2023) Tournament.
It's time. Fifty-two consoles have now been whittled down to two final machines. It's an all-North Amer…
Nolan Bushnell, co-founder Atari.
My guest today is an American scientist, entrepreneur, and a founding father of the video game industry. Born in 1943, he grew up in Utah, in a Mormon family, before leaving to study engineering and …