Keza Macdonald, author, games editor The Guardian.

About this episode

Keza Macdonald discusses her extensive career in video game journalism and her new book on the cultural impact of Nintendo.

Keza Macdonald is a Scottish journalist and editor who has spent more than two decades chronicling the culture and business of video games. She started early, as a junior staff writer for  GamesTM  while she was still a teenager. Then, after earning a degree in German and Japanese from the  University of Edinburgh —including a year studying in Japan—she became UK Games Editor at  IGN , helping shape the site’s global editorial strategy.  She then launched and led  Kotaku UK , where her team won multiple industry awards. Since 2018 she has been Games Editor at  The Guardian , where she writes the widely read “Pushing Buttons” newsletter and appears regularly on television and radio as an expert on the medium. She is the co-author of  You Died: The Dark Souls Companion , and her new book,  Super Nintendo: How One Japanese Company Helped the World Have Fun , explores the cultural impact of one of gaming’s most influential companies. 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…

People in this episode

Host: Simon Parkin

Guest: Keza Macdonald

Topics covered

• video game journalism
• cultural impact of gaming
• game editing
• video game history
• media in gaming

Keywords

• Keza Macdonald
• video games
• The Guardian
• gaming culture
• journalism
• Nintendo
• Kotaku
• IGN
• Pushing Buttons

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Guardian, GamesTM, IGN, Kotaku UK

Books & works: You Died: The Dark Souls Companion, Super Nintendo: How One Japanese Company Helped the World Have Fun

Places: Scotland, Japan

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