Blowing Cartridges

As has become a yearly tradition for Blowing Cartridges, special guest and friend of the show John Dewis once again joins Zach & Brendan to once again discuss video game music.

On this episode, the trio have drawn from the hallowed vaults of video game music their favourite battle music tracks from 2022 and beyond. So tune in to find out what they believe makes a good battle track, why all their picks aren't from turn based JRPGs/RPGs and what their three track picks are. 

Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or email at [email protected]

Brendan - @Tamazoid

Zach - @Eggerino

John - @AuraPaladin Luke's 3DS Youtube Special

Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia

Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia

Music Played:

Viola Battle Theme: Gh()st - composed by Naofumi Harada, performed by Mikaila Delgado - Bayonetta 3 (2022)

Fight or Flight - composed by Machine Girl - Neon White (2022) - NME Article on soundtrack

Keves Battle - composed by Kenji Hiramatsu - Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (2022)

Blinded by Light - Composed by Ryo Yamazaki - Final Fantasy XIII (2009) 

Rude Buster - Composed by Toby Fox - Deltarune: Chapter 1 (2018)

Galleons - Composed by Duane Decker - Rise of Nations (2003)

Normal Duel - Composed by Ichirō Shimakura - Pokemon: Trading Card Game (1998)

Play the Hero (Chipp Zanuff's Theme) - Composed by Daisuke Ishiwatari - Guilty Gear Strive

True Mirror - Composed by Motoi Sakuraba - Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (2003)

Eternity: - Composed by Nobuo Uematsu, Lyrics by Hironobu Sakaguchi, Vocals by Ian Gillan - Blue Dragon (2006)

Battle Theme - Composed by Yoshito Sekigawa, Shoh Murakami, Yoshiaki Kimura, Hiroki Morishita, Fumihiro Isobe  - Paper Mario: The Origami King (2020)

11 Years ago, in March 2011 the Nintendo 3DS was launched. After selling over 75 million consoles, 11 years later the 3DS is no longer found in stores, and the console's online store, the Nintendo eShop will be taken offline on March 27, 2023.

On this episode, Brendan and Zach are joined by friend of the show Luke to discuss their respective thoughts and experiences with the 3DS. Topics discuss include Nintendo's announcement of the system, the consoles key features, and favourite games together with eShop exclusives that they suggest people should check out before the eShop is closed forever. 

Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or email at [email protected]

Brendan - @Tamazoid

Zach - @Eggerino

Luke - @adeeelnv Luke's 3DS Youtube Special

Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia

Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia

Remember fond memories of pushing your older brother off a couch as he was about to beat you for the fifteenth time on Rainbow Road on the N64? Recall forcing your friends to use the third-party controller of dubious quality when they came over to play games with you?

Joined by Josh from the Podcast Nintenvania, this episode revolves around co-operative gaming, specifically that of local, 'couch' multiplayer experiences that is arguably currently enjoying a resurgance after a 'dark age' in the late 2000s/early 2010s.

Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or email at [email protected]

Brendan - @Tamazoid

Zach - @Eggerino

Josh - @nintenvania

Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia

Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia

In the context of PAX Aus 2022 and the commentary surrounding the limited presence of major publishers on the show floor, Zach and Brendan take a dive to discuss the growing commercial role indie games have in the current gaming landscape.

Particularly focusing on the realm of consoles, the discussion focuses on the strengths of indie games, why they aren't going anywhere and ultimately the synergy in the relationship they hold with 'AAA' games.

Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or email at [email protected]

Brendan - @Tamazoid

Zach - @Eggerino

Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia

Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia

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 [email protected]

Brendan - @Tamazoid

Zach - @Eggerino

Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia

Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia

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 [email protected]

Brendan - @Tamazoid

Zach - @Eggerino

Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia

Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia

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 [email protected]

Brendan - @Tamazoid

Zach - @Eggerino

Intro music - '8 Bit Ditty' by FoolBoyMedia

Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia

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 [email protected]

Brendan - @Tamazoid

Zach - @Eggerino

Will - @Unicycles Unicycle's Game Room

Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia

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 [email protected]

Brendan - @Tamazoid

Zach - @Eggerino

Matt - Patreon; Digitally Downloaded

Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia

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. 

Fantasy Critic Patreon

Zach & Brendan's Fantasy Critic League

Brendan - @Tamazoid

Zach - @Eggerino

Steve - @fantasy_critic

Have any comments? Feel free to drop us a line via twitter @blowcartpod or via email at [email protected]

Outro - 'Video Game Land' by FoolBoyMedia