The Back Page: A Video Games Podcast

Been quite a while since we did a 'games journalism craft' episode – this is one of those, as we're joined by former music journalist and Vice senior editor Mike Diver for a lively chat. Hear about the time Mike met Paul McCartney! Sadly, it wasn't about his terrible Destiny song that Matthew rather likes. Mike's book, Aliens: The Video Games , is available now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emergency Nintendo Direct chatter, powered by the reveal of sequels to two of our favourite Switch games (Metroid Dread and Kirby and the Forgotten Land), then another pile of games from the September 2026 mountain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The September release schedule avalanche begins. Games discussed: Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Star Wars: Zero Company, Guns of Eschaton and Super Mario Sunshine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From outlawing the L3 and R3 buttons to combat-oriented games with bad platforming sections, our listeners have submitted 12 more possible game design crimes for Room 101...sorry, Room 64 (double copyright infringement!). Our returning guest, actual game designer Jamie Smith, helps us judge the innocent and guilty. Want to submit a game design crime for a future episode? Head here to the relevant Discord channel, or ping us at backpagegames@gmail.com . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Four giant men select their favourite DS and 3DS games in our latest 3-hour draft episode. We hope you enjoy this deep dive into both consoles. Vote for the winner in the announcements channel of our Discord server . These are the categories: Game featuring Mario Game featuring Link 90+ on Metacritic Game with novel touchscreen controls Game made in Japan Game made outside Japan Port or re-release Wild card (has to be below 80 on Metacritic) Free pick Was advertised on the telly by a celebrity Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More of the games we've been playing recently, before the September avalanche of big titles crashes into Back Page headquarters. Samuel's games: Denshattack!, The Incident at Galley House, Big Walk, Motorslice (a tiny bit) Matthew's games: Splatoon Raiders, The Message from Deep Space, Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some thoughts on the Halo remake, then almost an hour of total nonsense that we will never, ever speak of again. This week's music is from the Halo: Combat Evolved by Michael Salvatori and Martin O'Donnell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How many ideas get saved from the original game when you're making a sequel? Does it cost more money to make a follow-up? How do you make sure an indie sequel doesn't vanish without a trace? Our returning guest Jay Baylis answers these questions while discussing his next game with Bytten Studio, Cassette Beasts 2002 . This week's music is from the Cassette Beasts soundtrack by Joel Baylis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stepping outside our 2000s comfort zone, this week we're sharing our two top 10 lists from 1997 in the first of a new quadrilogy of pods. Expect 1998, 1999 and 2000 episodes in the coming months. This week's music is from The Curse of Monkey Island soundtrack by Michael Land. You can get us, as ever, at backpagegames@gmail.com . Videos referenced in this week's episode: the German bloke touring E3 in Atlanta , Howard Lincoln talking about Rare , Nintendo's Space World , Games World's segment from the Sega booth at E3 1997 and B-roll of the games shown at Space World. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if IO Interactive made an Austin Powers game? Which game has been called overrated and underrated so many times that it's now just 'rated'? And why do some big games only get 1-page reviews in magazines? All that and more as we melt to death in the endless UK heatwave. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 end of this episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 pick Wild card (has to be below 80 on Metacritic) Game with notable first-person animations (either involving your hands or the faces of other characters) This is the Deus Ex: Invisible War-like game Jeremy referenced during this episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 information.

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 by Koji Kondo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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