{"podcast":{"title":"My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin","slug":"my-perfect-console-with-simon-parkin-5970647","podcast_index_feed_id":5970647,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/63b458521043e00011114396","website_url":"https://shows.acast.com/my-perfect-console","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/63b458521043e00011114396/1777821946817-906809b2-9c93-4b1c-b277-18517c7c67e0.jpeg","author":"Simon Parkin","episode_count":198,"summary":"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.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-21T14:20:51.393497+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/my-perfect-console-with-simon-parkin-5970647"},"episode":{"title":"Michael French MBE, founder, London Games Festival.","slug":"michael-french-mbe-founder-london-games-festival","published_at":"2026-04-07T05:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/my-perfect-console-with-simon-parkin-5970647/michael-french-mbe-founder-london-games-festival","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/my-perfect-console-with-simon-parkin-5970647","url":"https://shows.acast.com/my-perfect-console/episodes/michael-french-mbe-founder-london-games-festival","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/63b458521043e00011114396/e/69ccea113e12f8b0f08337f5/media.mp3","summary":"My guest today is a games industry leader whose career has spanned journalism, publishing, public policy, and cultural advocacy. He began in 2002 as an editorial assistant at trade paper MCV , quickly rising through the ranks to become editor of Develop and later editor-in-chief of both titles. In 2013 he became publisher of the two brands before moving into a new phase of his career as Head of Games London, where he launched the London Games Festival in 2016. Under his leadership, the festival has grown into one of the world’s leading games events, supporting more than a thousand companies, generating tens of millions of pounds in business, and welcoming a hundred thousand attendees in its most recent edition. Alongside this work, he has championed inclusion through initiatives such as Game Changer and helped raise significant funds for charity through  GamesAid . In recognition of his services to the industry, he was recently awarded an MBE in the 2026 New Year Honours. 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.","meta_description":"My guest today is a games industry leader whose career has spanned journalism, publishing, public policy, and cultural advocacy. He began in 2002 as an ed…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":5189,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/my-perfect-console-with-simon-parkin-5970647/episodes/michael-french-mbe-founder-london-games-festival/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/my-perfect-console-with-simon-parkin-5970647/michael-french-mbe-founder-london-games-festival.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}