The Back Page: A Video Games Podcast

Our monthly attempt to make a normal video games podcast. Games played this week: Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, Star Fox, Rhythm Heaven Groove, Duskfade, Super Scram Kitty, Dimhaven - The Lost Source, Virtue and a Sledgehammer (mistakenly referred to by Samuel multiple times as 'Virtue is a Sledgehammer', the buffoon). Here's the thread on naming games by Hannah Flynn, as discussed at the...

The worst format in podcasting is back, fresh from the Castle Island Backrooms. This time, we've got even more moral conundrums for Judge Castle to figure out. Find the image referenced in this episode here .  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our irregular GTA series reaches its finale with the most recent game in the series: 2013's Grand Theft Auto 5. From the heists to the torture mission, what holds up well in 2026? This week's music is from the GTA 5 soundtrack by Tangerine Dream. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

10 categories, 30 picks – time for another draft, this time about first-person shooters and related games. Vote for the winner here . We'll update this post with who picked what later today. These are the 10 categories: Single-player shooter Multiplayer shooter Sim (including immersive sim) Game with emphasis on movement or platforming Narrative or horror game Game from the last 5 years RPG Free p...

We all survived another week-plus of marketing livestreams! These were our picks of the best upcoming games, including our thoughts on the PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo showcases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bond is done! Now for some other great games that landed in May, plus the new Onimusha demo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's here – the James Bond game we've been waiting almost six years for! How much Hitman is in First Light? And how successfully does IO borrow from Naughty Dog? We discuss these subjects and many more across almost two hours. We've done our best to keep this episode free of spoilers. You'll hear about none of the major story beats in this one.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

A What We've Been Playing and Mailbag combo episode, also featuring our own personal versions of a Mixtape-style music compilation. And a profane joke about chimneys. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The four-person draft is back! Returning guests Ashley Day and Dave Scarborough fight Samuel and Matthew for the best picks across two beloved Nintendo consoles. And this time, Dave is on the booze (but for your sanity, we cut 30 minutes of drunken monologues out). Vote for the winner in the Discord 's Announcements channel. This week's music is from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time soundtrack...

Matthew played IO's Bond game! Some other games are discussed, too.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our first two-person draft in ages! Listen to the picks, then vote for the winner in the announcements channel of the Back Page Discord . This week's music is from the Sonic 4 soundtrack by Jun Senoue. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New podcast format time! 10 of our listeners' biggest gripes with games get litigated in a Room 101-style format (except legally distinct), from tailing missions in open world games to mandatory stealth sections in non-stealth games. Joining us once again is designer Jamie Smith! The very last entry was provided by SAFC_Jack91, which Samuel forgot to write down in the original episode plan. ...

Is Crimson Desert good? It's complicated, but not quite, according to Matthew Castle. Plus: Samuel apologises profusely for buying a PS5 Pro. Samuel's games: PS5 Pro (Spider-Man 2, Alan Wake 2, Rebirth), Returnal, Raccoin Matthew's games: Crimson Desert, Tomodachi Life, The Ratline Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Matthew thinks of Crimson Desert, new DLC for old games, how 360-era classics would score now in reviews, dream Helldivers 2 warbonds and more nonsense in the latest mailbag episode. This week's music is from the Deadly Premonition soundtrack by Riyou Kinugasa, Takuya Kobayashi and Hiromi Mizutani. This is the From Russia With Love PS2 clip mentioned in the episode.  Hosted on Acast. See...

Former Eurogamer reporter Emma Kent is our guest this week! What's it like doing actual journalism, rather than just dropping hot takes about Uncharted and Mario? That's what we ask Emma about in this one. You can sign up for the (free) Eteo Archetypes newsletter discussed in the second half of this week's episode here . This week's music is from the Valheim soundtrack by Patrik Jarlestam.  H...

Two top 10 lists from an amazing year for video games. This week's music is from the Tetris Effect soundtrack by Hydelic.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

VGC's Andy Robinson is this week's guest. Andy discusses his days on PC Zone and CVG, and why he's made the effort to built relationships with Japanese game developers in the last few years. This week's music is from the Yooka-Laylee soundtrack by Grant Kirkhope, David Wise and Steve Burke. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What we've been playing lately that doesn't feature Leon S Kennedy. Games discussed: Reanimal, Dark Auction, Marathon, Yakuza Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties, Pokémon LeafGreen, Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse, Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined, Romeo is a Dead Man, Wild Blue Skies, Denshattack!, Dusk Index Gion. The two Pokémon-themed media projects mentioned in this episode – Matt Reynolds' One More Catch a...

A deep dive into the year's first big game (sorry, Mario Tennis). Section one is spoiler-free, and the much shorter section two has clearly marked spoilers. But, you still might want to listen to this after you've played the game if you want to experience everything fresh. Pretty much everything discussed in the first hour is in Capcom's marketing materials for the game.  Hosted on Acast. See...

Judge Castle tackles listeners' moral dilemmas in the return of podcasting's worst format. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our first draft episode of the year is here! Who can pick the best levels out of Samuel, Matthew, Dave and Ash? You decide. Vote for the winner in the announcements channel of the Discord . This week's music is from the Sonic 2 soundtrack by Masato Nakamura, the Grand Theft Auto V soundtrack by Tangerine Dream and Woody Jackson, the Super Mario 64 soundtrack by Koji Kondo and the Mario Kart World...

Five years later, The Guardian's Keza MacDonald returns to the podcast to talk about her new book, Super Nintendo ( UK link here , US link here ). We then close out with Keza's quickfire list of the 10 most underrated Nintendo games. This week's music is from the Diddy Kong Racing soundtrack by David Wise.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Having conquered GTA III (kind of), Vice City and San Andreas (plus Bully , which is sort of a GTA), it's time for the definitive Back Page podcast on 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV. Joining us to dissect the first HD GTA is beloved third host and freelance writer extraordinaire Jeremy Peel.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A mop up of some neat games we missed from 2025, plus Matthew's thoughts on the newest game from Inkle. Games discussed: TR-49, Skate Story, POPUCOM, Wheel World, Earthion, Routine, The Séance of Blake Manor, Demonschool and The Berlin Apartment.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What makes a 9/10 game not a 10/10 game? Why do video games end up bad? Which NPC would you least like to be stuck in a lift with? What food do they serve at the hypothetical Matthew Castle-themed cafe in Shibuya? These are some of the questions tackled in our first mailbag episode of 2026. Feel free to submit future mailbag questions in the Discord , or to backpagesgames@gmail.com .  Hosted...