"My Perfect Console" Podcast

Recommendation and discussion thread!

Journalist Simon Parkin makes this wonderful podcast, where he interviews games industry and games-related people. The idea is that they discuss 5 of their favorite games, and in between they talk about the person's life and career . It's a simple premise and works pretty well for some good discussions, very much helped along by Parkin being a very pleasant interviewer.

The guests have a lot of different backgrounds, and range from Industry Big Names, to small indies. There are even a few Japanese guests (sometimes interviewed with a translator present).

Per the format, not all guests are of interest to everyone, but the good thing about it, is that you occasionally experience some very different perspectives you might not have known you didn't know. Episode 58 with the authors Helen MacDonald and Sin Blanche for example). Sam Barlow had some really interesting picks, and the episode high-lighted how Parkin will hire an actor to narrate picks that don't have visuals (A Mind Forever Voyaging does sound pretty interesting like this!).

All the guests are pretty eloquent, and that does result in a certain type of guests, or perhaps Parkin's notion of a certain type of guest. Hard to tell.

I sometimes groan when guests have (what I would call) basic choices. A writer saying they like Disco Elysium, a young person saying they like Stardew Valley, or a person picking a very new game. Then again, the best conversations are rarely about the picks themselves, and more often about the guest's career.

So yeah, just a recommendation. But also, if you're a listener already, any guests in particular you liked?