Simon Parkin

Simon Parkin

@simonparkin.bsky.social

Author and journalist. Creator of the My Perfect Console podcast. www.simonparkin.com

4,378 Followers 161 Following 223 Posts Joined Jul 2023
4 days ago
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The Next Game from the Creator of Wordle Is Here Josh Wardle, the creator of Wordle, has a new game that aims to introduce players to the joys and agonies of the cryptic crossword.

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-...

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4 days ago

You’re thinking of a different game here, Matthew. Connections is not Wordle.

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4 days ago
Preview
The Next Game from the Creator of Wordle Is Here Josh Wardle, the creator of Wordle, has a new game that aims to introduce players to the joys and agonies of the cryptic crossword.

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-...

54 10 2 4
4 days ago
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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

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1 week ago
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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

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2 weeks ago
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#75: WW2's Secret Story: The Scientists Who Starved for the Future - Simon Parkin Spotify video

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

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1 month ago
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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

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2 months ago

What a time that was.

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2 months ago

Thank you so much for reading

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2 months ago

Oh that’s amazing! I had no idea. Thank you for making such an incredible game. I found the leaderboards just after we recorded, and many people have messaged me about them since! Apologies for the mistake.

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2 months ago

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!

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3 months ago
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The best science and nature books of 2025 From the threat of superintelligent AI to the dangers of overdiagnosis; plus the evolution of language and the restless genius of Francis Crick

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

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2 months ago

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.

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3 months ago
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How we lost our taste for the vicious restaurant review | The Observer

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...

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3 months ago

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

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3 months ago
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How we lost our taste for the vicious restaurant review | The Observer

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...

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3 months ago
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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

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3 months ago
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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

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3 months ago
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‘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...

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3 months ago

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! 🙏

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3 months ago

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

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3 months ago

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

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3 months ago

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-

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4 months ago

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:

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4 months ago
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Origins of a Species 🐟

At the turn of the millennium one of gaming’s most unique and bizarre titles was released for the Dreamcast.

@simonparkin.bsky.social sits down with its creator Yoot Saito to discuss the evolution, extinction and potential revival of the weird and wonderful Seaman.

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4 months ago

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:

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4 months ago
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🤖🌟 Issue 6 of APWOT is live on Kickstarter! 🌟🤖

Featuring a beautiful lenticular cover of Astro Bot marking both our feature interview with the game’s director, Nicolas Doucet, and the 30th anniversary of PlayStation.

Get in there!

💫 kck.st/4i1GAHT 💫

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4 months ago
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Named a Best Book of the Year by Scientific American and The Economist!
The true story of the botanists who made “the heroic decision during the siege of Leningrad to guard biodiversity at the cost of human life” (NYT)
The Forbidden Garden by Simon Parkin, now in paperback! https://bit.ly/3BIYQod

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4 months ago

I am such a huge fan of @myperfectconsole.bsky.social, because I'm such a huge fan of @simonparkin.bsky.social. Getting to be on the show was a delight, and folks are telling me it was good - I'm glad to hear.

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4 months ago
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While alive, Einstein fought all attempts to use his name and likeness as a promotional gimmick. His death, however, turned his face into a battleground, kickstarting the celebrity image rights industry.

Inside the murky world of Einstein’s rights, now in audio:

www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...

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