February 2023 media
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My Perfect Console: A new interview podcast from writer Simon Parkin. The conceit is that each guest must pick five titles to put on their own fictional video game console, but that’s just a jumping-off point for broader discussions on how games intertwine with people’s lives. It’s a fun format; conversations oscillate between personal history and the merits of a beloved game. My favorite interviewee so far was Tarn Adams of Dwarf Fortress fame, but the show is still new enough that you can tackle the whole backlog.
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The Morioka Experience: A blog post! Japan-based writer Craig Mod submitted a personal favorite city of his, Morioka, to the New York Times’ “52 Places to Go in 2023” travel guide. When it was selected as number two—which he describes as “sort of like if a hand descended from the clouds and anointed Asheville, North Carolina as the second most important city in the world for 2023”—he became a minor local celebrity. It’s a great story accompanied by charming photography, with even more photos available in a separate post.
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Running With Speed: A documentary about the world of speedrunning video games. Narrated and cowritten by YouTube documentarian Summoning Salt, it features interviews with figures like GrandPooBear and Narcissa Wright, the history of the Games Done Quick charity events, and even some bittersweet thoughts from runners who have moved on from the scene. If you’ve ever wished for a Summoning Salt video with a little more focus on people over numbers, you’ll probably enjoy this.