The Cartridge Thief Blog

 So, The Game Awards 2023 happened... I had originally expected to be covering whatever controversial awards were handed out this year. However, aside from  Spider-Man 2  winning none of its 7 nominations and the fact that Cocoon being counted as a 'Debut Game' is like calling a 6 year-old a toddler, there hasn't been much fallout from the awards themselves this year. Baldur's Gate 3 won 'Game of the Year' and Cyberpunk 2077  won the 'No longer a puddle of vomit with a disc' award, big whoop. I can't even sarcastically pretend to be surprised. (Image via The Game Awards) Rather, something a little more personal has caught my eye this year in the form of Christopher Judge's comments on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3  and, by extension, its developers' response. To me, buried within this good-natured ribbing lies an important problem that highlights to me exactly went wrong with The Game Awards 2023 and gives us insight into some of the inner ...

 It's the most wonderful time of the year once again when we can all come together and remind ourselves of why we don't have dinner with our families more often. It is a festive time, it is a time for sharing but, above all else, it is a time to hide away and find something fun to play to distract ourselves from the fact that buying gifts for others has financially crippled us. (Images property of Sega, IO Interactive, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Marvel and Sony Interactive Entertainment and ConcernedApe) But what do we play?! Like Christmas movies, Christmas games so often feel like cheap knockoffs and shovel-ware designed to cash in on the good will of confused grandparents and players who've had one too many glasses of wine with their turkey. Well, you'll be pleased to know that I have compiled a list of games that are both festive and fun to save you from the likes of Terror in Christmas Town and Elf Bowling 3  that might be hiding under your tre...