QC Done

Author: A.K.H.

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III – Review

    Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III – Review

    I don’t see the point of reviewing a game like Call of Duty Modern Warfare III at launch, for two reasons.

    First, Call of Duty has fully embraced the live service business model, and whatever game we have at launch is not going to exist in the same form a few months later. Also, there are a lot of things missing from the game right now.

    Second, the core audience of the Call of Duty games doesn’t really depend on reviews. At this point, it is an annual ritual for them to buy the latest game at launch, and begin their grind to rank up as soon as they can. So this review is going to be of no use to them whatsoever.

    Still, because I made the mistake of buying this game at launch with the intention of reviewing it, let’s get this over with.

  • The People Who Make the Games

    One of the reasons video games are popular is that they allow you to escape the worries of the real world by transporting you into a virtual wonderland. But for that to be possible, someone must actually build the game in the real world.

    In this episode, we will take a look at the people who make the games. In other words, these are the people who bring the games into the market. And like any other industry, a few corporations rule over most of the market, while a smaller group of companies and individuals do their best to offer alternate choices to players who are not happy with the mainstream options.

  • Forza Motorsport: Review

    Forza Motorsport comes at a time when its spin-off franchise Horizon has delivered back-to-back hits, and the people who play racing games casually are asking themselves, “Do I really want to play this more serious sim-racing game when I can have more fun in Horizon?”

    As one of those racing casuals, I have found little to like in the new Forza Motorsport, and a lot to dislike, in the form of an annoying bug that has stopped me from completing the game’s career mode entirely. Let’s get into the details to see what’s happening with Forza Motorsport.

  • The Core Elements of Video Games

    What makes video games enjoyable to play? In the early days, it all came down to one word – FUN. Is the game fun to play, again and again? Even today, game designers ask this question each time they make a game, but nowadays, there are other ways to make a game enjoyable, even if it is not necessarily fun to play all the time.

  • Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: Review

    Spider-Man is all about nostalgia. This character has been active in one form or the other since 1962, and continues to remain relevant even after 61 years. And the latest avatar in which the web-swinger is dominating conversations is Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man series of video games. The new game is titled Spider-Man 2, but it is actually the third game in the franchise, or fourth if you count the remaster of the first game. So Insomniac Games already has a lot of previous experience on which to build this sequel. There’s very little to complain about, and this game ensures that you have a good time overall, but let’s see what exactly the game has to offer.

  • Video Game Platforms

    There are so many types of games available on so many platforms, that for most people, it is impossible to try all of them. So they end up picking a few types of game they like to play, on the platform of their choice. Inevitably, there will be others, who may try to convince you that there is a certain type of game, played on a certain kind of device, that offers a superior experience of playing video games. It’s up to you to decide whether you’re going to entertain these opinions, or ignore them and enjoy your own experiences.

  • Assassin’s Creed Mirage: Review

    Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a soft remake of the first Assassin’s Creed game that came out all the way back in 2007. There are many similarities between the two games – but this also means Mirage repeats some of the mistakes made by the first game, making it feel a bit difficult to play in 2023.
    Let us see what exactly happens in this short, but interesting trip to Baghdad.

  • World 1-1 (Archived Post)

    Note: This is a backdated post, originally published on October 26, 2023 on my Substack page. I currently do not intend to post further on that page, so I am re-publishing the post here for archival purposes.

    After two months of procrastination planning, I finally launched my bi-lingual Gaming YouTube channels – QC Done and Aaduko – on October 24, 2023, each featuring two videos on Day One.

    Until the last day, I kept wondering if I should stick to the bi-lingual plan, because the work to be done was insane.

    Each video took between 6-10 hours to produce, as they needed to have all of the following as a bare minimum:

    1. A script, so that I could stay on track and not waste time mumbling or ranting
    2. Stock footage, so that the viewer has something to see on-screen instead of starting at a whole lot of nothing
    3. An audio track, to narrate whatever I wanted to convey to the audience
    4. Background music, to cover up the constant noise of traffic and other sounds that crept into my room at the time of recording
    5. A screenplay/timeline, to put all the above elements into a sensible order, for the viewer to follow along
    6. A half-decent title and thumbnail, so that the viewer can get a sense of what the video is about

    Now imagine doing the above for four videos. No wonder I was wondering if I should cut my work in half by skipping one language.

    In the end however, I was glad that I stuck to the plan and launched both the channels on the same day.

    Of course, the work isn’t finished. I still need to find some better thumbnails, and I’m not too happy with the retro background that I picked for the videos. But as I kept reminding myself till the end – these things will take time to improve. What’s important on Day One is to show up and showcase what’s been done so far.

    This blog/newsletter will track the story of how these channels are performing, and also document what I have in mind for “QC Done” as a project overall. I hope you will join me for the ride, and offer your feedback along the way.

    Thanks for your time!

  • Video Games: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

    An introduction to the fun and dangerous world of Video Games.

  • World 1-1: The First Video

    I like stories, and if I had infinite time, I would probably love to hear everyone’s story. But the time we have is limited, and we all have to pick and choose the stories we pay attention to.

    And when I had to pick which story I wanted to follow, it was that of video games.