British comedian Phil Wang will host the Bafta Games Awards for the second year running when the event is livestreamed on Twitch and YouTube on Tuesday evening.
Wang was born in Malaysia and shot to fame as a comic after appearing on TV shows like Taskmaster and Have I Got News For You. He hosts the podcast Budpod and regularly tours as a standup.
He’s also an avid gamer and he sat down with me recently to discuss his life in games, from the first console he owned to a gaming memory that he cherishes.
What was the first game you fell in love with?
The first game I remember playing was SkiFree on Windows 95. It’s just a vertical skier moving up and down on the screen and you have to dodge trees, bumps and eventually the abominable snowman. My cousin had a computer and he showed me the game and I thought it was thrilling and dynamic. I asked my dad if we could get a computer; he was excited and thought his child was a master of the future digital revolution, but I just wanted to play the game.
What was the first console you had?
The Sega Saturn. I don’t know why I got that. I was very influenced by my older cousin, who implied the Saturn was the thinking man’s PlayStation, but it wasn’t. I remember playing Sonic games and House of the Dead. I had the light gun for that too. After that, I graduated to the PlayStation and the original Game Boy.
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Tell me about a gaming memory from your past that you cherish?
I always think about Metal Gear Solid 2 on the PlayStation 2 in 2001. At this point in my life, I was still living in Malaysia and my PlayStation was out on a veranda in the open air. If I played too late at night, I’d have to get a mosquito coil and light it at my feet because they attacked me. I’ve such a strong memory of “Snake, Snake!” ringing out across the veranda. I’ve played that game so many times. I was just so astonished by it. Everytime there’s a leap forward in graphics, we always say ‘it’s not going to get better than this’. I remember playing that and thinking nothing could improve on it because they looked like real people in the game.
What is your favourite console at the moment?
I’m such a sucker for production value and so I love my PlayStation 5. I love the controller; I think the haptic feedback on the PS5 is such an achievement, it’s stunning. I remember playing Spiderman 2 last year and getting hit with a crowbar – they made the controller vibrate as if you’d been hit by a piece of metal. It’s unbelievable.
Is there a game you find particularly funny?
Thank Goodness You’re Here! is so funny. I don’t remember laughing that much at a game since Portal. The boldness to be so unashamedly British in its language and humour is so fun. I also like the humour in Helldivers 2, but then the gameplay gets pretty serious. It’s very hard to make a game properly funny because comedy requires timing and as a player, you’re the one in control of that, not the gag.
Which video game character is most like you?
Pac-Man – he’s big and eats too much. I could say Dave the Diver, but he’s a lot more physically active than I am.
Which games are you currently playing?
I’m playing Astro Bot. I’ve also started playing Split Fiction with my girlfriend and Still Wakes the Deep by The Chinese Room, which I love. I really enjoyed their other game, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture. This one is a lovely length and has a really good story. It looks really beautiful too – well you’re on an oil rig in the seventies, maybe beautiful is the wrong word. I’m playing Balatro too. A friend advised me to complete one run of that game and delete it otherwise it’ll ruin my life, so I did. What an amazing achievement it is.
Is there a game that is generally disliked that you’ll champion?
Not that people dislike this, but maybe it’s just too niche or nerdy – but I’ll say the WWE games. Smackdown! Here Comes The Pain and Know Your Role; that run of games in the noughties are some of the most influential experiences in my life. I loved wrestling when I was young and I still kinda love it now. WWF Attitude, which most people say is the worst wrestling game ever, was the first character creation system I got into in a game, not that I was ever any good at it. My characters were so ugly. I remember when I played Mass Effect and I thought I’d make my guy really fit – he was the ugliest person I’ve ever seen in my life and I couldn’t change him.
What is the one game you could play for the rest of time?
I think it’d be Red Dead Redemption 2. I spent so much time on that game and barely scratched the surface. You can play that game forever and have any type of experience you want. It’s not just about killing people all the time, there’s beautiful parts too.