My guest today is a British game designer whose ingenuity and persistence turned a bedroom project into one of the most iconic multiplayer series in video games. In 1991, he took the characters from the popular Amiga game Lemmings and placed them in a game of his own, a simulation of artillery fire.

At school, the game proved popular among his friends, so he worked on it further, replacing the Lemmings with worms, and calling it Total Wormage. The teenager’s project quickly captured the attention of the industry, launching a career that saw my guest move from lone coder to a key creative figure at Team17.

While Worms became a global phenomenon, spawning countless sequels and spin-offs, he has remained driven by a passion for experimentation, curiosity, and the simple joy of making things that people love to play.

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Shuhei Yoshida is former president of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, and one of the most beloved figures in the video games industry. After graduating from Kyoto University with a degree in economics, he joined Sony in 1986 to coordinate the company’s PC business.

Then, as one of the early members of the PlayStation project, he helped oversee the development of landmark titles across multiple generations, including Gran Truismo, Legend of Dragoon, and Ico, championing video game-based creativity and experimentation at a global scale. Earlier this year, after almost four decades, he left Sony. But he continues to work closely with independent game developers. Known for his warmth, curiosity, and deep love of the medium, he remains a true ambassador for the art of play.

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Danny Abbasi is a musician best known as the drummer for Miniseries, the genre-blurring band whose dreamy, cinematic soundscapes have been turning heads in the indie music scene. After graduating from the University of Glasgow with a degree in English Literature, he moved to China where he worked as a professional musician.

In 2023, having returned to the UK, he joined Miniseries, the band co-founded by Angie Gannon from The Magic Numbers. The band’s debut album, Pilot, is out this week. With a background in grunge-style rock and a deep love of texture and rhythm, he brings both precision and playfulness to the band’s sound. Whether in the studio or on stage, his approach is thoughtful, dynamic, and subtly virtuosic.

LINKS

• Miniseries' website
• Tickets for Launch Gig, London (9th November 2025).
• Simon's review of 'Invasion of the Space Invaders' for The Guardian.
• Arcade Archive, Chalford, Gloucestershire.
• Galloping Ghost, Chicago.
• Logan Arcade, Chicago.

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.