The Back Page: A Video Games Podcast
Samuel Roberts and Matthew Castle 305 episodes Nov 6, 2026
Games media writers Matthew Castle and Samuel Roberts talk about video games and their years covering the industry professionally. Matthew has worked for NGamer and Rock Paper Shotgun, while Samuel has written for PC Gamer, gamesTM and TechRadar. The show mixes game discussion with stories from their careers in games journalism. The logo is by John Strike and the theme tune is by Barry 'Epoch' Topping.
Episodes
The Death of BioWare
After more than a decade of squandered potential, BioWare is no more. We eulogise the studio and explore how it became a cautionary tale for everything that can go wrong for a successful game developer.Plus, at the end, you get some bullshit BioWare awards. We're still The Back Page, after all!This week's music is from the Mass Effect 2: Overlord soundtrack by Christopher Lennertz. Hosted
Episode 300
We start with some difficult news...Cheers to everyone who has supported the podcast, past and present. We're delighted you're still along for the ride. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Best Games of 1998
No, not the episode 300 you were promised. For a (hopefully) obvious reason. Instead we fire up The Back Page time machine once again, setting the dial for 1998. Many call it gaming's greatest ever year. Ocarina! MGS! Half-Life! Gran Turismo! StarCraft! There's no arguing with that lot. Or is there? Find out as two contrarian chrononauts break down the main events of the year, recap the hi
What We've Been Playing (Ocarina of Time remake, Gears of War: E-Day, Control Resonant, Valor Mortis)
Matthew flew to Germany and played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, which is rather a nice surprise.Games discussed: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Gears of War: E-Day, Control Resonant, Valor Mortis, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, Dicevaders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Patreon Freebie: Two Giant Men Play Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (MGS4 Pod Coming Monday!)
We're off this week, but here's our MGS2 episode from August. Support us at patreon.com/backpagepod if you enjoy what we make! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
An Irrelevant Mailbag Foolishly Recorded at 7.30AM
Probably the least relevant and most tangent-heavy mailbag episode to date, and that's saying something. Here's Samuel's piece on game names for PC Gamer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What We've Been Playing (Marvel's Wolverine, Silent Hill: Townfall, Orbitals)
Our third and final attempt to tackle the big games of September reaches Sony's biggest release of the year and the latest Silent Hill entry.The developer of Orbitals is Shapefarm, not Shapeform as Samuel incorrectly stated. Duh. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
When Mainstream Media Started Caring About Games (with Mike Diver)
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/
Nintendo Direct Reaction + What We've Been Playing (The Blood of Dawnwalker, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, VHOLUME, MGS: Ghost Babel)
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.
What We've Been Playing (Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Star Wars: Zero Company, Guns of Eschaton, Super Mario Sunshine)
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.
A Few Game Design Crimes More (with Jamie Smith)
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 D
The Nintendo DS + 3DS Mega Draft (with Dave Scarborough and Ashley Day)
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 MarioGame featuring Link90+ on MetacriticGame with novel touchscreen controlsGame made in JapanGame made outside JapanPort or re-releaseWild card
What We've Been Playing (Splatoon Raiders, Denshattack!, The Incident at Galley House, Big Walk, Onimusha 2)
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.
Two Giant Men Play Halo: Campaign Evolved + Backseat Design the Next Halo Game
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 to Make a Sequel to a Successful Video Game (with Jay Baylis)
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. Host
The Best Games of 1997
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
Mailbag
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.
What We've Been Playing (Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, Star Fox, Rhythm Heaven Groove)
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 en
Games Court – Judge Castle Decides Edition
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.
Two Giant Men Play Grand Theft Auto V
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.
The First-Person Draft (with Jeremy Peel)
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 shooterMultiplayer shooterSim (including immersive sim)Game with emphasis on movement or platformingNarrative or horror gameGame from the last 5 yearsRPGFree pickWild ca
Our 10 Most Anticipated Games from Summer Games Fest 2026
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.
Mina the Hollower, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight + Mailbag
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.
Two Giant Men Play 007 First Light
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
Forza Horizon 6, Mixtape, Titanium Court + Mailbag
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 N64 + GameCube Mega Draft
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 b
What We've Been Playing (007 First Light, Pragmata, Vampire Crawlers, Tides of Tomorrow, Titanium Court, Replaced)
Matthew played IO's Bond game! Some other games are discussed, too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Xbox Live Arcade, PSN and WiiWare Draft
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.
Game Design Crimes (with Jamie Smith)
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. Ho
What We've Been Playing (Crimson Desert, PS5 Pro, Tomodachi Life, Raccoin, Returnal, The Ratline)
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, RaccoinMatthew's games: Crimson Desert, Tomodachi Life, The Ratline Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mailbag
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 a
Unsung Aspects of Video Game Design (with Emma Kent)
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. Ho
The Best Games of 2018
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.
Becoming Pals with Hideki Kamiya and Other Stories (with Andy Robinson)
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 (Reanimal, Marathon, Dark Auction, Yakuza Kiwami 3, Romeo is a Dead Man, PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid's Curse, Denshattack!)
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 an
Two Giant Men Play Resident Evil Requiem
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
Games Court 2026
Judge Castle tackles listeners' moral dilemmas in the return of podcasting's worst format. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Video Game Levels Draft (with Ashley Day and Dave Scarborough)
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 so
Writing the Book on Nintendo + the Top 10 Most Underrated Nintendo Games (with Keza MacDonald)
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.
Three Giant Men Play Grand Theft Auto IV (with Jeremy Peel)
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.
What We've Been Playing (Skate Story, TR-49, POPUCOM, Wheel World, The Case of the Worst Day Ever, The Berlin Apartment)
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.
Mailbag 2026: Review Scores, the Death of VR Games, How Games End Up Bad, Favourite NPCs and More
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 on
2026 Gaming Predictions + Fantasy Critics Draft
26 (or so) predictions about 2026, based on nothing whatsoever. Plus: our 2025 predictions revisited, and our 5 picks for this year's fantasy draft.This week's music is from the Trauma Center: Second Opinion soundtrack by Kenichi Tsuchiya and Shingo Yasumoto. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Best Games of 2025
Two top 10 lists of the best games from 2025. This week's music is from the Promise Mascot Agency soundtrack by Peter McCaughan and Ryo Koike.Want to play Matthew's number 3? Head here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Alternative GOTY Awards 2025
Need a video game awards show with dumb categories no company would ever sponsor? We've got your back, once again.Thanks to all our returning guests from this year for dropping in! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Top Emotional Moments in Games (with Lucy Blundell)
This episode is all about the games that hit players with emotional gut punches. You get 50 minutes of nice preamble with returning guest, indie developer Lucy Blundell, then 1 hour+ of our combined 15 top emotional moments in games.After the 50-minute mark, this episode features spoilers (some light, some heavy) for these games: Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, Like A Dragon: In
Top 5 Metroid Games (with Jay Baylis)
Cassette Beasts developer and all-round great video game thinker Jay Baylis joins us once again! In time for the release of Metroid Prime 4, Matthew and Jay each share their top 5 games in Nintendo's series.This is the Critical Hit article Jay mentioned on Metroid's possible influences. This week's music is from the Metroid: Zero Mission soundtrack by Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano. Hosted on Ac
The Back Page Episode + ARC Raiders (with Phil Savage)
The podcast eats itself! The Back Page finally dedicates a whole episode to its namesake. How do back page jokes go wrong? And what about the less frequent times when they go well? Returning guest Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief of PC Gamer, helps us examine the creation of these gags. There's also a 20-minute bit on ARC Raiders near the start if that's your sort of thing.This week's music is
The 16-bit Games Mega Draft (with Ashley Day and Dave Scarborough)
The drafts return! Four giant men compete to pick the best games on the Mega Drive (or Genesis, if you're American), SNES and Neo Geo across 8 categories – plus a 9th bonus category specifically for the Amiga.This week's music is from the Streets of Rage 2 soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro and the Chrono Trigger soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda (not Rick Astley). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac
The Oral Histories of Video Games (with Matt Leone)
This week's guest is Matt Leone, former Special Projects Editor at Polygon. Hear all about his new website Design Room, and his work on the oral history of Final Fantasy VII and and Shadow of the Colossus. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Two Giant Men Play Super Mario Galaxy
A deep dive into an all-time classic on Wii. We'll do this again on Monday for Super Mario Galaxy 2, exclusively for Patreon XL Tier members!This week's music is from the Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack by Koji Kondo and Mahito Yokota. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What We've Been Playing (Dispatch, Absolum, The Séance of Blake Manor, Ninja Gaiden 4), Mailbag + The Worst Zelda Quiz Ever
Games discussed: Dispatch, Absolum, The Séance of Blake Manor, Ninja Gaiden 4, Hell is Us.Then, Samuel butchering a bunch of Zelda quiz questions. It has to be heard to be believed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 250: 10 Games We Enjoyed During Steam Next Fest – Plus a Handful of Duds
A deep dive on the demos we tried during Steam Next Fest, hopefully giving you a few things for your wishlist consideration.Samuel's games: Reanimal, Birdcage, Lumines Arise, The Killing Stone, Evil Egg, Skate Story, Ambrosia Sky, Cairn.Matthew's games: CiniCross, No More Work For Ito, Opus: Prism Peak, The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time, The Seance of Blake Manor.We won't list
The 'Games Set in Japan' Hall of Fame (plus Absolum and Ball X Pit)
Following our moderately good episode about games set in Britain earlier this year, we assemble a list of the 10 key games set in Japan. Did we get it wrong? Probably. Plus: a mini 'What We've Been Playing' episode about two recent download games we've been digging!This week's music is from the Persona 4 soundtrack by Shoji Meguro. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What We've Been Playing (Ghost of Yotei, Silent Hill f, Baby Steps, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Revisited)
Matthew has Covid! Poor chap. At least he got through all six seasons of Justified while recovering. Here are the games discussed this week: Silent Hill f, Ghost of Yotei, Baby Steps, No, I am not a human, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and the latest Golden Idol DLC. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Reassuringly Finite (with Jon Denton)
Music podcaster and former games journalist Jon Denton is our guest this week! Hear about Jon's journey from gamesTM to being pals with The Weeknd.This week's music is from the Super Mario World soundtrack by Koji Kondo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Best Games of 2017
A massive year for games, a bleak year for at least one giant man. One of our oldest and most popular podcast formats is back, more than two years after our 2016 episode!This week's music is from the Yakuza 0 soundtrack by Kensuke Inage and Yoshihiro Arai. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mailbag
It's another mailbag. Topics discussed: Mr Kipling's Angel Slices, why Tomb Raider keeps needing reboots, Nintendo's struggles on the GameCube, Steve Martin and matching sandwiches to video games. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Two Giant Men Play Rockstar's Bully (Patreon Sampler)
If you enjoy this episode, consider supporting us so we can make more Two Giant Men episodes just like it!As voted for by the listeners, we revisit Rockstar Vancouver's 2006 ode to high school life – as well as our own cursed teenage years.This week's music is from the amazing Bully soundtrack by Shawn Lee, which we neglected to talk about in the episode. Thanks to Michael 'BanyaBat' for the edits
007 First Light Reactions, Plus: What We've Been Playing (Mafia: The Old Country, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, Hollow Knight, Kirby on Switch 2, MGS Delta: Snake Eater)
The stack of games we've been chewing through lately, plus our reactions to the 007 First Light footage released this week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The All-Star Japanese Game Developer Draft (with Ashley Day and Dave Scarborough)
Our quarterly four-person draft is here! The Two Giant Men are joined by two further giant men as we compete to pick the best 11 games from some of our favourite Japanese game developers. To mix things up, expect a couple of twists on the usual draft format...This week's music is from the Street Fighter 2 soundtrack by Yoko Shimomura and Isao Abe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in
Two Giant Men Play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
The Back Page's road to GTA 6 – a borderline-unviable series of playthroughs of older GTA games – continues! You don't need to have revisited San Andreas to enjoy this episode. We give you a nice overview of everything going on in the story and missions. We dig deep into the game's early '90s Californian setting, the ways it pushed the GTA mission formula forwards, and why its Definitive Edition s
The First Ever Metacritic Game
With 750 Metacritic 'points' each, who can pick the best 10 games based on their critical averages? A panel of judges will decide, and we'll talk about who won in a future episode! Let us know what you think of this episode format in the comments. It resulted in at least one incredibly wild choice...This week's music is from the Binary Domain soundtrack by Hidenori Shoji and Mitsuharu Fukuyama. Ho
Three Games Court Episodes In One Year? In This Economy?
More pre-owned game purchases go on trial in Judge Castle's Games Court. It's a fun one! We welcome more entries for future Games Court episodes, if you have them, at backpagegames@gmail.com.This week's music is the Games Court theme by listener Adam Saucier. Cheers for your fine work! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ghostbusters Games and gamesTM Memories (with Dave Scarborough)
Matthew is away, lying in a hot tub in Scotland somewhere! So, this week Samuel is paired up with his former gamesTM colleague and draft menace Dave Scarborough. You get 45 minutes of magazine memories, then around 80 minutes on the history of Ghostbusters in games (spoiler alert: many of them are rubbish).Apologies for the slight headphone bleed you'll hear in this episode – our audio engineer, M
Two Giant Men Play Donkey Kong Bananza (which *has* to be better than Astro Bot)
The main event of the Switch 2's post-launch period is here. But does it have the juice, the sauce or the gravy? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
gamesTM vs Edge (with Matthew Handrahan)
Former gamesTM features editor Matt Handrahan is our guest this week. Having spent a decade working on GamesIndustry.biz, he's now Portfolio Director at Kepler Interactive.The most recent game he worked on? Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which you might have heard of. This episode, though, gets into the far more important business of discussing the price of pints in Bournemouth's Sixty Million Postc
The Art of Video Game Character Customisation (with Jen Simpkins)
A delightfully unusual episode with a guest we like a lot. Matthew Castle lore fans are in for a treat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What We've Been Playing (Death Stranding 2, Rematch, Date Everything, MindsEye)
Matthew is fetching koalas for Chvrches in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, while Samuel is having year 11 lunchtime PTSD in Sloclap's football game Rematch. It's another WWBP episode!Games discussed: Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, Rematch, Date Everything, MindsEye, Pipstrello and the Cursed Yoyo, Helldivers 2 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Two Giant Men Play Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Finally, after a belated PS5 release, we dive deep into MachineGames' 2024 GOTY contender Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The first half is spoiler-free, then the second half goes deeper into the story with some fun bonus nonsense to boot (wait until you hear Matthew's pitch for The Fugitive tie-in game).This week's music is from the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle soundtrack by Gordy Haab.
Mailbag – Two Giant Ben Edition
It's a bloody mailbag! Please save your shrugs for the end. Thanks for all the questions, as ever.This week's music is from the Hotline Miami soundtrack by Perturbator. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Two Giant Men Play the Nintendo Switch 2
A new Nintendo console is here. Matthew is truly submerged in the Switch 2 experience, while Samuel has merely dipped a toe in the water. Here's how we're finding it so far.This week's music is from the Mario Kart World soundtrack by Atsuko Asahi, Maasa Miyoshi, Takuhiro Honda and Yutaro Takakuwa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
From N64 Magazine to Gamesmaster to Games Publishing (with Geraint Evans)
It's Matthew hosting the pod solo this week, and his guest is Geraint Evans, formerly of N64 magazine, NGC and Gamesmaster. These days, he's working at the publisher PQube.This week's music is from the Phantasy Star Online Episodes 1 + 2 soundtracks by Hideaki Kobayashi and Fumie Kumatani. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What We've Been Playing (Doom: The Dark Ages, Blades of Fire, The Hundred Line, The Siege and the Sandfox)
Matthew has almost finished the new Doom game, while Samuel has done about half of it – so that's the focus of this week's episode. Matthew also explains his appreciation of the new MercurySteam game, Blades of Fire, and digs deep into his never-ending playthrough of The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy on Switch.This week's music is from The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy soundtrack by Masa
The Best Games of 2005
57 minutes and 13 seconds – that's the timestamp you want for all the game chatter, including two top 10 lists of the best games of 2005. Skip all the bullshit!For everyone else? Enjoy tales of college woes and secret freezer politics. Nonsense podcasting awaits.This week's music is from the Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater soundtrack by Harry Gregson-Williams. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac
GOTY 2025 Check-In
Our guest cancelled! Gah. Well, here's an episode we airlifted out of our collective asses. Hopefully it's not too bad with two days' notice to plan it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Games Court – Castle Island x Blue Prince Edition
20ish listeners' pre-owned purchases go on trial before Judge Castle, as Games Court returns!We also talk about this week's GTA 6 trailer, with a brief section on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, too. Do get in touch if you have any future Games Court entries, and we'll keep making them.This week's music is from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 by Lorien Testard. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for
Mailbag (sandwich + game pairings, writing cover features, console launches, other nonsense)
It's time for another round of listener questions as we each recover from the 50 hours of games we played for last week's episode.Did anyone need 100 minutes of mailbag questions? Probably not, but as ever: it happened.Note: we recorded this week's episode before the Polygon and Giant Bomb layoffs if the tone around the games media chatter seems off. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more
What We've Been Playing (Blue Prince, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Promise Mascot Agency, Tempest Rising)
It's catch-up time, as a spring wave of fantastic games hit at once! All of the above, plus Bionic Bay and some Metroid series chatter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Xbox 360 Games Mega Draft
Much to the chagrin of Matthew, who had to edit it, the four-person draft is back! This time, Samuel, Matthew, Ashley Day and Dave Scarborough are fighting over the best games on Xbox 360 (note: some of them may not be the best, but that's for you to decide).This week's music is from the Fable 2 soundtrack by Danny Elfman and Russell Shaw, plus the the Bayonetta soundtrack by Helena Noguerra, Bart
