The First Ever Metacritic Game

The First Ever Metacritic Game

Author: Samuel Roberts and Matthew Castle August 15, 2025 Duration: 1:44:49

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.


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


Tucked away from the frantic news cycle, The Back Page: A Video Games Podcast offers a space for longer conversations about the games and the industry that shape our hobby. Hosts Samuel Roberts and Matthew Castle bring their combined decades of experience from publications like PC Gamer, Rock Paper Shotgun, and gamesTM to every discussion. This isn't just a review show; it's a deep dive into the culture, history, and personal stories behind the pixels. You'll hear them dissect new releases with a critic's eye, reminisce about forgotten gems, and unpack the oddities of working in games journalism itself. The tone is warm, informed, and often wryly humorous, feeling more like eavesdropping on two friends in a pub than a formal broadcast. Each episode of this podcast builds on their professional insights but is driven by a genuine, enduring passion for the medium. The result is a consistently engaging listen for anyone who thinks about games beyond the credits screen. John Strike provides the distinctive logo, and Barry 'Epoch' Topping crafts the theme tune, giving the whole production a personal, crafted feel from start to finish.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The Back Page: A Video Games Podcast
Podcast Episodes
Christmas Games Mag Quiz + Mailbag [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:57:10
The quiz part goes on for far too long. The mailbag bit has some low energy answers. But: it is an episode of this podcast.This week's music is from the No More Heroes soundtrack by Masafumi Takada and Jun Fukuda. Hosted…
Our Best Games on Every PlayStation Console – PlayStation Turns 30! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01:58
Our favourite first and third party games on every PlayStation console, just in time for its 30th anniversary. This week's music is from the Final Fantasy XV soundtrack by Yoko Shimomura. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/p…
Episode 201: Backlogeddon (with Jay Baylis) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:58
We all have too many games to play. One of our favourite guests, Jay Baylis, joins us to discuss how we all gathered massive backlogs – and what can be done to cure it.Matthew had a cold for this one. But he still went t…
Episode 200: Behind The Back Page [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:37:34
Only Jeremy Peel can save The Back Page: A Video Games Podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Two Giant Men Play Perfect Dark (Patreon Sampler) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:02:03
We need an extra week to work on episode 200, so enjoy this great episode we made for our wonderful Patreon subscribers earlier this year. Support us at Patreon.com/BackPagePod, and get more great episodes like this one.…
From Games Journalism to Blumhouse (with Louise Blain) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:02
One of our favourite returning guests, Louise Blain (last on the pod in October 2021), discusses her current role as Creative Lead at Blumhouse Games. Their first published game, Fear the Spotlight, is out on October 22n…
The PS4 Draft [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:21:44
Returning guest Dave Scarborough (who?) joins us for our next three-person draft, focused on the PlayStation 4. Vote for the winner in our pinned tweet.This week's music is from the Persona 5: Royal soundtrack by Shoji M…