My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin29 Huhti 2024

Masaya Matsuura, musician, gamemaker (PaRappa the Rapper).

My guest today is Masaya Matsuura, a Japanese musician and game designer widely considered to be the inventor of rhythm action video games. Born in Osaka City, music ran in the family; his father often performed with his guitar in clubs around Shinagawa Station in Tokyo. My guest was an unruly student until he discovered a love of keyboards and synthesisers, and found his people. in 1983 he formed Psy*s (pronounced ‘Saiz’), a progressive pop band fronted by the signer Mami Yasunori, which soon signed to Sony Music.

Ten studio albums followed, and in 1994 my guest secured a budget to create a Simon Says-style rhythm game featuring an anthropomorphic, rapping dog. PaRappa the Rapper become an international smash his and led to a series of follow-ups: the guitar-based UmJammaLammy, the experimental wireframe project Vib-Ribbon, and Mojibribbon, a music game that played with calligraphic art.

In recent years my guest has retreated from the video game business, focusing again on his music, and live events where he plays rare vinyl records, including tracks from the video games he has made, to an audience.

Links:

Cobalt Green, 1984, Masaya Matsuura E.P. -- Listen on Soundcloud.

Pingu Rap/ ピングーラップ vinyl re-release by Tower Records.

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.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(204)

Mike Diver, journalist, author (Aliens: The Video Games)

Mike Diver is a British journalist, editor, and author whose career has moved fluidly between music criticism and video games writing, always with an eye for subculture, history, and stories beyond th...

1 Syys 1h 27min

Soren Johnson, game designer (Civ III, Civ IV, Spore, Old World)

Soren Johnson is an American programmer and game designer whose work has helped shape the modern strategy genre. After earning a master’s degree in Computer Science from Stanford University, he joined...

25 Elo 1h 36min

Glen Henry, gamemaker, co-founder Jamaica Game Developer Society.

My guest today is a Jamaican game developer and studio founder. Based in Kingston, he is the founder of Spritewrench Studios, a narrative-focused micro studio he built after realising, in his final ye...

18 Elo 1h 15min

Amelia Tait, journalist, children's author.

Amelia Tait is a British journalist and author whose work has made her one of the sharpest observers of modern life online and off. As a freelance writer, she has built a reputation for following the ...

11 Elo 1h 10min

James Trickey, comedian.

James Trickey is a British comedian whose work blends sharp writing, physical comedy, and, in his new show, one of the more extraordinary Edinburgh Fringe stories in recent memory. By day he works as ...

4 Elo 1h 16min

Pierce Brown, science fiction novelist (Red Rising series).

Pierce Brown is an American novelist whose work has made him one of the defining voices in modern science fiction. After a restless childhood that saw his family move repeatedly and left him passing t...

28 Heinä 1h 32min

John Robertson, comedian, creator The Dark Room.

John Robertson is an Australian comedian, writer, and performer who has carved out a singular space between stand-up, theatre, and video games. Beginning his career on the UK and international comedy ...

21 Heinä 1h 36min

Andreas Thorstensson, former Counter-Strike champion, founder GOALS AB.

Andreas Thorstensson is a Swedish entrepreneur, former professional gamer, and studio founder whose career has moved from the early days of esports to the challenge of rebuilding one of the world’s bi...

14 Heinä 1h 19min