Writing on Games

Hey everyone!

For a long time (next year it'll have been a decade since our first episode) I recorded a podcast called the Writing on GamesCast with my pal Nico. We haven't done an episode in a while, but I still get e-mails and messages asking when it's coming back. Completely different vibe from the channel, but it had its own fanbase and was super fun to make.

All this to say, Nico has been going through it the last wee while. The way he's been taking it all on has been admirable, but it sucks to see one of my best friends struggling so much. He's one of the funniest, kindest guys I know and is so ludicrously talented in so many ways. He and his wonderful wife Vanessa don't deserve to go through any of this, and now emergency surgery for his beloved dog Bear has hit him with yet another bill that unfortunately he needs some help with.

You can find more details and help out here: www.gofundme.com/f/help-bear-recover-from-emergenc…

Him setting up a gofundme to help with this is true last resort stuff—he was so anxious posting it but needs must. I also know that times are absurdly tough for everyone right now and Nico would hate people giving when they're struggling to get by themselves.

That said, I still get told all the time about how much joy Nico has brought into the lives of complete strangers. To me it's totally understandable, he's one of the best people I know, but it's still wild that so many people have been affected by his positivity and humour. If you happen to be one of those people and you're able to, if you'd consider pledging whatever you can to the gofundme link - no matter how small - it would be greatly appreciated.

Even if you understandably can't help financially, if you could share the link wherever you can that would rule so, so much.

At the very least this gave me a chance to rant and rave about how much I adore Nico and value having him in my life. Thank you so much for reading if you got this far and for whatever support you can offer him.

www.gofundme.com/f/help-bear-recover-from-emergenc…

More videos coming very very soon!

Thanks,
Writing on Games

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 212

Writing on Games

Hey everyone!

Just letting you know the new video is available. It's about Mafia: The Old Country and how, by defying player/critical expectations of crime games with expansive worlds, it manages to mechanically align players more fully with the stories of its characters. A lot of people have told me they dig it which is cool! Felt good to release a non-Kojima vid for the first time in what feels like ages, haha.

Views-wise YouTube is telling me it isn't performing well or whatever but that's nothing new. Indeed, while most people have been talking about how YouTube broke something last month, I haven't enjoyed particularly great views for a long time now.

Don't worry, my point isn't to moan, quite the opposite - I've long since learned to adapt to this stuff, and in terms of the videos themselves, I'm probably happier with the process than I perhaps ever have been! The idea of shifting what I do purely to perhaps meet some algorithm I have no idea as to the workings of just doesn't sit right with me, so as long as I get personal satisfaction out of it, and some of you get a kick out of it, I'll keep making what I want to make!

I've got so many projects on all kinds of games that I am so excited to be working on and I hope you're excited to see. Genuinely, whether it all gets millions or just a few thousand views, I couldn't really care less. As long as I'm happy with the work, I'm good.

That said, it isn't exactly financially sustainable and, after ten years of doing this, that is certainly a concern! With that in mind, I am branching out - got plans to get more serious with this in the coming months, but for a while now I've been helping other creators with script editing and consultation. It has been super rewarding to help people really develop their writing style and cut to the core of the thesis they're trying to convey. If you want more info, feel free to reach out on my Bluesky (bsky.app/profile/writingongames.bsky.social). I've been told repeatedly that, for the service I provide, my rates are ridiculously cheap!

I'm also providing audio and video services to boot (editing, mixing, mastering, for YouTube, podcasts, albums/EPs, etc.). At least a decade of experience in video and, well... god knows how long in audio. Too long. The majority of my life, lol.

Basically, if you've got work for me, I'm more than happy to do it! Again, reach out via Bluesky above or by e-mail (hamish@writingongames.co.uk) and we can discuss what you need.

Of course, if you don't need any of that - say, the videos have provided you any kind of comfort, joy or have deepened your connection to games or art as a whole - and you just want the videos to continue regardless of view count, then you can always show your support on patreon.com/writingongames or use the Join functionality on here. Doing so gets you ad-free uploads as well as several exclusive, fully produced videos (at least on Patreon, I'll work on setting that up with YouTube memberships) that people seem to be quite fond of. Seriously, every contribution really, *really* helps me continue the work I've been doing on the channel for ten years now.

All good if you can't though, times are tough for everyone. Look after yourselves first. Either way, if you're watching the videos, I cannot thank you enough. Your support in viewership alone means more to me than you know. You're the best, and here's to ten more years of making videos, lol.

Thanks a bunch. Like I say, got a ton more vids coming very very soon, with a few big projects I think a lot of you will be excited for.

Cheers,
Writing on Games

1 month ago | [YT] | 137

Writing on Games

Hello everyone!

First off, I released a new video yesterday analysing Death Stranding 2. It does go into spoilers later on but those points are timestamped if you want to avoid them! A lot of work went into this one, I hope you enjoy it. Share it around if you feel so inclined! Every boost helps.

Second, as I talk about towards the end of the video, the channel just celebrated its tenth (!) birthday about a week ago. Can't believe it's been that long—even when things feel tough and stressful, I figure that means I must be doing something right! Thank you all so much for your support over the years, whether that's through support on Patreon, or even just watching, commenting and sharing the videos. Couldn't have done it without you all. Means the world.

I have a whooooole lot more exciting projects to come, but I figure I'll celebrate the tenth anniversary with a stream at some point. I'll keep you all posted!

Thanks so much once again for all of your support,

Hamish
Writing on Games

3 months ago | [YT] | 102

Writing on Games

Hey everyone!

Just a reminder that I uploaded a feature length piece on the bosses of the Metal Gear Solid series—my longest video yet! YouTube doesn't seem to be doing a great job pushing it out to people but hey, a) I really liked making it so that's all that matters and b) that's what you get when you don't upload in three months (plus a bunch of my most popular videos started off ranked 10 of 10 in YouTube Studio, with YouTube explicitly telling me to make less of those kinds of videos if I wanted anyone to care lol)

Either way, if you watched it and liked it, sharing it or telling a friend would be truly appreciated! Thank you to those that have already checked it out, and cheers everyone for your continued support. You rule!

Thanks again,
Writing on Games

1 year ago | [YT] | 157

Writing on Games

Hey everyone!

It's been a while (about three months to be exact) but I'm back with a new video! Thanks for all your patience and support while I worked on what has managed to eclipse the Armored Core video as my longest project yet—a feature length examination (in the style of my Hitman videos) of how Metal Gear Solid's bosses evolved, how the series managed to spawn so many iconic characters, and why certain rosters were more successful than others.

I really hope you like it—tell a friend if you do! I have a bunch more stuff in the pipeline (including some more longform pieces) that I've been working on alongside this, so more videos are coming very soon!

Incredibly appreciative to get to do this after almost a decade. Thank you all so much.

Writing on Games

1 year ago | [YT] | 37

Writing on Games

Once again coming at you with a music post—I'm in a noise rock band called CIVIL ELEGIES and we just released our first new collection of songs in eight years. It's an EP called NO LIFE, and if you're into bands like Melvins, Godflesh, Full of Hell, KEN Mode and the like, you may get a kick out of this.

I realise this won't be to everyone's taste here, but a lot of you have shown interest in my musical endeavours outside of the channel, and so I present this to you!

Available on our Bandcamp (civilelegies.bandcamp.com/) and streaming services!

Now, back to work on the videos! Trying to finish this Mad Max vid I've been producing on and off for a couple of years, I'll keep you posted

Cheers!

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1 year ago | [YT] | 165

Writing on Games

Hey everyone! So whenever I've posted about my music before I've expected people to be way more hostile than actually ends up being the case—very cool of you, so here we go again. I've released some more music, only this time I made it all myself!

For a while now I've been working on an album in the background, that I'll be releasing at some point soon under the moniker POINT CRUX. Here's the first single, entitled TOUCH GLASS.

The stuff I've previously posted about has been super heavy and noisy, where this is far more melodic and groove-oriented by comparison. I guess my reference points were bands like Talking Heads and LCD Soundsystem. Is that reflected in the final product? Who knows.

Either way, it's been super fun and satisfying to have written, recorded, mixed and mastered (and now releasing I guess) this whole thing by myself. Pretty proud of it if I do say so myself, and hopefully you might be able to get a kick out of it.

The track is available wherever you stream music, as well as Bandcamp (where, for a few hours more, it's Bandcamp Friday, meaning I get 100% of purchases made on the platform—not that I'm expecting anyone to buy the track, just something to consider)!

Thanks so much for your support everyone. Means the world. Details on the album soon, as well as more videos!

pointcrux.bandcamp.com/

1 year ago | [YT] | 283

Writing on Games

Did you know I have an almost half-hour video on my experience completing Tears of the Kingdom, Final Fantasy XVI, Street Fighter 6 AND We Love Katamari, that also happened to turn into an examination of how the need to finish games can also ruin them?

Did you know I also have videos on what kind of "game" Edge of Tomorrow/Live Die Repeat is? How people misunderstanding music production affects my perception of Game Design YouTube?

You might not, because these videos aren't on the main channel. I'll be making a video to update people on this soon, but these vids and more are all available on my Patreon, to patrons of all pledge levels.

patreon.com/writingongames

For the last wee while I've been trying to build a library of Patreon exclusive content - both to give more value to those who allow me to keep doing the work I'm doing sustainably, but also to allow me to explore weirder topics in a way where I'm not worrying about how these might affect overall channel performance/algorithmic placement.

It's honestly been a really rejuvenating thing, making videos on whatever the hell I want, with that notion of "if only 100 people watch this that's fine, as long as the patrons are happy with it" in my mind. I feel, and those patrons have sent me many messages to this effect, that these videos represent some of my best work yet.

Don't worry, if you're not able to pledge, you'll still be getting access to tons of videos, with many coming very soon—a big review, a massive retrospective on the entire Ace Combat series, a vid on Baldur's Gate 3, Sleeping Dogs, Mad Max... the list goes on. I've just needed some time to explore these topics that, like the cheese drum kit video I made a while back, take a lot of work but don't necessarily find the viewership. On Patreon, that worry vanishes.

So yeah, if you're into my work, for less than the price of buying me a Pepsi Max you can not only directly support the show's continued production, but you now get access to a whole bunch of exclusive stuff. I think it's about an hour and a half worth of video right now, and this will continue to grow.

If you can't, I'm just glad you're watching.

Thank you so much for the continued support. It really does mean the world.

See you very soon with more videos!

2 years ago | [YT] | 183

Writing on Games

HOLY MOLY THIS NEW FIRES OF RUBICON TRAILER LOOKS SO GOOD

2 years ago | [YT] | 198

Writing on Games

Coming very soon. Longest video yet.

2 years ago | [YT] | 367