About the show

A video games podcast where Dave Jackson and guests break down and discuss the games they play. Each episode looks at one game in depth, focusing on mechanics, story, music and other aspects, with no spoilers until a clearly marked spoiler wall in the middle.

Tales from the Backlog on social media

Episodes and Blog Entries

  • 97: Sea of Stars (with Aaron Angle & Ryan Arrington)

    Episode  |  December 6th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 18 mins
    game review, jrpg, sabotage studios

    Dave is joined by Aaron Angle and Ryan Arrington to discuss Sabotage Studio's 2023 retro-throwback RPG, Sea of Stars.

  • "Uncommon" Real-World Settings in Video Games (with Ozzy Garcia & Randall Quiggle)

    Episode  |  November 29th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 42 mins
    break from the backlog, roundtable

    Dave is joined by Ozzy Garcia and Randall Quiggle to discuss games set in real, yet uncommon locations and what we can learn from them.

  • 96: Final Fantasy XVI (with Rick Firestone & Eric Gess)

    Episode  |  November 22nd, 2023  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 43 mins
    final fantasy, game review, jrpg, square enix

    Dave is joined by Rick Firestone (Pixel Project Radio) and Eric Gess (The Unlockables) to discuss Square Enix's Final Fantasy XVI.

  • 95: F-Zero X (with Dave Pietrangelo - Remember 64)

    Episode  |  November 15th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 38 mins
    game review, nintendo, nintendo 64, racing games

    Dave is joined by Dave Pietrangelo from Remember 64 and Back in My Day podcasts to discuss F-Zero X, Nintendo's hyperspeed space racer from the Nintendo 64.

  • 94: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (with Mick Arcade)

    Episode  |  November 8th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 9 mins
    bioware, game review, rpg, star wars

    Dave is joined by Mick Arcade to discuss BioWare's Star Wars role-playing game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

  • 2nd Birthday Mailbag!

    Episode  |  November 1st, 2023  |  Season 1  |  49 mins 11 secs
    mailbag

    Tales from the Backlog is 2 years old! To celebrate, I am doing the yearly mailbag episode!

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    93: Signalis (with Chris Coplien & Shane Koski)

    Episode  |  October 25th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 40 mins
    game review, horror games, indie games

    Dave is joined by Chris Coplien and Shane Koski from Retro Hangover to discuss rose-engine's dreamlike survival horror throwback, Signalis.

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    92: Dead Space (2023) (with Chris aka Vertigo2Hell)

    Episode  |  October 18th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 55 mins
    ea, game review, horror games, motive studio

    Dave is joined by horror games streamer Chris aka Vertigo2Hell to discuss Motive Studio and EA's 2023 remake of Dead Space.

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    91: Iron Lung (with Gary Butterfield & Kole Ross)

    Episode  |  October 11th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 17 mins
    game review, horror, indie games

    Dave is joined by Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross (Duckfeed.tv - Watch Out For Fireballs!, Bonfireside Chat and many more!) to discuss David Szymanski's first-person submarine horror game, Iron Lung.

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    90: Resident Evil (2002) (with Adelaide Lohkamp)

    Episode  |  October 4th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 52 mins
    capcom, game review, resident evil

    Dave is joined by Adelaide Lohkamp to discuss Resident Evil, the 2002 remake of Resident Evil, the 1996 original by Capcom.

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    Getting Into Horror Games (with Adam Bucceri - Half Tone Takes, Gerry - Super Ghost Radio, & Dog Faced Gamer)

    Episode  |  September 27th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 50 mins
    break from the backlog, horror

    Dave is joined by Adam Bucceri (Half Tone Takes pocast), Gerry (Super Ghost Radio) and Dog Faced Gamer to discuss how we all got into horror games.

  • 89: Kid Icarus: Uprising (with TripleSMoon)

    Episode  |  September 20th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 1 min
    3ds, game review, kid icarus, nintendo

    Dave is joined by TripleSMoon to discuss Kid Icarus: Uprising- Project Sora and Nintendo's 3rd person action/rail shooter hybrid for the 3DS.

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    88: Wario World (with Thrak - The 3DO Experience)

    Episode  |  September 13th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 27 mins
    game review, gamecube, nintendo, wario

    Dave is joined by Thrak from The 3DO Experience to discuss Treasure and Nintendo's 3D Wario platformer, Wario World.

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    87: The Secret of Monkey Island (with Doug Lief - Nostalgium Arcanum)

    Episode  |  September 6th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 52 mins
    game review, point and click

    Dave is joined by Doug Lief (Nostalgium Arcanum podcast) to discuss LucasFilm Games' seminal point-and-click adventure, The Secret of Monkey Island.

  • 86: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (with Andrew & Dylan - Your Friendly Neighborhood Gamers)

    Episode  |  August 30th, 2023  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 34 mins
    cd projekt red, game review, rpg, the witcher

    Dave is joined by Andrew Kimball and Dylan Wren from Your Friendly Neighborhood Gamers to discuss The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, the 2011 RPG by CD Projekt Red.

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    85: The Three Versions of Metroid 2 (with Case Aiken, Matt Storm & Geoff Moonen)

    Episode  |  August 23rd, 2023  |  Season 1  |  3 hrs 5 mins
    game review, metroid, nintendo

    Dave is joined by Case Aiken (Men of Steel, Another Pass), Matt Storm ("Fun and Games", Reignite, Screen Snark) and Geoff Moonen ("Fun" and Games) to discuss Metroid 2: Return of Samus and its two remakes- AM2R and Samus Returns.