Episode 182: Games Court – Big Sammy European Extreme Edition
The worst format in podcasting is back! For the first time since 2021, Samuel runs his pre-owned purchases past Judge Castle.
Posts by Tag
- Regular 182
- Special Guest 52
- Mailbag 27
- XL 26
- XXL 25
- WWBP 22
- GOTY 21
- Draft 19
- Games Court 11
- Jeremy Peel 11
- Hall of Fame 7
- Predictions 6
- PC Gaming Classics 6
- Edge Horcrux 5
- Katharine Castle 4
- Andy Kelly 3
- Jay Baylis 3
- Rich Stanton 3
- Not E3 3
- Ashley Day 3
- Joe Skrebels 2
- Phil Savage 2
Regular
Episode 181: Top 10 Most Anticipated Games
With a hangover from ninety June livestreams, Matthew and Samuel each deliver their ten favourites from the hype season.
Episode 180: The PSP Draft
Retro Gamer editor Darran Jones steps into the draft dojo to celebrate Sony’s first gaming handheld device.
Episode 179: From EGM to BitSummit (with James Mielke)
Hear about James’ journey from comic book artist during Marvel’s bankruptcy to becoming a key editor on a host of important media outlets throughout the ’00s.
Episode 178: The ’00s Games Magazine Quiz and Mailbag
We each try and guess five mystery games based on snippets from their reviews in ’00s games magazines. Feel free to play along!
Episode 177: The Game Soundtracks Draft
Two Giant Men, 20 categories, dubious rules! Time for another draft episode, this time on the subject of video game soundtracks.
Episode 176: What We’ve Been Playing (Stellar Blade, Animal Well, Pepper Grinder, Dark Forces Remaster)
Here’s what we’ve been playing lately: Stellar Blade, Animal Well, Octopath Traveler 2, Dark Forces Remaster and Pepper Grinder.
Episode 175: From Mysteries To Metroidvanias (with Stuart Turton)
Matthew speaks to one of his favourite authors, Stuart Turton. Hear about his exhausting creative process, and what it takes to write a novel.
Episode 174: From OPM to Rolling Stone to IGN (with Rachel Weber)
This week’s guest is Rachel Weber, who probably has the most varied and fascinating career in games media of anyone who’s appeared on the podcast so far.
Episode 173: Games Court 2024
The worst format in British podcasting returns.
Episode 172: The Best Games of 2003
The best games of 2003, and loads of bullshit about Matthew’s mini-fridge and Samuel’s week of work experience in the fire brigade.
Episode 171: What We’ve Been Playing (Dragon’s Dogma 2, Rise of the Ronin, Helldivers 2)
What we’ve been playing lately, including Dragon’s Dogma 2, Helldivers 2, Rise of the Ronin, Stellar Blade and some old Command & Conquer nonsense.
Episode 170: The Time Samuel Wronged A Freelancer (with Steven Messner)
Former PC Gamer Senior Reporter Steven Messner is our guest this week! Hear about his epic reports of goings on in EVE Online and other MMOs.
Episode 169: Two Giant Men Play Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Matthew played 70 hours of FF7 Rebirth, while Samuel played a measly 14 hours. How’s it going so far?
Episode 168: We Collected Another Edge Editor (with Alex Wiltshire)
This week’s guest is former Edge editor Alex Wiltshire. Hear about his era of the magazine, as well as his time working at Hello Games and Mojang.
Episode 167: What We’ve Been Playing (FF7 Rebirth, FF7 Remake, Balatro)
Matthew has finally become a big FF7 head, ploughing through Remake in January and now being 50 hours deep into Rebirth.
Episode 166: The PlayStation Draft
Time for our first draft episode of 2024! It’s the turn of the PlayStation, one of the most important consoles in history.
Episode 165: The Cursed February Mailbag
After some dense episodes, allow us this brief respite to answer a slew of listener questions.
Episode 164: How To Write A Feature About Games (with Jeremy Peel)
Beloved guest Jeremy Peel drops by.
Episode 163: The Best Games of 2002
Two top 10 lists of our favourite games from 2002 and a slew of ridiculous anecdotes about working in Homebase and studying GCSE Drama.
Episode 162: Top 10 Sega Games (with Ashley Day)
Returning guest Ashley Day tells us about his love of the Sega Saturn, then gives us his ten favourite Sega games of all time.
Episode 161: What We’ve Been Playing (Suicide Squad, TLOU2 Remastered, Marvel’s Midnight Suns)
Some nutritious games waffle to cancel out last week’s nonsense mailbag episode.
Episode 160: Dubious Mailbag
After several solid episodes in a row, The Back Page crashes down to Earth. But you do get to hear about the famous person Matthew went to school with…
Episode 159: 24 Gaming Predictions About 2024
After last week’s belting return with the GOTY episode, it’s time we roll out some bullshit gaming predictions for 2024.
Episode 158: The Best Games of 2023
Our biggest episode of the year is here! Two top 10 lists of the best games of the year.
Episode 157: The Back Page Holiday Special 2023
A fun holiday special to see out the year – featuring special guests, our favourite Christmas-themed games and the Back Page alternative GOTY awards.
Episode 156: Two Giant Men Play Final Fantasy 7 (Disc 1)
It’s Matthew’s first time through the original Final Fantasy 7.
Episode 155: The Licensed Games Draft
Samuel and Matthew compete to pick the best selection of 10 licensed games, and discuss the wildly inconsistent history of licensed games.
Episode 154: What We’ve Been Playing (Alan Wake 2, Super Mario Wonder, PS Portal, Oculus Quest 3)
The latest on what we’ve been playing, featuring Alan Wake 2, Chants of Sennaar, Super Mario Wonder and more.
Episode 153: From Jak & Daxter to Eurogamer (with Ellie Gibson)
Comedian, writer and streaming superstar Ellie Gibson talks us through her career at Eurogamer during the heyday of the PS3 and 360 era of games media.
Episode 152: Three Giant Men Play Spider-Man 2 (with Dave Scarborough)
A deep dive on the year’s biggest PlayStation game with Dave Scarborough, sometime features editor of gamesTM.
Episode 151: Alan Wake 2 and the Games of Remedy (with Simon Cardy)
IGN’s Simon Cardy joins us to celebrate the history of Remedy’s games, including Max Payne, Alan Wake and even Quantum Break.
Episode 150: The Art of PlayStation List Making (with Rob Pearson)
Rob Pearson of PlayStation Access is our guest this week. Hear about Rob’s unusual journey to YouTube fame via print media.
Episode 149: The Best Games of 2001
From GTA 3 to Silent Hill 2, 2001 was one of the best years in the history of games. We also share many pointless details of our mixed fortunes as teenagers.
Episode 148: What We’ve Been Playing (Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Resi 4: Separate Ways, Cocoon)
We’ve firmly entered silly season, and Matthew has finished Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. Does it change his take on the CD Projekt RED FPS/RPG?
Episode 147: Things You Only Realise When You Make Games
People Can Fly’s Jamie Smith tells us about his career and things you only realise about games when you actually make them for a living.
Episode 146: Two Giant Men Play Starfield
We’ve each played 25 hours of Starfield – here’s what we thought.
Episode 145: Dear God, More Games Court
Happy, you sickos? It’s the latest entry in our bizarre Games Court format. Those found guilty will die…by Pikmin.
Episode 144: The Nintendo DS Draft
Matthew and Samuel compete to pick the 15 best Nintendo DS games – after an extremely long preamble.
Episode 143: What We’ve Been Playing (Sea of Stars, Armored Core 6, My House, Dredge)
Matthew has played 10 hours of Sea of Stars, so we discuss that, the Doom mod My House, Armored Core 6, Paranormasight and Dredge.
Episode 142: The Dreaded Mailbag
It’s fun for the first hour, it sags in the second, but gets it back just at the end. A 6/10 episode.
Episode 141: The Best Games of 2016
We count down the best games of 2016, a year that brought good news for everyone! Except Microsoft. And Nintendo.
Episode 140: Old RPGs and Baldur’s Gate 3 (with Jeremy Peel)
With Baldur’s Gate 3 taking over the world, genre expert Jeremy Peel returns to discuss how RPGs have evolved since the days of the Infinity Engine games.
Episode 139: What We’ve Been Playing (Exoprimal, Pikmin 4, The Expanse: A Telltale Series)
A simple but cheerful ‘what we’ve been playing’ joint this week, featuring Exoprimal, Telltale’s comeback game The Expanse, 1998’s Parasite Eve and Pikmin 4.
Episode 138: Edge in the ’00s
Former Edge editor Margaret Robertson joins us to discuss working on the magazine from 2003-2007 and her career in game development. It’s a good one.
Episode 137: The PS3 Draft
Matthew and Samuel compete to pick the best 10 games (and one HD collection) that represent the PS3’s somewhat inconsistent library.
Episode 136: What We’ve Been Playing (Final Fantasy 16, Trepang2, Baldur’s Gate 3)
Kick back, take a seat! Pour yourself a tall glass of water. It’s a simple update on what we’ve been playing lately, featuring Final Fantasy 16 and BG3.
Episode 135: Nintendo in the ’00s (with Wes Fenlon)
Our guest this week is PC Gamer Senior Editor Wes Fenlon, who talks to us about his career, his newsletter, and Nintendo during the GameCube/GBA era.
Episode 134: Two Giant Men Replay Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Two large gentlemen replay MGS3 and discuss where the upcoming remake could make improvements. Then, we rank the bosses of this all-time classic.
Episode 133: Top 5 Final Fantasy Games
Samuel and Matthew revisit the classic Square Enix/Squaresoft RPG series this week. Well, the bits they know about, anyway.
Episode 132: Our 10 Most Anticipated Games From Not-E3 2023
From Doordash ads to a game that looks 90% like BioShock Infinite, these were our highlights from the past week of game reveals.
Episode 131: The Edge 10 Episode (with Chris Schilling)
Edge Deputy Editor Chris Schilling joins us for this week’s episode. And yes: we talk about what it means when Edge awards a game a 10.
Episode 130: The Xbox 360 Draft
Is the Xbox 360 the greatest console ever made? And remember, it’s just a bit of fun! Except where we take what the other person says very personally.
Episode 129: Regrettably, More Games Court
More listeners’ pre-owned purchases go on trial in this latest version of the much-despised Games Court podcast format. Enjoy, and deepest apologies.
Episode 128: Two Giant Men Play The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Matthew has played 40 hours of the new Zelda, Samuel has played 10. How are they getting on?
Episode 127: What We’ve Been Playing (Jedi Survivor, Redfall, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC)
Everything except Zelda is discussed in this week’s episode!
Episode 126: How To Make A Video Game (with Jay Baylis)
Monster collecting RPG Cassette Beasts just launched! To celebrate, returning pod guest Jay Baylis talks us through the creation of the game.
Episode 125: The Shinji Mikami Hall of Fame (with Rich Stanton)
Matthew and Rich Stanton build a hall of fame from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami’s body of work.
Episode 124: The Best Games of 2015
Two top 10s of 2015’s greatest games. Hear about Matthew and Samuel’s friendship emerging during a press trip to Germany.
Episode 123: The Best Star Wars Games
Samuel assembles a power ranking of the video games based on the Star Wars movies, and Matthew politely humours him for two hours.
Episode 122: What We’ve Been Playing (Diablo 4, PSVR2, Tchia)
In this week’s episode, Samuel suffers from jetlag and Matthew suffers from living as we recount what we’ve been playing lately.
Episode 121: Two El Gigantes Play Resident Evil 4 Remake
We’ve both finished Resident Evil 4 Remake, which is out now! The original was an era-defining game for us, so what’s the deal with this one?
Episode 120: From PC Zone to Writing Games (with Will Porter)
Will Porter, former PC Zone editor turned game developer, is our guest this week.
Episode 119: The Capcom Games Draft
Matthew and Samuel compete to pick the 10 best Capcom games from the developer/publisher’s extensive and dazzling library.
Episode 118: 3DS and Wii U Games Worth Grabbing Before The eShop Closes
Matthew fires through a whole bunch of recommendations to check out on 3DS and Wii U before their respective eShops close.
Episode 117: The Wii U Hall of Fame (with Ashley Day)
Our task this week is to construct a 10-game hall of fame (or perhaps hall of infamy?) for the Nintendo Wii U.
Episode 116: The Last of Us Revisited – and our Verdict on the TV Show
We go deep on The Last of Us. We recall our original thoughts on the game from back in 2013 and give our verdict on the HBO show so far.
Episode 115: The Wii and DS Years of Official Nintendo Magazine (with Neil Long)
Former ONM editor and Mobilegamer.biz founder Neil Long is this week’s guest.
Episode 114: What We’ve Been Playing (February 2023)
Hi-Fi Rush, GoldenEye 007 and Fire Emblem: Engage are among the games we’ve been playing lately.
Episode 113: The Best Games of 2014
Two top 10 lists from 2014. Expect a mixture of mag recollections and deep analysis of the games that mattered.
Episode 112: Games Court 2023
Our most interminable podcast format, Games Court, returns! Sorry again for the continued existence of Games Court.
Episode 111: 23 Wild Gaming Predictions About 2023
From Indiana Jones to a Nintendo Switch successor, it’s time for 23 more ridiculous predictions founded on no basis of fact whatsoever.
Episode 110: New Year Mailbag
Samuel was suffering with Covid during this episode, so it’s a slightly gentler one than normal.
Episode 109: The Best Games of 2022
2022 was undoubtedly a blockbuster-deprived year, but it was still a strong 12 months for games in many other ways.
Episode 108: The RPG Companions Draft
We each try to assemble the ‘dream’ RPG party across 14 categories. Predictably, we each created nightmares instead.
Episode 107: Leaving Games Media (with Andy Kelly)
Andy Kelly is back to discuss his exit from games media after 18 years – and to share eight review scores he got slightly wrong.
Episode 106: 2022 Gaming Predictions Revisited
We revisit our 22 predictions from the start of the year to see just how wrong we were.
Episode 105: Two Giant Men Play God of War Ragnarök
Matthew and Samuel both played God of War Ragnarök. But Matthew actually finished it!
Episode 104: Cyberpunk 2077 Revisited
Samuel finally played Cyberpunk 2077 properly, and had a (mostly) good time!
Episode 103: What We’ve Been Playing (November 2022)
A Plague Tale: Requiem, FF7 Remake, Stay Out Of The House and Taiji are among the games discussed.
Episode 102: God of War Games Ranknarök
Ahead of the release of Ragnarök, we rank all the God of War games from 2005’s original up to the 2018 PS4 entry.
Episode 101: Bayonetta 3 and Platinum
The wonderful 101st episode of The Back Page attempts to build a 5-game hall of fame from the entire PlatinumGames catalogue.
Episode 100: Clip Show
It’s a clip show. Enjoy the clips.
Episode 99: Best Visual Novels (with Lucy Blundell)
Lucy Blundell joins us to discuss one of Matthew’s favourite genres: the (usually) non-horny visual novel.
Episode 98: From MinnMax to Game Informer (with Ben Hanson)
We’re joined by Ben Hanson of MinnMax on this episode, who shares a bunch of great stories from his many years making videos.
Episode 97: Games Court – Judge Sammy’s Garbage Barge
A grim fate awaits anyone who gets on the wrong side of Judge Big Sammy.
Episode 96: GTA Clones on Trial
From The Getaway to Sleeping Dogs, this week Judge Matthew Castle puts the open world games that followed in GTA 3’s wake on trial.
Episode 95: The Lucasarts Adventure Games Hall of Fame (with Ashley Day)
We try to boil down the complete library of Lucasarts adventure games into five representative titles.
Episode 94: Splatoon 3 + Nintendo’s Newer Series Explained
Matthew talks us through his many hours agonising over a Splatoon 3 review.
Episode 93: What We’ve Been Playing (September 2022)
Saints Row, Arcade Paradise, Ryse: Son of Rome, Splatoon 3, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Escape Academy are the games discussed.
Episode 92: The 2000-2005 PC Gaming Draft
It’s draft revenge time! Who can pick the 10 best games released during the years 2000-2005?
Episode 91: From Edge to Hit Points (with Nathan Brown)
Hear what goes into an Edge 10, as well as thoughts on Destiny, E3, Street Fighter and the world of videogame consulting.
Episode 90: The ’90s Games Mag Quiz and Mailbag
Guess the game based on quotes taken from ’90s games magazines.
Episode 89: Steam Deck Special
Is Valve’s handheld PC all it’s cracked up to be? Yes!
Episode 88: Xenoblade Chronicles Special
Katharine Castle rejoins us to discuss the Xenoblade Chronicles series in enormous detail.
Episode 87: The Best Games of 2013
Two top 10 lists of the best games of 2013, in our usual style.
Episode 86: The Nintendo Switch Games Hall of Fame Vol. 1
We undertake another grand project: building a library of the very best games for the Nintendo Switch.
Episode 85: What We’ve Been Playing (July 2022)
Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Sniper Elite 5 and TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge are discussed.
Episode 84: Games Court 4 – A Few Pre-Owned Games More
This time Judge Big Sammy is making the verdicts.
Episode 83: Why Destiny is Good (with Phil Savage)
Hate Destiny? Fair enough! You may still enjoy the first 24 minutes of this podcast.
Episode 82: Top 10 Most Anticipated Games
We count down our 10 personal most anticipated games, based on whatever E3 was this year.
Episode 81: The ’90s PC Games Draft
Samuel and Matthew each compete to pick the 10 best PC games released in the years 1990 to 1999.
Episode 80: Top 5 Dreamcast Games (with Andy Kelly)
Andy Kelly joins us to discuss his love of Sega’s Dreamcast, and his new Alien: Isolation book, Perfect Organism.
Episode 79: What We’ve Been Playing (May 2022)
The Centennial Case, Tunic, Gears Tactics, Eternal Threads and Little Cities are among the games we discuss.
Episode 78: From OPSM2 to PC Gamer (with Tim Clark)
Get ready for another top-drawer story about Hideo Kojima.
Episode 77: Best Star Wars Guilty Pleasure Games
Samuel catalogues the Star Wars games that exist between simple notions like light and dark – these are the 6 and 7/10 Star Wars games.
Episode 76: From Edge to Media Molecule (with Jen Simpkins)
Former Edge editor Jen Simpkins joins us to discuss some highlights of her career.
Episode 75: Oh No, Another Mailbag (And Matthew Finishes Horizon Forbidden West)
It’s probably too long, yet again, but it covers everything from our favourite TV genres to trends in games that we miss.
Episode 74: Max Payne 1-3 Revisited
Hopefully you’ll agree we do Max justice.
Episode 73: The Indie Games Hall of Fame Vol. 2 (with Joe Skrebels)
Another round of indie game recommendations – and 20 minutes of very welcome Dragon’s Dogma chat.
Episode 72: The Best Games of 2012
Two top 10 lists of the best games of 2012, in our usual style. Enjoy!
Episode 71: The Best Kirby Games
The top 5 Kirby games, and detailed thoughts on Kirby and the Forgotten Land for Nintendo Switch.
Episode 70: Ghostwire: Tokyo, New Kirby, Tunic and More Games We’ve Been Playing
Ghostwire: Tokyo, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Tunic, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Monster Train.
Episode 69: The PS Vita Draft
Matthew and Samuel compete to build the best library for Sony’s fan-favourite handheld device.
Episode 68: Bad eBay Games Court 2022
Judge Castle returns to decide whether listeners must die.
Episode 67: Two Giant Men Play Elden Ring
Samuel and Matthew have played Elden Ring for a combined 37 hours – here’s what they think so far.
Episode 66: Uncharted Games (and the Mediocre Movie)
Matthew’s seen the Uncharted movie, which is a nice excuse for a deep dive into one of our favourite PlayStation series.
Episode 65: Xbox Through The Years (with Jon Hicks)
Jon Hicks, formerly of Official Xbox Magazine, joins us to revisit the 360 era.
Episode 64: The Game Pass Competitor Draft
Matthew Castle Productions and Big Sammy Holdings are each taking on Game Pass. Who built the best gaming subscription service?
Episode 63: What We’ve Been Playing (February 2022)
Dying Light 2, Windjammers 2, Resident Evil 4 VR, NEO: The World Ends With You and more.
Episode 62: Pokémon Games (with Jay Baylis)
Jay Baylis joins us to discuss the long history of Pokémon games, subjecting Matthew to his idea of torture.
Episode 61: 2022 Mailbag
25 of your questions about gaming (yes, and Bath restaurants) answered.
Episode 60: The Nintendo Wii Draft
Matthew and Samuel compete to pick the 10 best Wii games.
Episode 59: 22 Bold Gaming Predictions About 2022
11 predictions for the year ahead in gaming, all based on absolutely no information whatsoever.
Episode 58: The Best Games of 2021
Our GOTY episode is here!
Episode 57: LOTR Games Revisited As Fellowship Turns 20
We revisit every game based on the films from Peter Jackson.
Episode 56: 2021 Gaming Predictions Revisited
We put ourselves on trial, discussing everything from N64 games on Switch to PS5 haptics.
Episode 55: Games We’ve Been Playing In 2021 (From Previous Years)
Luigi’s Mansion 3, Resident Evil 3 Remake and more.
Episode 54: The Best Halo Games
Samuel ranks the seven mainline Halo games to date, and both Samuel and Matthew weigh in on the wonders of Halo Infinite multiplayer.
Episode 53: The Xbox vs GameCube Draft
Who can build the best hypothetical mini console, Matthew, representing GameCube, or Samuel, representing the original Xbox?
Episode 52: The Best Games of 2011 (except Dark Souls)
A year that brought us Batman: Arkham City, Skyrim and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
Episode 51: Metal Gear Solid 2 Turns 20 (with Rich Stanton)
Rich Stanton joins us to discuss the game’s themes and legacy as a PS2 classic.
Episode 50: How Games Magazines Get Made
Matthew and Samuel talk through the entire process of making a games magazine from start to finish.
Episode 49: 15 Horror Games We Love (with Louise Blain)
Louise Blain joins us to pick out 15 cool spooky games, from Eternal Darkness to Silent Hill 4: The Room.
Episode 48: Grand Theft Auto 3 Turns 20 (with Steve Burns)
Steve Burns joins us to discuss Grand Theft Auto III.
Episode 47: What Would Batman Do? (with Tamoor Hussain)
Tamoor Hussain helps us rank the Batman: Arkham games.
Episode 46: Bad eBay Games Court – Listener Edition
Who will live and who will die?
Episode 45: From GBA Reviews to The New Yorker (with Simon Parkin)
Hear how Simon broke the news of Hideo Kojima’s departure from Konami.
Episode 44: The N64 Mini Draft
Matthew and Samuel each compete to pick the 10 best games on the system for a hypothetical N64 Mini console.
Episode 43: Deathloop and Immersive Sims (with Jeremy Peel)
We’ve finished Deathloop! Hear about the history of the immersive sim.
Episode 42: The Best Games of 2010
2010, one of the best years of gaming in modern memory.
Episode 41: Bad eBay Games Court – The Retrial
Judge Matthew Castle will decide if defendant Samuel Roberts lives or dies.
Episode 40: The Indie Games Hall of Fame Vol 1 (with Katharine Castle)
Plus: another baffling listener question about Yuji Naka.
Episode 39: Games Magazine Rivalries (with Dan Dawkins)
Dan Dawkins joins us to discuss his long history in games media.
Episode 38: The PS2 Mini Draft
What if Sony released a PS2 Mini? And what if it was good?
Episode 37: Games We’ve Been Playing in 2021
From The Last of Us Part 2 to Neo: The World Ends With You and Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge.
Episode 36: The Best Ace Attorney Games
Matthew reels off the 10 best entries in this immortal Capcom visual novel series.
Episode 35: Steam Deck and Creating the Perfect Handheld
Big Sammy Holdings and Matthew Castle Productions are moving into the hardware market.
Episode 34: The Best Zelda Games
Matthew has played The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD. Does he still think it’s worth an Edge 10 a decade later?
Episode 33: The Best Games of 2009
From Uncharted 2 to Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Episode 32: Games Previews…From Hell!
How do you write about a game that’s not actually finished yet?
Episode 31: The Best Sonic Games (with Jay Baylis)
Please don’t unsubscribe!
Episode 30: Let’s Turn E3 2021 into a Games Magazine
E3 2021 is finally over!
Episode 29: Does E3 Still Matter? (with Keza MacDonald)
Keza MacDonald kindly joins us on this episode to discuss her long career, and whether E3 still matters in 2021.
Episode 28: Mailbag Vol. 2
We’re answering 22 more of your questions.
Episode 27: The Game Developer Draft
Matthew and Samuel can each pick 6 game developers to build a new publisher.
Episode 26: The Best Detective Games (with Andy Kelly)
What makes a great detective game?
Episode 25: The Mass Effect Trilogy and the Best Companions
We’re revisiting the original Mass Effect trilogy in this episode.
Episode 24: Resident Evil Village and the best Resi games
We’ve both finished Resident Evil Village.
Episode 23: The Best Games of 2008
From Dead Space to Grand Theft Auto 4, 2008 was a phenomenal year in gaming.
Episode 22: Game Review Scores We Got Right
It’s two men, getting defensive about old review scores. What makes a better podcast than that?
Episode 21: The Best Yakuza Games (with Phil Savage)
Phil Savage joins us for a Yakuza-themed special episode.
Episode 20: Games Magazine Covers…From Heaven!
10 of our best games magazine covers, and the stories of how they each got made.
Episode 19: PS3 and PS Vita Games Worth Saving From Oblivion
Here are 10 games worth grabbing before the digital storefronts vanish forever.
Episode 18: Mailbag
It’s about 30 minutes longer than it should be.
Episode 17: The Best Nintendo 3DS Games (with Joe Skrebels)
We’re counting down the system’s best games.
Episode 16: Game Developer Interviews…From Hell!
Interviewing the people who make games. Are we good at it?
Episode 15: Bad eBay Games Court
Samuel Roberts stands accused of crimes against good taste.
Episode 14: The Best Games of 2007
From Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune to Crackdown.
Episode 13: The big Nintendo Switch games of 2021
Definitely not just an excuse to hear some more of Matthew’s great Nintendo thoughts and anecdotes.
Episode 12: Super Mario 3D World – the best 3D Mario game? (with Katharine Castle)
Is it better than Galaxy? Definitely not. Odyssey? Nope. But it is still pretty great.
Episode 11: Best Games of the Console Generation - Part 2
Our two top 30 games of the generation lists conclude this week.
Episode 10: Best Games of the Console Generation - Part 1
Two top 30 lists of the best games on PS4, Xbox One and Wii U from the past 7 or 8 years.
Episode 9: Hitman 3 and the 10 best Hitman levels
We’ve both played a lot of Hitman 3.
Episode 8: Games Magazine Covers…From Hell!
Matthew and Samuel discuss the art of making covers for games magazines.
Episode 7: 21 wild gaming predictions about 2021
It’s all based on very few facts.
Episode 6: The Best Games of 2020
Wow, 2020 was the worst!
Episode 5: Cyberpunk 2077 and How To Review Big Games
Matthew discusses his 70 hours playing the glitchy but nonetheless fascinating game.
Episode 4: The Best Games of 2006
From Twilight Princess to Gears of War.
Episode 3: James Bond games, from GoldenEye to IO Interactive
IO Interactive: nobody does it better?
Episode 2: Game Review Scores We Got Wrong
What goes into awarding a game a 7/10 review score? And what happens when you get it wrong?
Episode 1: PS5 vs Xbox Series X
Two next-generation consoles just launched.
Special Guest
Episode 180: The PSP Draft
Retro Gamer editor Darran Jones steps into the draft dojo to celebrate Sony’s first gaming handheld device.
Episode 179: From EGM to BitSummit (with James Mielke)
Hear about James’ journey from comic book artist during Marvel’s bankruptcy to becoming a key editor on a host of important media outlets throughout the ’00s.
Episode 175: From Mysteries To Metroidvanias (with Stuart Turton)
Matthew speaks to one of his favourite authors, Stuart Turton. Hear about his exhausting creative process, and what it takes to write a novel.
Episode 174: From OPM to Rolling Stone to IGN (with Rachel Weber)
This week’s guest is Rachel Weber, who probably has the most varied and fascinating career in games media of anyone who’s appeared on the podcast so far.
Episode 170: The Time Samuel Wronged A Freelancer (with Steven Messner)
Former PC Gamer Senior Reporter Steven Messner is our guest this week! Hear about his epic reports of goings on in EVE Online and other MMOs.
Episode 168: We Collected Another Edge Editor (with Alex Wiltshire)
This week’s guest is former Edge editor Alex Wiltshire. Hear about his era of the magazine, as well as his time working at Hello Games and Mojang.
Episode 164: How To Write A Feature About Games (with Jeremy Peel)
Beloved guest Jeremy Peel drops by.
Episode 162: Top 10 Sega Games (with Ashley Day)
Returning guest Ashley Day tells us about his love of the Sega Saturn, then gives us his ten favourite Sega games of all time.
Episode 153: From Jak & Daxter to Eurogamer (with Ellie Gibson)
Comedian, writer and streaming superstar Ellie Gibson talks us through her career at Eurogamer during the heyday of the PS3 and 360 era of games media.
Episode 152: Three Giant Men Play Spider-Man 2 (with Dave Scarborough)
A deep dive on the year’s biggest PlayStation game with Dave Scarborough, sometime features editor of gamesTM.
Episode 151: Alan Wake 2 and the Games of Remedy (with Simon Cardy)
IGN’s Simon Cardy joins us to celebrate the history of Remedy’s games, including Max Payne, Alan Wake and even Quantum Break.
Episode 150: The Art of PlayStation List Making (with Rob Pearson)
Rob Pearson of PlayStation Access is our guest this week. Hear about Rob’s unusual journey to YouTube fame via print media.
Episode 147: Things You Only Realise When You Make Games
People Can Fly’s Jamie Smith tells us about his career and things you only realise about games when you actually make them for a living.
Episode 140: Old RPGs and Baldur’s Gate 3 (with Jeremy Peel)
With Baldur’s Gate 3 taking over the world, genre expert Jeremy Peel returns to discuss how RPGs have evolved since the days of the Infinity Engine games.
Episode 138: Edge in the ’00s
Former Edge editor Margaret Robertson joins us to discuss working on the magazine from 2003-2007 and her career in game development. It’s a good one.
Episode 135: Nintendo in the ’00s (with Wes Fenlon)
Our guest this week is PC Gamer Senior Editor Wes Fenlon, who talks to us about his career, his newsletter, and Nintendo during the GameCube/GBA era.
Episode 131: The Edge 10 Episode (with Chris Schilling)
Edge Deputy Editor Chris Schilling joins us for this week’s episode. And yes: we talk about what it means when Edge awards a game a 10.
Episode 126: How To Make A Video Game (with Jay Baylis)
Monster collecting RPG Cassette Beasts just launched! To celebrate, returning pod guest Jay Baylis talks us through the creation of the game.
Episode 125: The Shinji Mikami Hall of Fame (with Rich Stanton)
Matthew and Rich Stanton build a hall of fame from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami’s body of work.
Episode 120: From PC Zone to Writing Games (with Will Porter)
Will Porter, former PC Zone editor turned game developer, is our guest this week.
Episode 117: The Wii U Hall of Fame (with Ashley Day)
Our task this week is to construct a 10-game hall of fame (or perhaps hall of infamy?) for the Nintendo Wii U.
Episode 115: The Wii and DS Years of Official Nintendo Magazine (with Neil Long)
Former ONM editor and Mobilegamer.biz founder Neil Long is this week’s guest.
Episode 107: Leaving Games Media (with Andy Kelly)
Andy Kelly is back to discuss his exit from games media after 18 years – and to share eight review scores he got slightly wrong.
XL Episode 7: Top Zelda Moments (with Katharine Castle)
Katharine Castle joins us to recount a whole host of great moments from The Legend of Zelda’s history.
Episode 99: Best Visual Novels (with Lucy Blundell)
Lucy Blundell joins us to discuss one of Matthew’s favourite genres: the (usually) non-horny visual novel.
Episode 98: From MinnMax to Game Informer (with Ben Hanson)
We’re joined by Ben Hanson of MinnMax on this episode, who shares a bunch of great stories from his many years making videos.
Episode 96: GTA Clones on Trial
From The Getaway to Sleeping Dogs, this week Judge Matthew Castle puts the open world games that followed in GTA 3’s wake on trial.
Episode 95: The Lucasarts Adventure Games Hall of Fame (with Ashley Day)
We try to boil down the complete library of Lucasarts adventure games into five representative titles.
Episode 91: From Edge to Hit Points (with Nathan Brown)
Hear what goes into an Edge 10, as well as thoughts on Destiny, E3, Street Fighter and the world of videogame consulting.
Episode 88: Xenoblade Chronicles Special
Katharine Castle rejoins us to discuss the Xenoblade Chronicles series in enormous detail.
XL Episode 4: Top 25 Metal Gear Solid Moments (with Rich Stanton)
Rich Stanton joins us to deliver a comprehensive overview of the Metal Gear Solid series.
Episode 83: Why Destiny is Good (with Phil Savage)
Hate Destiny? Fair enough! You may still enjoy the first 24 minutes of this podcast.
Episode 82: Top 10 Most Anticipated Games
We count down our 10 personal most anticipated games, based on whatever E3 was this year.
Episode 80: Top 5 Dreamcast Games (with Andy Kelly)
Andy Kelly joins us to discuss his love of Sega’s Dreamcast, and his new Alien: Isolation book, Perfect Organism.
Episode 78: From OPSM2 to PC Gamer (with Tim Clark)
Get ready for another top-drawer story about Hideo Kojima.
Episode 76: From Edge to Media Molecule (with Jen Simpkins)
Former Edge editor Jen Simpkins joins us to discuss some highlights of her career.
Episode 73: The Indie Games Hall of Fame Vol. 2 (with Joe Skrebels)
Another round of indie game recommendations – and 20 minutes of very welcome Dragon’s Dogma chat.
Episode 65: Xbox Through The Years (with Jon Hicks)
Jon Hicks, formerly of Official Xbox Magazine, joins us to revisit the 360 era.
Episode 62: Pokémon Games (with Jay Baylis)
Jay Baylis joins us to discuss the long history of Pokémon games, subjecting Matthew to his idea of torture.
Episode 51: Metal Gear Solid 2 Turns 20 (with Rich Stanton)
Rich Stanton joins us to discuss the game’s themes and legacy as a PS2 classic.
Episode 49: 15 Horror Games We Love (with Louise Blain)
Louise Blain joins us to pick out 15 cool spooky games, from Eternal Darkness to Silent Hill 4: The Room.
Episode 48: Grand Theft Auto 3 Turns 20 (with Steve Burns)
Steve Burns joins us to discuss Grand Theft Auto III.
Episode 47: What Would Batman Do? (with Tamoor Hussain)
Tamoor Hussain helps us rank the Batman: Arkham games.
Episode 45: From GBA Reviews to The New Yorker (with Simon Parkin)
Hear how Simon broke the news of Hideo Kojima’s departure from Konami.
Episode 43: Deathloop and Immersive Sims (with Jeremy Peel)
We’ve finished Deathloop! Hear about the history of the immersive sim.
Episode 40: The Indie Games Hall of Fame Vol 1 (with Katharine Castle)
Plus: another baffling listener question about Yuji Naka.
Episode 39: Games Magazine Rivalries (with Dan Dawkins)
Dan Dawkins joins us to discuss his long history in games media.
Episode 31: The Best Sonic Games (with Jay Baylis)
Please don’t unsubscribe!
Episode 26: The Best Detective Games (with Andy Kelly)
What makes a great detective game?
Episode 21: The Best Yakuza Games (with Phil Savage)
Phil Savage joins us for a Yakuza-themed special episode.
Episode 17: The Best Nintendo 3DS Games (with Joe Skrebels)
We’re counting down the system’s best games.
Episode 12: Super Mario 3D World – the best 3D Mario game? (with Katharine Castle)
Is it better than Galaxy? Definitely not. Odyssey? Nope. But it is still pretty great.
Mailbag
Episode 178: The ’00s Games Magazine Quiz and Mailbag
We each try and guess five mystery games based on snippets from their reviews in ’00s games magazines. Feel free to play along!
Episode 171: What We’ve Been Playing (Dragon’s Dogma 2, Rise of the Ronin, Helldivers 2)
What we’ve been playing lately, including Dragon’s Dogma 2, Helldivers 2, Rise of the Ronin, Stellar Blade and some old Command & Conquer nonsense.
Episode 165: The Cursed February Mailbag
After some dense episodes, allow us this brief respite to answer a slew of listener questions.
Episode 160: Dubious Mailbag
After several solid episodes in a row, The Back Page crashes down to Earth. But you do get to hear about the famous person Matthew went to school with…
Episode 157: The Back Page Holiday Special 2023
A fun holiday special to see out the year – featuring special guests, our favourite Christmas-themed games and the Back Page alternative GOTY awards.
Episode 154: What We’ve Been Playing (Alan Wake 2, Super Mario Wonder, PS Portal, Oculus Quest 3)
The latest on what we’ve been playing, featuring Alan Wake 2, Chants of Sennaar, Super Mario Wonder and more.
Episode 148: What We’ve Been Playing (Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Resi 4: Separate Ways, Cocoon)
We’ve firmly entered silly season, and Matthew has finished Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. Does it change his take on the CD Projekt RED FPS/RPG?
Episode 143: What We’ve Been Playing (Sea of Stars, Armored Core 6, My House, Dredge)
Matthew has played 10 hours of Sea of Stars, so we discuss that, the Doom mod My House, Armored Core 6, Paranormasight and Dredge.
Episode 142: The Dreaded Mailbag
It’s fun for the first hour, it sags in the second, but gets it back just at the end. A 6/10 episode.
Episode 139: What We’ve Been Playing (Exoprimal, Pikmin 4, The Expanse: A Telltale Series)
A simple but cheerful ‘what we’ve been playing’ joint this week, featuring Exoprimal, Telltale’s comeback game The Expanse, 1998’s Parasite Eve and Pikmin 4.
Episode 136: What We’ve Been Playing (Final Fantasy 16, Trepang2, Baldur’s Gate 3)
Kick back, take a seat! Pour yourself a tall glass of water. It’s a simple update on what we’ve been playing lately, featuring Final Fantasy 16 and BG3.
Episode 127: What We’ve Been Playing (Jedi Survivor, Redfall, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC)
Everything except Zelda is discussed in this week’s episode!
Episode 122: What We’ve Been Playing (Diablo 4, PSVR2, Tchia)
In this week’s episode, Samuel suffers from jetlag and Matthew suffers from living as we recount what we’ve been playing lately.
Episode 114: What We’ve Been Playing (February 2023)
Hi-Fi Rush, GoldenEye 007 and Fire Emblem: Engage are among the games we’ve been playing lately.
Episode 110: New Year Mailbag
Samuel was suffering with Covid during this episode, so it’s a slightly gentler one than normal.
Episode 103: What We’ve Been Playing (November 2022)
A Plague Tale: Requiem, FF7 Remake, Stay Out Of The House and Taiji are among the games discussed.
Episode 93: What We’ve Been Playing (September 2022)
Saints Row, Arcade Paradise, Ryse: Son of Rome, Splatoon 3, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Escape Academy are the games discussed.
Episode 90: The ’90s Games Mag Quiz and Mailbag
Guess the game based on quotes taken from ’90s games magazines.
Episode 85: What We’ve Been Playing (July 2022)
Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Sniper Elite 5 and TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge are discussed.
Episode 79: What We’ve Been Playing (May 2022)
The Centennial Case, Tunic, Gears Tactics, Eternal Threads and Little Cities are among the games we discuss.
Episode 75: Oh No, Another Mailbag (And Matthew Finishes Horizon Forbidden West)
It’s probably too long, yet again, but it covers everything from our favourite TV genres to trends in games that we miss.
Episode 70: Ghostwire: Tokyo, New Kirby, Tunic and More Games We’ve Been Playing
Ghostwire: Tokyo, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Tunic, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Monster Train.
Episode 63: What We’ve Been Playing (February 2022)
Dying Light 2, Windjammers 2, Resident Evil 4 VR, NEO: The World Ends With You and more.
Episode 61: 2022 Mailbag
25 of your questions about gaming (yes, and Bath restaurants) answered.
Episode 44: The N64 Mini Draft
Matthew and Samuel each compete to pick the 10 best games on the system for a hypothetical N64 Mini console.
Episode 28: Mailbag Vol. 2
We’re answering 22 more of your questions.
Episode 18: Mailbag
It’s about 30 minutes longer than it should be.
XL
XL Episode 26: Two Giant Men Play Beyond Good and Evil
You voted, we suffered! (Not really.) We played 2003’s Ubisoft classic Beyond Good and Evil in full for the first time – but how did it go?
XL Episode 25: Dreamcast Roulette
Samuel and Matthew spent a Sunday afternoon playing a stack of Dreamcast games. Here’s how it went.
XL Episode 24: GOTY Lists Revisited
The podcast fully eats itself and we rate our old GOTY choices. It’s rather deranged, please enjoy.
XL Episode 23: Two Giant Men Play Hitman: Blood Money
We went back and played an older, extremely influential Hitman game – but how does it hold up?
XL Episode 22: The Best and Worst Hangs in Video Games
Who’s a good hang? Who’s a bad hang? From Tails to Cole Phelps, let’s figure it out.
XL Episode 21: Samuel Bangs On About His Trip To Japan – Apologies In Advance
Two hours where Samuel explains what he did in Japan when he wasn’t making the podcast.
XL Episode 20: Best and Worst Console Launches
Judge Castle rules on the best and worst console launches, starting with the PSone and ending with the PS5. That’s 20 in total!
XL Episode 19: The Best Resident Evil Moments
Woah, it’s been one whole week since we discussed Resident Evil on this podcast! Time to do a rundown of the best moments from the entire series.
XL Episode 18: Two Giant Men Solve an Escape Room – and the Best Gaming Prisons
Matthew and Samuel relay their experience trying to solve an escape room in Bath. We weld a list of the top 10 gaming prisons on to the episode.
XL Episode 17: The Best Video Game Levels Vol. 2
The sequel to last year’s XL pod on the best video game levels is here, covering 25 different categories.
XL Episode 16: 20 Games That Deserve a Remake
We discuss the trend of remakes in games and where it began – and whether it’s a good thing for the creative health of games or not.
XL Episode 15: The Best Video Game Boss Battles Volume 2: The Surprise Second Health Bar
We dive deeper into the subject of our very first Patreon episode this month, highlighting more of our favourite bosses.
XL Episode 14: 50 Things In Games That Make Us Go ‘Oh No’
A catalogue of petty grievances from your two hosts, most of which are far too incidental to be taken seriously.
XL Episode 13: The Best Mario Moments Vol. 1
To tie in with a dubious Mario movie, we select 35 of the best moments featuring Nintendo’s iconic platformer hero.
XL Episode 12: 20 SNES and Mega Drive Games That Shaped Our Gaming Tastes
Our key SNES and Mega Drive games take centre stage in this month’s XL episode.
XL Episode 11: 50 Things That Make Us Go ‘Ooh Yeah!’ in Video Games
On this silly episode of the podcast, we each throw in 25 things that satisfy us in games.
XL Episode 10: Rockstar Open World Games Ranked
From Bully to Red Dead Redemption 2, this episode ranks pretty much all of the sandbox games published by Rockstar to date.
XL Episode 9: Best Videogame Levels Vol. 1
Matthew and Samuel each pick some of their favourite levels from across 10+ categories.
XL Episode 8: PS5 vs Xbox Series X Revisited
We truly struggle through a fairly vanilla chat about two big electronic boxes under our TVs.
XL Episode 7: Top Zelda Moments (with Katharine Castle)
Katharine Castle joins us to recount a whole host of great moments from The Legend of Zelda’s history.
XL Episode 6: Best 7/10 Games
In this episode, we boil down the idea of what a 7/10 game is, making it far more confusing than it really should be.
XL Episode 5: The Hitman Re-Ranking
We rank all 22 levels in the Hitman World of Assassination Trilogy.
XL Episode 4: Top 25 Metal Gear Solid Moments (with Rich Stanton)
Rich Stanton joins us to deliver a comprehensive overview of the Metal Gear Solid series.
XL Episode 3: Best and Worst E3 Moments
Matthew and Samuel each recall their 5 best and worst E3 moments.
XL Episode 2: 20 Xbox Backwards Compatible Games Worth Revisiting
Samuel discusses 20 old Xbox games he’s enjoyed revisiting on Xbox Series X via backwards compatibility.
XL Episode 1: Best Boss Battles
We dig in to what makes a classic encounter with a boss.
XXL
XXL Episode 25: Two Immortan Joes Watch the Mad Max Movies
A ranking of the Mad Max movies by two men who would almost certainly be the oversized comedy sidekicks of rancid villains in Miller’s fictional universe.
XXL Episode 24: Two Giant Anjin Watch Shogun
This episode is all about Shogun, one of the best TV shows of the year. We also talk a bit about the best TV of the year so far.
XXL Episode 23: Two Baron Harkonnens Watch Dune Parts 1 and 2
Two men who know nothing about the Dune books talk about Denis Villeneuve’s two Dune movies!
XXL Episode 22: Back Page Film Club – Dazed and Confused + 21 Jump Street
Hear about why Dazed and Confused is one of Matthew’s favourite movies, then hear about Samuel’s eternal affection for Lord and Miller’s 21 Jump Street.
XXL Episode 21: The Best TV Shows of 2023
We dive into our favourite TV shows from 2023. Was it a great year for TV?
XXL Episode 20: David Fincher Movies Ranked
We ranked the 12 movies directed by David Fincher to mark the recent release of The Killer.
XXL Episode 19: Top 10 Martin Scorsese Movies
Two Giant Men turn Two Giant Film Bros in this list of Marty’s top 10 movies. Apologies in advance.
XXL Episode 18: Matthew Is Back On His Asian Crime Fiction Bullshit
Matthew delves back into the subject he’s most passionate about: Asian crime fiction. Except this time he expands the remit to thrillers, and even sci-fi!
XXL Episode 17: The ‘Matthew Castle Productions and Big Sammy Holdings Launch Rival Streaming Services’ Draft
Our first ever draft episode behind the paywall is a truly chaotic affair – see what you make of this 2.5-hour epic.
XXL Episode 16: Mission: Impossible Pod Rankening
After about 8 episodes of promotion, our ranking of the Mission: Impossible movies is finally here!
XXL Episode 15: The Indiana Jones Rankings
Matthew and Samuel foolishly try to create power rankings for the first four Indiana Jones movies, The Fate of Atlantis, several 6/10 games, a TV show…
XXL Episode 14: Our Favourite TV Episodes
From Inside No. 9 to Matthew’s beloved Northern Exposure, in this episode we each share 10 TV episodes that we love.
XXL Episode 13: Guilty Pleasure Movies
From Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (eugh!) to Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood (oof!), we run through some of our guilty pleasures.
XXL Episode 12: Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked
The podcast lunges head-first into self-parody as two large guys in their 30s rank the movies of Christopher Nolan.
XXL Episode 11: Matthew’s Korean Cinema Deep Dive
Matthew offers a rundown on his favourite films from South Korea.
XXL Episode 10: 30 Comic Books That Are Worth Reading
Samuel babbles about comics for two hours and Matthew politely tolerates him.
XXL Episode 9: Best TV Shows of 2022
Two top 10 lists of our favourite TV shows from 2022.
XXL Episode 8: James Bond Movies Ranked
The podcast goes full Partridge in this ranking of all 25 existing James Bond movies.
XXL Episode 7: 20 Horror Movies We’d Recommend To Anyone
Listen to two non-horror fans talk about horror movies for almost three hours!
XXL Episode 6: Star Wars Movies Ranked (or, Star Wars: Good or Bad?)
We’re ranking the Star Wars movies. Apologies in advance for the mountain of bad takes you’re about to endure.
XXL Episode 5: 20 Thriller Movies We’d Recommend To Anyone
Everything from Blow Out to Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia gets a namecheck in this genre-centric episode.
XXL Episode 4: Best TV Shows of the Century (Part 2)
Who’s the best TV dad?
XXL Episode 3: Best TV Shows of the Century
Two top 10 lists of the best TV shows made since the year 2000 – and much more besides.
XXL Episode 2: Marvel Cinematic Universe movies ranked
Apologies in advance for our terrible takes in this one.
XXL Episode 1: Japanese Crime Fiction – A 101
Matthew offers a beginner’s guide to one of his enduring obsessions: Japanese crime fiction.
WWBP
Episode 176: What We’ve Been Playing (Stellar Blade, Animal Well, Pepper Grinder, Dark Forces Remaster)
Here’s what we’ve been playing lately: Stellar Blade, Animal Well, Octopath Traveler 2, Dark Forces Remaster and Pepper Grinder.
Episode 171: What We’ve Been Playing (Dragon’s Dogma 2, Rise of the Ronin, Helldivers 2)
What we’ve been playing lately, including Dragon’s Dogma 2, Helldivers 2, Rise of the Ronin, Stellar Blade and some old Command & Conquer nonsense.
Episode 167: What We’ve Been Playing (FF7 Rebirth, FF7 Remake, Balatro)
Matthew has finally become a big FF7 head, ploughing through Remake in January and now being 50 hours deep into Rebirth.
Episode 161: What We’ve Been Playing (Suicide Squad, TLOU2 Remastered, Marvel’s Midnight Suns)
Some nutritious games waffle to cancel out last week’s nonsense mailbag episode.
Episode 154: What We’ve Been Playing (Alan Wake 2, Super Mario Wonder, PS Portal, Oculus Quest 3)
The latest on what we’ve been playing, featuring Alan Wake 2, Chants of Sennaar, Super Mario Wonder and more.
Episode 148: What We’ve Been Playing (Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Resi 4: Separate Ways, Cocoon)
We’ve firmly entered silly season, and Matthew has finished Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. Does it change his take on the CD Projekt RED FPS/RPG?
Episode 143: What We’ve Been Playing (Sea of Stars, Armored Core 6, My House, Dredge)
Matthew has played 10 hours of Sea of Stars, so we discuss that, the Doom mod My House, Armored Core 6, Paranormasight and Dredge.
Episode 139: What We’ve Been Playing (Exoprimal, Pikmin 4, The Expanse: A Telltale Series)
A simple but cheerful ‘what we’ve been playing’ joint this week, featuring Exoprimal, Telltale’s comeback game The Expanse, 1998’s Parasite Eve and Pikmin 4.
Episode 136: What We’ve Been Playing (Final Fantasy 16, Trepang2, Baldur’s Gate 3)
Kick back, take a seat! Pour yourself a tall glass of water. It’s a simple update on what we’ve been playing lately, featuring Final Fantasy 16 and BG3.
Episode 127: What We’ve Been Playing (Jedi Survivor, Redfall, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC)
Everything except Zelda is discussed in this week’s episode!
Episode 122: What We’ve Been Playing (Diablo 4, PSVR2, Tchia)
In this week’s episode, Samuel suffers from jetlag and Matthew suffers from living as we recount what we’ve been playing lately.
Episode 114: What We’ve Been Playing (February 2023)
Hi-Fi Rush, GoldenEye 007 and Fire Emblem: Engage are among the games we’ve been playing lately.
Episode 103: What We’ve Been Playing (November 2022)
A Plague Tale: Requiem, FF7 Remake, Stay Out Of The House and Taiji are among the games discussed.
Episode 93: What We’ve Been Playing (September 2022)
Saints Row, Arcade Paradise, Ryse: Son of Rome, Splatoon 3, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Escape Academy are the games discussed.
Episode 85: What We’ve Been Playing (July 2022)
Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Sniper Elite 5 and TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge are discussed.
Episode 79: What We’ve Been Playing (May 2022)
The Centennial Case, Tunic, Gears Tactics, Eternal Threads and Little Cities are among the games we discuss.
Episode 75: Oh No, Another Mailbag (And Matthew Finishes Horizon Forbidden West)
It’s probably too long, yet again, but it covers everything from our favourite TV genres to trends in games that we miss.
Episode 70: Ghostwire: Tokyo, New Kirby, Tunic and More Games We’ve Been Playing
Ghostwire: Tokyo, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Tunic, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Monster Train.
Episode 63: What We’ve Been Playing (February 2022)
Dying Light 2, Windjammers 2, Resident Evil 4 VR, NEO: The World Ends With You and more.
Episode 55: Games We’ve Been Playing In 2021 (From Previous Years)
Luigi’s Mansion 3, Resident Evil 3 Remake and more.
Episode 41: Bad eBay Games Court – The Retrial
Judge Matthew Castle will decide if defendant Samuel Roberts lives or dies.
Episode 37: Games We’ve Been Playing in 2021
From The Last of Us Part 2 to Neo: The World Ends With You and Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge.
GOTY
XL Episode 24: GOTY Lists Revisited
The podcast fully eats itself and we rate our old GOTY choices. It’s rather deranged, please enjoy.
Episode 172: The Best Games of 2003
The best games of 2003, and loads of bullshit about Matthew’s mini-fridge and Samuel’s week of work experience in the fire brigade.
Episode 163: The Best Games of 2002
Two top 10 lists of our favourite games from 2002 and a slew of ridiculous anecdotes about working in Homebase and studying GCSE Drama.
Episode 158: The Best Games of 2023
Our biggest episode of the year is here! Two top 10 lists of the best games of the year.
Episode 149: The Best Games of 2001
From GTA 3 to Silent Hill 2, 2001 was one of the best years in the history of games. We also share many pointless details of our mixed fortunes as teenagers.
Episode 141: The Best Games of 2016
We count down the best games of 2016, a year that brought good news for everyone! Except Microsoft. And Nintendo.
Episode 124: The Best Games of 2015
Two top 10s of 2015’s greatest games. Hear about Matthew and Samuel’s friendship emerging during a press trip to Germany.
Episode 113: The Best Games of 2014
Two top 10 lists from 2014. Expect a mixture of mag recollections and deep analysis of the games that mattered.
Episode 109: The Best Games of 2022
2022 was undoubtedly a blockbuster-deprived year, but it was still a strong 12 months for games in many other ways.
Episode 87: The Best Games of 2013
Two top 10 lists of the best games of 2013, in our usual style.
Episode 72: The Best Games of 2012
Two top 10 lists of the best games of 2012, in our usual style. Enjoy!
Episode 58: The Best Games of 2021
Our GOTY episode is here!
Episode 52: The Best Games of 2011 (except Dark Souls)
A year that brought us Batman: Arkham City, Skyrim and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
Episode 42: The Best Games of 2010
2010, one of the best years of gaming in modern memory.
Episode 33: The Best Games of 2009
From Uncharted 2 to Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Episode 23: The Best Games of 2008
From Dead Space to Grand Theft Auto 4, 2008 was a phenomenal year in gaming.
Episode 14: The Best Games of 2007
From Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune to Crackdown.
Episode 11: Best Games of the Console Generation - Part 2
Our two top 30 games of the generation lists conclude this week.
Episode 10: Best Games of the Console Generation - Part 1
Two top 30 lists of the best games on PS4, Xbox One and Wii U from the past 7 or 8 years.
Episode 6: The Best Games of 2020
Wow, 2020 was the worst!
Episode 4: The Best Games of 2006
From Twilight Princess to Gears of War.
Draft
Episode 180: The PSP Draft
Retro Gamer editor Darran Jones steps into the draft dojo to celebrate Sony’s first gaming handheld device.
Episode 177: The Game Soundtracks Draft
Two Giant Men, 20 categories, dubious rules! Time for another draft episode, this time on the subject of video game soundtracks.
Episode 166: The PlayStation Draft
Time for our first draft episode of 2024! It’s the turn of the PlayStation, one of the most important consoles in history.
Episode 155: The Licensed Games Draft
Samuel and Matthew compete to pick the best selection of 10 licensed games, and discuss the wildly inconsistent history of licensed games.
Episode 144: The Nintendo DS Draft
Matthew and Samuel compete to pick the 15 best Nintendo DS games – after an extremely long preamble.
XXL Episode 17: The ‘Matthew Castle Productions and Big Sammy Holdings Launch Rival Streaming Services’ Draft
Our first ever draft episode behind the paywall is a truly chaotic affair – see what you make of this 2.5-hour epic.
Episode 137: The PS3 Draft
Matthew and Samuel compete to pick the best 10 games (and one HD collection) that represent the PS3’s somewhat inconsistent library.
Episode 130: The Xbox 360 Draft
Is the Xbox 360 the greatest console ever made? And remember, it’s just a bit of fun! Except where we take what the other person says very personally.
Episode 119: The Capcom Games Draft
Matthew and Samuel compete to pick the 10 best Capcom games from the developer/publisher’s extensive and dazzling library.
Episode 108: The RPG Companions Draft
We each try to assemble the ‘dream’ RPG party across 14 categories. Predictably, we each created nightmares instead.
Episode 92: The 2000-2005 PC Gaming Draft
It’s draft revenge time! Who can pick the 10 best games released during the years 2000-2005?
Episode 81: The ’90s PC Games Draft
Samuel and Matthew each compete to pick the 10 best PC games released in the years 1990 to 1999.
Episode 69: The PS Vita Draft
Matthew and Samuel compete to build the best library for Sony’s fan-favourite handheld device.
Episode 64: The Game Pass Competitor Draft
Matthew Castle Productions and Big Sammy Holdings are each taking on Game Pass. Who built the best gaming subscription service?
Episode 60: The Nintendo Wii Draft
Matthew and Samuel compete to pick the 10 best Wii games.
Episode 53: The Xbox vs GameCube Draft
Who can build the best hypothetical mini console, Matthew, representing GameCube, or Samuel, representing the original Xbox?
Episode 44: The N64 Mini Draft
Matthew and Samuel each compete to pick the 10 best games on the system for a hypothetical N64 Mini console.
Episode 38: The PS2 Mini Draft
What if Sony released a PS2 Mini? And what if it was good?
Episode 27: The Game Developer Draft
Matthew and Samuel can each pick 6 game developers to build a new publisher.
Games Court
Episode 182: Games Court – Big Sammy European Extreme Edition
The worst format in podcasting is back! For the first time since 2021, Samuel runs his pre-owned purchases past Judge Castle.
Episode 173: Games Court 2024
The worst format in British podcasting returns.
Episode 145: Dear God, More Games Court
Happy, you sickos? It’s the latest entry in our bizarre Games Court format. Those found guilty will die…by Pikmin.
Episode 129: Regrettably, More Games Court
More listeners’ pre-owned purchases go on trial in this latest version of the much-despised Games Court podcast format. Enjoy, and deepest apologies.
Episode 112: Games Court 2023
Our most interminable podcast format, Games Court, returns! Sorry again for the continued existence of Games Court.
Episode 97: Games Court – Judge Sammy’s Garbage Barge
A grim fate awaits anyone who gets on the wrong side of Judge Big Sammy.
Episode 84: Games Court 4 – A Few Pre-Owned Games More
This time Judge Big Sammy is making the verdicts.
Episode 68: Bad eBay Games Court 2022
Judge Castle returns to decide whether listeners must die.
Episode 46: Bad eBay Games Court – Listener Edition
Who will live and who will die?
Episode 41: Bad eBay Games Court – The Retrial
Judge Matthew Castle will decide if defendant Samuel Roberts lives or dies.
Episode 15: Bad eBay Games Court
Samuel Roberts stands accused of crimes against good taste.
Jeremy Peel
Episode 164: How To Write A Feature About Games (with Jeremy Peel)
Beloved guest Jeremy Peel drops by.
Episode 140: Old RPGs and Baldur’s Gate 3 (with Jeremy Peel)
With Baldur’s Gate 3 taking over the world, genre expert Jeremy Peel returns to discuss how RPGs have evolved since the days of the Infinity Engine games.
PC Gaming Classics Episode 6: Quake vs Half-Life
It’s a showdown of revolutionary late ’90s first-person shooters: id Software’s Quake versus Valve’s Half-Life.
PC Gaming Classics Episode 5: Jurassic Park: Trespasser
Jeremy and Phil stretch the definition of ‘classic’ to its limit in this episode, which explores the flawed but fascinating Jurassic Park: Trespasser.
PC Gaming Classics Episode 4: X-Com: UFO Defense
This foundational title in the turn-based strategy genre is hard as heck these days – but does it stand the test of time regardless?
PC Gaming Classics Episode 3: Fallout
Jeremy and Phil tackle 1997’s Fallout, arguably the most important PC RPG of that decade.
PC Gaming Classics Episode 2: Blade Runner
Westwood’s Blade Runner adventure game comes under the spotlight.
PC Gaming Classics Episode 1: System Shock 2
Irrational’s classic sci-fi horror immersive sim System Shock 2.
Episode 96: GTA Clones on Trial
From The Getaway to Sleeping Dogs, this week Judge Matthew Castle puts the open world games that followed in GTA 3’s wake on trial.
Episode 82: Top 10 Most Anticipated Games
We count down our 10 personal most anticipated games, based on whatever E3 was this year.
Episode 43: Deathloop and Immersive Sims (with Jeremy Peel)
We’ve finished Deathloop! Hear about the history of the immersive sim.
Hall of Fame
Episode 125: The Shinji Mikami Hall of Fame (with Rich Stanton)
Matthew and Rich Stanton build a hall of fame from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami’s body of work.
Episode 117: The Wii U Hall of Fame (with Ashley Day)
Our task this week is to construct a 10-game hall of fame (or perhaps hall of infamy?) for the Nintendo Wii U.
Episode 101: Bayonetta 3 and Platinum
The wonderful 101st episode of The Back Page attempts to build a 5-game hall of fame from the entire PlatinumGames catalogue.
Episode 95: The Lucasarts Adventure Games Hall of Fame (with Ashley Day)
We try to boil down the complete library of Lucasarts adventure games into five representative titles.
Episode 86: The Nintendo Switch Games Hall of Fame Vol. 1
We undertake another grand project: building a library of the very best games for the Nintendo Switch.
Episode 73: The Indie Games Hall of Fame Vol. 2 (with Joe Skrebels)
Another round of indie game recommendations – and 20 minutes of very welcome Dragon’s Dogma chat.
Episode 40: The Indie Games Hall of Fame Vol 1 (with Katharine Castle)
Plus: another baffling listener question about Yuji Naka.
Predictions
Episode 159: 24 Gaming Predictions About 2024
After last week’s belting return with the GOTY episode, it’s time we roll out some bullshit gaming predictions for 2024.
Episode 111: 23 Wild Gaming Predictions About 2023
From Indiana Jones to a Nintendo Switch successor, it’s time for 23 more ridiculous predictions founded on no basis of fact whatsoever.
Episode 106: 2022 Gaming Predictions Revisited
We revisit our 22 predictions from the start of the year to see just how wrong we were.
Episode 59: 22 Bold Gaming Predictions About 2022
11 predictions for the year ahead in gaming, all based on absolutely no information whatsoever.
Episode 56: 2021 Gaming Predictions Revisited
We put ourselves on trial, discussing everything from N64 games on Switch to PS5 haptics.
Episode 7: 21 wild gaming predictions about 2021
It’s all based on very few facts.
PC Gaming Classics
PC Gaming Classics Episode 6: Quake vs Half-Life
It’s a showdown of revolutionary late ’90s first-person shooters: id Software’s Quake versus Valve’s Half-Life.
PC Gaming Classics Episode 5: Jurassic Park: Trespasser
Jeremy and Phil stretch the definition of ‘classic’ to its limit in this episode, which explores the flawed but fascinating Jurassic Park: Trespasser.
PC Gaming Classics Episode 4: X-Com: UFO Defense
This foundational title in the turn-based strategy genre is hard as heck these days – but does it stand the test of time regardless?
PC Gaming Classics Episode 3: Fallout
Jeremy and Phil tackle 1997’s Fallout, arguably the most important PC RPG of that decade.
PC Gaming Classics Episode 2: Blade Runner
Westwood’s Blade Runner adventure game comes under the spotlight.
PC Gaming Classics Episode 1: System Shock 2
Irrational’s classic sci-fi horror immersive sim System Shock 2.
Edge Horcrux
Episode 168: We Collected Another Edge Editor (with Alex Wiltshire)
This week’s guest is former Edge editor Alex Wiltshire. Hear about his era of the magazine, as well as his time working at Hello Games and Mojang.
Episode 138: Edge in the ’00s
Former Edge editor Margaret Robertson joins us to discuss working on the magazine from 2003-2007 and her career in game development. It’s a good one.
Episode 131: The Edge 10 Episode (with Chris Schilling)
Edge Deputy Editor Chris Schilling joins us for this week’s episode. And yes: we talk about what it means when Edge awards a game a 10.
Episode 91: From Edge to Hit Points (with Nathan Brown)
Hear what goes into an Edge 10, as well as thoughts on Destiny, E3, Street Fighter and the world of videogame consulting.
Episode 76: From Edge to Media Molecule (with Jen Simpkins)
Former Edge editor Jen Simpkins joins us to discuss some highlights of her career.
Katharine Castle
XL Episode 7: Top Zelda Moments (with Katharine Castle)
Katharine Castle joins us to recount a whole host of great moments from The Legend of Zelda’s history.
Episode 88: Xenoblade Chronicles Special
Katharine Castle rejoins us to discuss the Xenoblade Chronicles series in enormous detail.
Episode 40: The Indie Games Hall of Fame Vol 1 (with Katharine Castle)
Plus: another baffling listener question about Yuji Naka.
Episode 12: Super Mario 3D World – the best 3D Mario game? (with Katharine Castle)
Is it better than Galaxy? Definitely not. Odyssey? Nope. But it is still pretty great.
Andy Kelly
Episode 107: Leaving Games Media (with Andy Kelly)
Andy Kelly is back to discuss his exit from games media after 18 years – and to share eight review scores he got slightly wrong.
Episode 80: Top 5 Dreamcast Games (with Andy Kelly)
Andy Kelly joins us to discuss his love of Sega’s Dreamcast, and his new Alien: Isolation book, Perfect Organism.
Episode 26: The Best Detective Games (with Andy Kelly)
What makes a great detective game?
Jay Baylis
Episode 126: How To Make A Video Game (with Jay Baylis)
Monster collecting RPG Cassette Beasts just launched! To celebrate, returning pod guest Jay Baylis talks us through the creation of the game.
Episode 62: Pokémon Games (with Jay Baylis)
Jay Baylis joins us to discuss the long history of Pokémon games, subjecting Matthew to his idea of torture.
Episode 31: The Best Sonic Games (with Jay Baylis)
Please don’t unsubscribe!
Rich Stanton
Episode 125: The Shinji Mikami Hall of Fame (with Rich Stanton)
Matthew and Rich Stanton build a hall of fame from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami’s body of work.
XL Episode 4: Top 25 Metal Gear Solid Moments (with Rich Stanton)
Rich Stanton joins us to deliver a comprehensive overview of the Metal Gear Solid series.
Episode 51: Metal Gear Solid 2 Turns 20 (with Rich Stanton)
Rich Stanton joins us to discuss the game’s themes and legacy as a PS2 classic.
Not E3
Episode 181: Top 10 Most Anticipated Games
With a hangover from ninety June livestreams, Matthew and Samuel each deliver their ten favourites from the hype season.
Episode 132: Our 10 Most Anticipated Games From Not-E3 2023
From Doordash ads to a game that looks 90% like BioShock Infinite, these were our highlights from the past week of game reveals.
Episode 82: Top 10 Most Anticipated Games
We count down our 10 personal most anticipated games, based on whatever E3 was this year.
Ashley Day
Episode 162: Top 10 Sega Games (with Ashley Day)
Returning guest Ashley Day tells us about his love of the Sega Saturn, then gives us his ten favourite Sega games of all time.
Episode 117: The Wii U Hall of Fame (with Ashley Day)
Our task this week is to construct a 10-game hall of fame (or perhaps hall of infamy?) for the Nintendo Wii U.
Episode 95: The Lucasarts Adventure Games Hall of Fame (with Ashley Day)
We try to boil down the complete library of Lucasarts adventure games into five representative titles.
Joe Skrebels
Episode 73: The Indie Games Hall of Fame Vol. 2 (with Joe Skrebels)
Another round of indie game recommendations – and 20 minutes of very welcome Dragon’s Dogma chat.
Episode 17: The Best Nintendo 3DS Games (with Joe Skrebels)
We’re counting down the system’s best games.
Phil Savage
Episode 83: Why Destiny is Good (with Phil Savage)
Hate Destiny? Fair enough! You may still enjoy the first 24 minutes of this podcast.
Episode 21: The Best Yakuza Games (with Phil Savage)
Phil Savage joins us for a Yakuza-themed special episode.