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Join Brendan and Zach and often a rotating special guest as they dive into in-depth conversations about gaming culture and the games themselves.
Episodes
Thursday Sep 01, 2022
Thursday Sep 01, 2022
Political systems are all around us in everyday life, but how are they represented in video games? From masquerading as tech upgrades in strategy games to providing overlays for games like SimCity, references to politics litter the gaming landscape.
Brendan, using his finest rambling techniques, takes Zach along for a wide ranging discussion on how political systems appear and are represented in gaming.
Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or email at blowingcartridge@gmail.com
Brendan - @Tamazoid
Zach - @Eggerino
Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia
Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia
Monday Aug 08, 2022
Monday Aug 08, 2022
Why is speedrunning a phenomenon in gaming that holds such high regard? Is there a difference between skill-based completing a game as quickly as possible or finding glitches to exploit to 'unnaturally' cut the length of a game down? What is the attraction of setting artificial limitations on oneself when playing a game?
It is these questions and more that Zach and Brendan attempt to dive into on this episode of Blowing Cartridges.
Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or email at blowingcartridge@gmail.com
Brendan - @Tamazoid
Zach - @Eggerino
Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia
Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia
Sunday Jun 19, 2022
Sunday Jun 19, 2022
In a belated Easter special episode, Brendan and Zach conduct a deep dive into video game Easter Eggs. Starting with a overview of the history of Easter Eggs and the duo's favourite examples, this episode quickly devolves into a lengthy discussion about one infamous Easter Egg in particular - Totaka's song
Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or email at blowingcartridge@gmail.com
Brendan - @Tamazoid
Zach - @Eggerino
Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia
Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
Often in conversations amongst gaming enthusiasts, 'simple games' are viewed with contempt as preference is given to large, cinematic and seemingly complex experiences. But are mobile games really inherently different to console and PC games? Are simple games really simplistic or is there a hidden depth in this experiences that makes them compelling to play.
Joining Zach and Brendan for this episode is friend of the show Will, who recently posted a video on his youtube channel Unicycle's Game Room on this very topic.
Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or email at blowingcartridge@gmail.com
Brendan - @Tamazoid
Zach - @Eggerino
Will - @Unicycles Unicycle's Game Room
Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia
Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia
Saturday Feb 26, 2022
Saturday Feb 26, 2022
Thus far, the video game industry in 2022 has been marked by a number of acquisitions amongst the major gaming industry publishers and platform holders. From Microsoft acquiring Activision to Sony acquiring Bungie, it appears that the industry is increasingly consolidating before our eyes.
Joining Brendan and Zach to discuss this topic is Matt Sainsbury from Digitally Downloaded, who has been notably outspoken regarding the trajectory of the gaming industry which this current slate of acquisitions suggests it is heading towards.
Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or email at blowingcartridge@gmail.com
Brendan - @Tamazoid
Zach - @Eggerino
Matt - Patreon; Digitally Downloaded
Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia
Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia
Thursday Feb 10, 2022
Thursday Feb 10, 2022
Throughout the history of Blowing Cartridges, Brendan and Zach have often conversed about assessing whether a game is good based on a number of criteria ranging from review scores to gameplay mechanics and narrative design. However, the question remains: how does one predict whether a game will be good?
Joining the duo for this episode to discuss this topic is Steve, the creator of Fantasy Critic, a browser 'fantasy football' like game where players compete by drafting games, with scores determined by the respective game's Opencritic average score.
Zach & Brendan's Fantasy Critic League
Brendan - @Tamazoid
Zach - @Eggerino
Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or via email at blowingcartridge@gmail.com
Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia
Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia
Friday Jan 28, 2022
Friday Jan 28, 2022
Upon release in 2020 on the Nintendo Switch, Paper Mario the Origami King received a mixed response from critics and fans. Whilst enjoyed by many, it quickly found itself in the middle of the storm that has been raging since Nintendo changed the Paper Mario formula after the much beloved Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door on Gamecube.
So buckle up, put on your favourite headphones and listen as the duo their views on this already overlooked Nintendo game.
Music used are the following tracks from the Paper Mario: The Origami King OST:
Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or email at blowingcartridge@gmail.com
Brendan - @Tamazoid
Zach - @Eggerino
Friday Jan 14, 2022
Friday Jan 14, 2022
2021 was a year of returns in gaming, with a number of fan favourite franchises making their respective comebacks. However, there was an undercurrent of feeling that Coronavirus continued to exert a not so insignificant impact on the release schedule of games.
Thus Brendan and Zach dive into giving a recap of the realm of gaming in 2021, briefly discussing the major industry events that occurred and then tackling their personal favourite games of the year.
Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or email at blowingcartridge@gmail.com
Brendan - @Tamazoid
Zach - @Eggerino
Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia
Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia
Monday Dec 27, 2021
Monday Dec 27, 2021
Special guest and friend of the show John Dewis once again joins Zach & Brendan to once again discuss video game music. This time, the focus is on the role that title music plays in crafting a gaming experience and how developers use music to entice players into their game and convey elements or themes that the game itself attempts to confront.
Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or email at blowingcartridge@gmail.com
Brendan - @Tamazoid
Zach - @Eggerino
John - @AuraPaladin
Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia
Music Played:
Title Screen - WarioWare: Get it Together! - Takeru Kanazaki, Yoshito Sekigawa, Shoh Murakami, Daichi Ishihara, Shingo Kataoka, Kanji Hirao & Genki Namura https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a2qECXt4PY
Unpacking Theme - Unpacking - Jeff Van Dyck https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnqqO3aZC9s
Age of Empires IV Main Theme - Age of Empires IV - Tilman Sillescu, Alexander Röder, Henning Nugel, Armin Haas, Mikołaj Stroiński https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TVRRN2CMzk
Title Screen - Terraria - Scott Lloyd Shelly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFmnZ6VMd_4
Main Title - Wave Race 64 - Kazumi Totaka https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz9eYvuZOYg
Main Theme - Xenoblade Chronicles - Yoko Shimomura https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erKkWGfEW9U
Title - CrossCode - Deniz Akbulut https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmWJ3M25F_w
Main Theme - Moving Out - Danny Hey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR75-jDmVRQ
Moving Out and Grooving Out - IGN Article
Halo Theme - Marty O'Donnell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jXTBAGv9ZQ
Monday Dec 06, 2021
Monday Dec 06, 2021
Ever wondered what separates a "JRPG' from other "RPGs"? Why do we place what appears to be a geographic designator on a particular type of video games? What are the characteristics and elements that are fundamental to a JRPG?
Joining the usual duo of Brendan and Zach for this episode is Matt S of digitallydownloaded.net to assist in conducting a deep dive into the genre. Matt offers a wealth of experience, and we definitely recommend his reviews of many contemporary JRPGs, which can be found on his website. The trio discuss their experiences with the genre, some of their favourite games and why they believe it is a genre worthy of attention.
Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or email at blowingcartridge@gmail.com
Brendan - @Tamazoid
Zach - @Eggerino
Matt - Digitally Downloaded
Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia
Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia