My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin Podcast By Simon Parkin cover art

My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

By: Simon Parkin
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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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon Parkin
Science Fiction
Episodes
  • Brandon Adler, game director, The Outer Worlds 2.
    Nov 25 2025

    Brandon Adler is an American game director and producer whose career has been defined by his work on some of Obsidian Entertainment’s most acclaimed role-playing games. After serving in Iraq with the U.S. Air Force, my guest studied Game Art & Design at The Art Institute of California.


    He joined Obsidian as a tester for Neverwinter Nights 2 before working his way up through various disciplines on games such as South Park: The Stick of Truth, Fallout: New Vegas, and Pillars of Eternity. Known for his meticulous attention to world-building and player choice, he has helped uphold Obsidian’s reputation for crafting richly written, deeply reactive RPGs. And now, as game director on The Outer Worlds 2, he’s leading the studio’s next ambitious chapter in interstellar satire and storytelling.

    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 show: My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin Survey 2025

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    1 hr and 20 mins
  • Correspondence Special #8: Catching guests out, coding on ships, and best moments in games
    Nov 21 2025

    In this special correspondence edition, Simon reads out your letters and answers your questions.


    Why are guests so often caught out when asked to name their console? What is the best moment in a video game? What might a My Perfect Console game jam look like? And can Simon settle a dispute between a father and his kids in the car?All this and much more.


    And congratulations to letter-writer Spencer Tennant, who wins a signed copy of Blood Echoes.

    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 show: My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin Survey 2025

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    29 mins
  • Andy Davidson, creator of Worms.
    Nov 18 2025

    My guest today is a British game designer whose ingenuity and persistence turned a bedroom project into one of the most iconic multiplayer series in video games. In 1991, he took the characters from the popular Amiga game Lemmings and placed them in a game of his own, a simulation of artillery fire.


    At school, the game proved popular among his friends, so he worked on it further, replacing the Lemmings with worms, and calling it Total Wormage. The teenager’s project quickly captured the attention of the industry, launching a career that saw my guest move from lone coder to a key creative figure at Team17.


    While Worms became a global phenomenon, spawning countless sequels and spin-offs, he has remained driven by a passion for experimentation, curiosity, and the simple joy of making things that people love to play.

    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 show: My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin Survey 2025

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 28 mins
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