My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

Luke Whittaker is a British game designer and creative director. With a background in animation and games design, he co-founded the BAFTA-winning indie studio State of Play in 2008, helping establish a reputation for meticulous, hands-on craft and playful experimentation. He was the creator and lead designer of Lumino City, the puzzle adventure built entirely from hand-made paper and card models, which won a BAFTA for Artistic Achievement.Since then he has worked on a string of distinctive projects including the Apple Award-winning pinball painting game INKS and the paper-crafted puzzle games KAMI and its sequel. As writer, director, and lead artist on South of the Circle, he even travelled to Antarctica to research a deeply human Cold War love story. Now, with Spycraft, a 1960s spy adventure that blends a physical board with video game mechanics—and comeswith a physical gadget built to play it—he continues to blur the boundaries between digital play and physical craft.Relevant Links:Luke Whittaker & State of PlayState of Play Games – official siteState of Play – about the studioSpycraft & the Board deviceSpycraft – State of Play Games pageSpycraft – on the Board storeBoard – the gaming device Spycraft runs onSouth of the CircleSouth of the Circle – State of Play Games pageSouth of the Circle – SteamSouth of the Circle – Apple App StoreLuke's Perfect ConsoleNorth & South (1989) – WikipediaIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure – WikipediaSega Rally Championship – WikipediaICO – WikipediaFirewatch – official siteFirewatch – WikipediaOther games and references mentionedLumino City – State of Play Games pageSamorost – Amanita DesignMachinarium – Amanita DesignKAMI 2 – State of Play Games pageShadow of the Colossus – WikipediaOxenfree – Night School StudioRetroPie – retro gaming on Raspberry PiThe Turner Contemporary – MargateSupport My Perfect Console on Patreon 

Rob Dubbin is a comedy writer and game designer whose work spans late-night television, journalism, and interactive storytelling. After studying History and Literature at Harvard University, he began his career in comedy, becoming an Emmy-winning writer on The Colbert Report and later The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Away from television, his writing has appeared in publications including The New Yorker and The Verge.More recently, he has moved into game design and tools, becoming the co-creator of Scripto, a collaborative writing platform for format-driven work—from television scripts to video games—where he serves as Head of Games. His current projects include co-hosting The Secret Lives of Games podcast and he recently launched the boardgame Starfriends. Across all of his work, he has become a thoughtful advocate for clarity and economy in writing—particularly in games, where he believes every word must earn its place.SHOW LINKS:Rob DubbinRob Dubbin – official websiteRob Dubbin – work & projectsRoblemsolving – Rob's blogRob Dubbin – itch.ioBrainfruit Studio / Star FriendsBrainfruit Studio shopStar Friends – official siteStar Friends – Kickstarter campaignScriptoScripto – collaborative writing softwareScripto – aboutScripto – eight takes on game writingThe Secret Lives of Games / EggplantEggplant – the Secret Lives of Games podcast networkEggplant – aboutThe Secret Lives of Games – on Apple PodcastsRob's Perfect ConsoleZZT – zzt.org archive and communityZZT (1991) – Internet ArchiveStar Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters – open source portFree Stars: The Ur-Quan Masters – SteamMaster of Magic Classic – SteamMaster of Magic Classic – GOGSlice & Dice – developer siteSlice & Dice – itch.ioSlice & Dice – SteamCaves of Qud – official siteCaves of Qud – SteamCaves of Qud – itch.ioOther games and references discussedLetterboxd – film rating and diary appWavelength – party gameApples to Apples – official siteGame Developers Conference (GDC)Harvard UniversityThe Colbert Report – Comedy CentralThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert – CBS

George Osborn is a journalist, strategist, and analyst whose work explores the increasingly fraught intersection of video games, business, and politics. He has worked as a reporter, consultant, and as Head of Campaigns and Communications at Ukie, the UK trade body for games, developing a rare vantage point on how the medium shapes, and is shaped by, power.He is also the founder of Half-Space Consulting and the editor of the Video Games Industry Memo newsletter, where he examines the forces driving the modern games business. In his new book, Power Play: Video Games, Politics, and the Battle for Global Influence, he argues that games have become far more than entertainment: they are now digital third places, contested spaces in which authoritarian regimes, populists, and extremists seek to wield influence.LINKS:George Osborn:The book: Power Play – buy via Bookshop.org UK (supports independent booksellers)Power Play – WaterstonesPower Play – Bookshop.org US The newsletter: Video Games Industry Memo – George's newsletter (free to subscribe)The Games: GoldenEye 007 (N64, 1997) The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64, 2000) Championship Manager 01/02 Mass Effect 2 BalatroAlso mentioned Bellingcat – investigative journalism outlet founded by Eliot Higgins Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

Gabríel Ólafs is an Icelandic pianist, composer, and producer whose work blends classical tradition with fantasy and a strikingly modern sense of atmosphere. Born in Reykjavík in 1998, he began playing piano at the age of five, receiving both classical and jazz training before emerging as a recording artist while still a teenager.His debut album, Absent Minded, was released in 2019, and his subsequent work has expanded steadily in scope—from the solo intimacy of Piano Works to the folk-inspired Lullabies for Piano and Cello, which grew out of a 1906 Icelandic songbook he discovered in an antique shop.He is also the co-founder of the Reykjavík Orkestra, and has quickly become one of the most distinctive young voices in contemporary instrumental music. Most recently, with Polar, he has moved further into speculative, atmospheric composition, drawing in part on the dreamlike emotional language of video games.Gabriel Ólafs: Website Releases Archive Spotify Apple Music YouTube InstagramPolar: Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music Buy CD (Decca Classics) Buy from Decca Records US YouTube PlaylistPolar: Traveler's Log: Listen on SpotifyPolar: Building A World: Watch on YouTubeThe Waves: Listen on SpotifyForza Horizon 6: Official Site XboxOther Gabriel Ólafs Releases / Labels: Oli Records Decca Classics Releases ArchiveJóhann Jóhannsson / IBM 1401: Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTubeNils Frahm: Website SpotifyGabriel's Perfect Console: World of Warcraft The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered God of War Death Stranding Baldur's Gate 3Other Games Discussed The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Diablo IV Metal Gear Solid 2

Elise Kova is a fantasy novelist whose rise from online serial writer to international bestseller has made her one of the defining voices in modern fantasy. She began writing young, producing her first novella in sixth grade, and later returned to storytelling in earnest when she started Air Awakens in 2012 as a hobby, posting chapters online and building an early community of devoted readers. After querying the book without success, she chose to publish it independently in 2015, a decision that gave her full creative control and transformed her career.Within a year she had become a full-time author, and soon afterwards her work began appearing on bestseller lists, from USA Today to the New York Times. Since then, her novels have reached readers around the world, selling millions of copies and spawning a string of beloved fantasy series, including the Loom Saga, Married to Magic, Dragon Cursed and Arcana Academy. Next, she returns to that world with Prince of Swords, one of her most eagerly awaited books yet, publishing in July 2026.Elise Kova – Website & Books: Elise Kova's official website Elise Kova – About & FAQ Prince of Swords – Elise Kova's website Prince of Swords – Penguin Random HouseThe Games:The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of TimeFinal Fantasy XShin Megami Tensei: NocturnePersona 3BloodborneMusic mentioned: Zedd – Clarity (Spotify)Simon's books & projects: Trial of the Space Invaders: The Case that Changed Video GamesLook for the Light: The Last of Us Anthology – Tune & Fairweather (pre-order) Support My Perfect Console on PatreonNext week's guest Gabríel Ólafs – Polar (Spotify)

Brendan Greene is a game designer whose work reshaped the landscape of competitive multiplayer video games. Raised on a barracks in County Kildare, he grew up in an army family with little more than an Atari 2600 for company. He studied Fine Art in college, taught himself web design, and spent years freelancing — even moving to Brazil — before rediscovering video games through the DayZ mod for Arma 2. What began as hobbyist tinkering on Reddit forums became something much bigger when he created the Battle Royale mod in 2013, inspired by the cult Japanese film. Three years later, the mod became PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. PUBG’s brutal, hundred-player survival format exploded into a global sensation, helping cement the battle royale genre as a dominant force in modern video games. Now, through PlayerUnknown Productions, he has returned to his fascination with emergent storytelling with Prologue: Go Wayback!, a game that challenges players to navigate nature’s unforgiving systems and carve their own path through the wilderness.

Stephen Totilo is an American journalist whose career has helped redefine how video games are reported and understood. After studying at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, he became MTV News’ first dedicated video game reporter in 2005, bringing serious coverage of the medium to a mainstream audience. Four years later he joined Kotaku, where he rose to become editor-in-chief and spent nearly a decade pushing the site toward deeper reporting, broader cultural coverage, and a more ambitious vision of what games journalism could be. My guest later joined Axios, building its games coverage through a widely read newsletter before striking out on his own. Now, as the founder and author of the popular Substack Game File, he continues to pursue the stories he believes matter most—combining deep industry reporting with a conviction that games, and the journalism around them, should be taken seriously.

Jerk Gustafsson is a Swedish game developer whose career has been shaped by a builder’s instinct — first in the physical world, and then in virtual ones. He left school at fifteen to work as a bricklayer, before discovering PC games in his twenties through Quake, the id Software classic that opened his eyes not only to play, but to the thrill of creating spaces of his own. After teaching himself level design through modding tools, he joined Starbreeze in 1998, where he worked on acclaimed titles including The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and The Darkness, eventually stepping into a lead design role. Later, as a founding force at MachineGames, he helped guide the studio’s bold revival of Wolfenstein with The New Order and The Old Blood. Today, as Studio Director, he has overseen the studio’s expansion into some of its most ambitious work yet, most recently with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

Chandana Ekanayake is a game developer and creative director whose career spans more than two decades of work across some of the industry’s most varied and inventive projects. Born in Sri Lanka he moved to the United States at the age of eight, and grew up watching his parents rebuild their lives from scratch—an experience that shaped both his work ethic and his creative perspective. After leaving art school early, he taught himself the skills that would carry him into the games industry at just nineteen. There he contributed to titles such as The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Matrix: Path of Neo. In 2017, he co-founded Outerloop Games, a fully remote studio built around collaboration across continents and a commitment to diverse, personal storytelling. Since then, the studio has released games including Falcon Age, Thirsty Suitors, and now, Dosa Divas, a game that combines turn-based combat and cookery.