My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

Andreas Thorstensson is a Swedish entrepreneur, former professional gamer, and studio founder whose career has moved from the early days of esports to the challenge of rebuilding one of the world’s biggest sports genres from the ground up. Born in Stockholm, he began programming as a child and later emerged in competitive Counter-Strike under the name ‘bds’, becoming world champion in 1999 and earning a reputation as both a player, and builder of tools, platforms, and communities around the game.

In 2001, he co-founded SK Gaming, helping turn esports into a more professionalised business, and later spent a decade in technology and startups. In 2021, frustrated by the state of football games, he returned to development to found GOALS AB, a Stockholm studio with an ambitious aim: to give football the video game it deserves. Its first title, GOALS, is a free-to-play, cross-platform football simulator built around a gameplay-first, fully skill-based philosophy.

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Abigoliah Schamaun is an American comedian, writer, actor, and podcaster whose open-hearted style has made her one of the most distinctive voices on the UK stand-up circuit. After cutting her teeth in the clubs of New York, she moved to Britain and there steadily built a reputation as a charismatic performer, becoming a popular headliner on the live comedy scene. Alongside her stand-up, she has appeared on shows including Pointless Celebrities, Captive Audience, Outrageously Funny Comedy, and I Live with Models.

More recently, through the podcast Neurodivergent Moments, which she co-hosts with Joe Wells, she has spoken with warmth and candour about ADHD and neurodivergence,. Now, that podcast has inspired a new book, Neurodivergent Moments: Sex, Sunscreen, Turtles and How (Not) to Pack a Suitcase, a funny, personal collection of essays out now.

Abigoliah Schamaun – official site & socials
abigoliah.com – official website

Neurodivergent Moments – the book
Neurodivergent Moments: Sex, Sunscreen, Turtles and How (Not) to Pack a Suitcase – Linktree (buy links & live events)

Neurodivergent Moments – the podcast
Neurodivergent Moments podcast – Acast
Neurodivergent Moments – Patreon (bonus content)

All British Comedy Explained – the podcast
All British Comedy Explained – official site
All British Comedy Explained – Apple Podcasts
All British Comedy Explained – Spotify

Abigoliah's Perfect Console
Super Mario Land – Wikipedia
Mortal Kombat (1992) – Wikipedia
Beat Saber – official site
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Nintendo

Other people and references mentioned
Joe Wells – co-author and podcast co-host
Sea of Thieves – official site
Penelope Keith – Wikipedia
Nerd of Mouth podcast
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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 Play
State of Play Games – official site
State of Play – about the studio

Spycraft & the Board device
Spycraft – State of Play Games page
Spycraft – on the Board store
Board – the gaming device Spycraft runs on

South of the Circle
South of the Circle – State of Play Games page
South of the Circle – Steam
South of the Circle – Apple App Store

Luke's Perfect Console
North & South (1989) – Wikipedia
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure – Wikipedia
Sega Rally Championship – Wikipedia
ICO – Wikipedia
Firewatch – official site
Firewatch – Wikipedia

Other games and references mentioned
Lumino City – State of Play Games page
Samorost – Amanita Design
Machinarium – Amanita Design
KAMI 2 – State of Play Games page
Shadow of the Colossus – Wikipedia
Oxenfree – Night School Studio
RetroPie – retro gaming on Raspberry Pi
The Turner Contemporary – Margate
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Take the Acast listener survey to help shape the show: My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin Survey 2025
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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 Dubbin
Rob Dubbin – official website
Rob Dubbin – work & projects
Roblemsolving – Rob's blog
Rob Dubbin – itch.io

Brainfruit Studio / Star Friends
Brainfruit Studio shop
Star Friends – official site
Star Friends – Kickstarter campaign

Scripto
Scripto – collaborative writing software
Scripto – about
Scripto – eight takes on game writing

The Secret Lives of Games / Eggplant
Eggplant – the Secret Lives of Games podcast network
Eggplant – about
The Secret Lives of Games – on Apple Podcasts

Rob's Perfect Console
ZZT – zzt.org archive and community
ZZT (1991) – Internet Archive
Star Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters – open source port
Free Stars: The Ur-Quan Masters – Steam
Master of Magic Classic – Steam
Master of Magic Classic – GOG
Slice & Dice – developer site
Slice & Dice – itch.io
Slice & Dice – Steam
Caves of Qud – official site
Caves of Qud – Steam
Caves of Qud – itch.io

Other games and references discussed
Letterboxd – film rating and diary app
Wavelength – party game
Apples to Apples – official site
Game Developers Conference (GDC)
Harvard University
The Colbert Report – Comedy Central
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – CBS
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
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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 – Waterstones
Power 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
Balatro

Also mentioned Bellingcat – investigative journalism outlet founded by Eliot Higgins
Support My Perfect Console on Patreon
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.