An introduction to me!

Hello!

I'm the Cartridge Thief. I'm new to the games-writing scene but I've been playing games across Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo platforms since the early 2000s. I grew up cherishing my PS2 slim and haven't been able to stop talking about the games I play ever since!

I play all sorts of different games from AAA to indies, shooters to turn-based RPGs and Yakuza to Pokémon.

My aim is to celebrate all the fun that our favourite games have to offer whether they're already a part of beloved franchises or hidden gems that deserve the attention. I hope that you enjoy hearing what I have to say and that I might even shed some new light on our games libraries!

✌

(Image from Amazon.com)

The Witcher 3, Money and Immersion

Once again, emerging forth from my Hobbit-hole of inactivity, I feel compelled to talk about what experiences in video games have sparked my dormant soul to life recently. Well, this year, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt turns 10 years old and seeing as CD Projekt's other open world action RPG, Cyberpunk 2077, managed to grab me so firmly by the balls last year, it felt like an appropriate time for me to go back and play it. (Image property of CD Projekt) I should state, I had played The Witcher 3 before. I made it as far as the Skellige Isles before deciding to take a break and never coming back. My head-canon for that original Geralt is that he just never survived the shipwreck that landed him on Skellige and all hope for the future of the Northern Realms was just dumped on a beach with some driftwood. However, my infidelity with my digital hobbies wasn't what I came to talk about. Rather, I wanted to talk about the way that The Witcher 3 handles money an...

The Games-As-Art Guilt Complex

If you asked me what the most important differences are in gaming discourse now compared to when I was a kid, one of the first ideas I'd throw out would be games-as-art. While some people do tirelessly continue this asinine debate, the sheer effort and craftsmanship that goes into shaping interactive narratives has, for the rest of us, cemented that video games are works of art just like films and literature. (Images property of 3909 LLC, Black Salt Games, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and 2K Games) However, while this is settled in my mind, it has opened up a whole range of significant implications that are still worth discussing. In particular, the pressure that comes with playing games as art and the guilt complex that results from deciding what games are worth our limited time. The Games-As-Art Guilt Complex We all have a limited amount of time in our days. Without wanting to get too real here, we are all aware of how our jobs, families, friends and other obligations limit the am...

Are 'cinematic' games a good thing?

Ever since 3D graphics became realistic enough to render any level of human emotions, many writing and development teams have aspired to make ‘cinematic’ gaming experiences. In all honesty, some brave pioneers tried to make cinematic experiences before that point and are the reason why a large chunk of the PS1’s library hasn’t aged very well. In recent years, the cinematic game has been exemplified by titles like God of War: Ragnarok, The Last of Us and, before that, Uncharted. Beyond Playstation exclusives, we also have titles like the A Plague Tale series and shades of the cinematic experience can be seen in many shooters like Call of Duty and Gears of War ’s linear action set pieces. (Image property of Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment) It is a difficult type of game to pin down and define but, much like a human turd, you just know one when you see it. They can usually be identified by their heavy story focus with long cutscenes of serious, emotion...

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