Simon Parkin

Trial of the Space Invaders: The Case that Changed Video Games The true story of Nintendo’s years-long legal battle to establish who invented video games, and the secret, never-before-revealed settlement that profoundly shaped today’s industry. I cannot wait to share it with you. Coming: Jan 2027

EA is closing BioWare so I’m revisiting my conversation from last year with studio co-founder Dr Greg Zeschuk: the napkin sketch that began the studio, Baldur’s Gate and Mass Effect, why he left games, and the five games that helped shape his life, from Atari Adventure to Elden Ring. Listen here:

For @willvoice.it, who plays Coen in the recent The Blood of Dawnwalker, actors who can make informed decisions about their performances will always present far better value for money than AI ‘voices’. Hear more in this week's episode, out now on Patreon: bit.ly/3HPvNSM

Helluva poster (by Olya Dyer).

This is a very good listen as Simon Parkin talks to Sarah Maria Griffin, with plenty of insight from an Irish perspective of how gaming intertwines with life and art

Playing Big Walk has been joyous but also melancholic. It’s extraordinary to play such a rich online game where none of the interplay is mediated through crosshairs. Nothing against shooters! But all these vast fields of game design left untouched as the industry has refined such a narrow band.

nine games huh? (negotiating) i can do five games. no i won't use the graphics template. yes i will talk about each of them extensively. yes there will be a biographical component. what can i do to get this over the line? ok i'll throw in @simonparkin.bsky.social www.myperfectconsole.com/episode/167

One of Hideo Kojima's real talents is that he would have exactly this idea but the stew would be dropped off by a drone that sings a little jingle which can alert enemies if they're in range. You then get a phone call from a nuclear scientist who warns you not to eat too much starch and dairy.

#NatureLoversBookClub Discuss the wonders of the natural world. #SouthsideLibrary Community Room Wednesday, September 16, 2026 5:30pm–7:00pm September's Selection: The Forbidden Garden: The Botanists of Besieged Leningrad and Their Impossible Choice by Simon Parkin

After footage of an abandoned routine resurfaced online, comedian Alfie Brown found himself navigating public condemnation while mourning the deaths of his closest friend and his father. He fled London for Liverpool to imagine a different future: observer.co.uk/culture/inte...

A real joy to speak to Rob, and learn about how his time writing for Stephen Colbert has nourished his game design work.

🎟️ TICKETS ON SALE NOW 🎟️ Early bird tickets at £35, on sale until the end of June. Join us for the launch of The Cambridge Companion to Martin Amis, with a panel discussion, intimate presentation on the arduous and electrifying task of Editing Amis, and more! BOOK NOW: trybooking.com/uk/GQIT

I went on @simonparkin.bsky.social’s wonderful @myperfectconsole.bsky.social to pick my favourite games for my own perfect home made console. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts 🎧 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/m...

Polar has been praised for its vast, glacial beauty — but did you know the orchestral album was inspired by open-world video games? In this week’s episode, the Icelandic composer Gabriel Olafs joins host @simonparkin.bsky.social. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: bit.ly/4g9npg5

Car fox, Brighton station.

This was a lot of fun. The five games I picked for my own dream console were: - The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask - WarioWare Twisted - Red Dead Redemption 2 - Assassin’s Creed Valhalla - WarioWare Move It I explain why throughout the episode (these are not exactly my five favorite games, FYI)

So excited to have edited and contributed to this beautiful collection of new and published pieces about The Last of Us. Includes stories from the New Yorker, the New York Times, Time, and GQ, as well as two intimate and never-before-published interviews with director, @druckmann.bsky.social.

In the weeks leading up to SNL UK’s debut, there was an almost giddy sense of anticipatory schadenfreude among many onlookers in Britain. Then, after the premiere, wary praise turned into genuine excitement. How did they prove the naysayers wrong? observer.co.uk/style/featur...

After more than half a century, Saturday Night Live, the great American comedy institution, has launched a British version (which sounds like an SNL sketch in itself). Employing 300 people and costing over £2m an episode, it’s a huge gamble. Simon Park asks: has it worked? https://bit.ly/48RGVtg

LOVED this interview :D

Loved chatting with @felicia.day, whose story is so closely entwined with the evolution of the modern internet, in all its joyous and terrifying forms.

From Wakanda to Harlem. This week, @evnarc.bsky.social, comic writer, journalist, and narrative designer, joins Simon to discuss storytelling across Black Panther and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and the cultural threads that run through his work. Listen now: bit.ly/4tak4AR

After he sold Wordle to the New York Times, Josh Wardle felt lost. He found refuge in an unlikely place: the cryptic crossword. Now he wants to teach the world how to solve them. For @newyorker I spoke to Wardle about his new project, Parseword, out today: www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

After he sold Wordle to the New York Times, Josh Wardle felt lost. He found refuge in an unlikely place: the cryptic crossword. Now he wants to teach the world how to solve them. For @newyorker I spoke to Wardle about his new project, Parseword, out today: www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

Which well-known video game voice actor is difficult to work with? Join @SimonParkin.bsky.social in conversation with legendary performance director Tom Keegan, who has pioneered the evolution of acting in video games such as Resident Evil 2, Wolfenstein and Battlefield. Listen now: bit.ly/4lk41h9

Did a chance encounter with Demon’s Souls in Japan help bring FromSoftware’s games to the West? In today's episode, Scottish journalist and Guardian Games Editor @mackeza.bsky.social talks about chronicling the video game industry, and her new book covering Nintendo. Available now: bit.ly/3OMBODk

Enjoyed appearing on Jacob Watson-Howland's podcast, talking about The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad: open.spotify.com/episode/1yAT...

Joining us for our first episode of 2026 is the mathmetician and narrative designer, @jon.inkle.co. In 2011, Jon co-founded the independent studio Inkle, and has since worked on titles such as 80 Days, A Highland Song, and now a game set in a wartime computer: TR-49. Listen now: apple.co/45JM19p

I love listening to this podcast and I’ve been looking forward to doing this episode for ages - hear our countdowns of our favourite games of 2025, right here!

The Guardian picked THE FORBIDDEN GARDEN by Simon Parkin as one of the Best Science Books of 2025! https://bit.ly/3MoIE0x

This week's episode––our last interview of 2025––features @harvey1966.bsky.social, co-designer of Deus Ex and Dishonored, in a profoundly reflective mood, exploring a life spent at the bleeding edge of immersive sim design. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Critics once wielded savage pens. Now, audiences crave cheer. As the age of the vicious restaurant review fades, have we lost our appetite for honesty along with our taste for cruelty? In today's @observeruk.bsky.social: observer.co.uk/style/featur...

Great read, and can’t help but make parallels to other reviews

Critics once wielded savage pens. Now, audiences crave cheer. As the age of the vicious restaurant review fades, have we lost our appetite for honesty along with our taste for cruelty? In today's @observeruk.bsky.social: observer.co.uk/style/featur...

Join Simon live in Chicago as he chats with pioneering American video game developer Alex Seropian. Find out how Alex founded Bungie while a student at University, and why, after Apple's Steve Jobs revealed the game on stage, they took Halo to Microsoft. Listen now: bit.ly/48DkCGz

My book about Nintendo is out soon! Early readers have said incredibly nice things about it! Pre-order here for US/UK: linktr.ee/super_nintendo

‘The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad’ is one of @theguardian.com’s science books of the year. Pick up a copy for a loved one who enjoys nonfiction wherever you get your books: www.theguardian.com/books/2025/d...

Incredible @myperfectconsole.bsky.social episode with Mark Cerny sharing a ton of annecdotes. Atari, Sega, Universal, Cystal Dynamics, Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Playstation, you name it. Priceless stories for videogame history enthousiasts. Give it a listen! Mark, write a biography I beg you! 🙏

A phenomenal interview within the format of the show while the guest clearly has about 100 hours at least of stuff to talk about. One day maybe. A book. But in the meantime, an excellent interview by Simon Parkin

A rare Pokémon appears: Mark Cerny, on the show, next week.

The story of how a Bournemouth schoolboy developed Worms, a video game that went on to become a global phenomenon, is extraordinary. One of my favourite conversations on the show this year-

A privilege to speak with @yosp-jp.bsky.social, whose passion and belief in independent gamemakers is both infectious and authentic. Among many other things he tells the story of how a failure led him to join Ken Kuatargi's PlayStation project, an opportunity that changed the course of his life: