• My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

  • Written by: Simon Parkin
  • Podcast
My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin cover art

My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

Written by: Simon Parkin
  • Summary

  • 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).

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    Simon Parkin
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Episodes
  • Sarah Keyworth, comedian.
    Apr 23 2024

    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 2018 Edinburgh Comedy Awards, and included on the second season of Soho Theatre Live on Amazon Prime.


    They soon became a fixture on television and radio, appearing on Mock the Week, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Richard Osman's House of Games and, in 2021, Live at the Apollo. Now, my guest is returning to the stage with a new tour titled, My Eyes Are Up Here, described by the Guardian as “engaging and touching”.


    https://www.sarahkeyworth.co.uk/

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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • John Johanas, creative director Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within, Hi-Fi Rush).
    Apr 16 2024

    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 video games, in 2010 my guest applied to work at Tango Gameworks, the studio founded by the legendary horror director Shinji Mikami. He joined, and there worked first as a translator, then as a designer on The Evil Within, before assuming the role of director on the game’s two DLC episodes and full sequel.


    In 2023 he directed the studio’s innovative music-combat game Hi-Fi Rush, which has just launched for PlayStation 5.


    [Photograph Game Informer/ Alex Van Aken].

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    1 hr and 26 mins
  • Siobhan Reddy, co-deputy chair, BAFTA.
    Apr 8 2024

    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 behind Terry Pratchett’s DiscWorld series of game adaptations.


    In 1999 she joined Criterion Games and there worked on a string of racing games, including Burnout 3 and 4, then left in 2006 to help set up production within the newly formed Media Molecule. In 2009 she was named studio director, helping to oversee the production of the LittleBigPlanet series, Tearaway, and, most recently, Dreams.


    In 2013 was named one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK by BBC's Woman's Hour and, in 2021, was given the BAFTA Fellowship award for her pioneering work in the games industry. She now serves as BAFTA’s deputy chair, helping to oversee the delivery of the academy’s mission to empower and spotlight the screen industries and the talented people within them.


    [Photograph: Sam Hendel/Media Molecule]

    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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    1 hr and 14 mins

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