Hi there!

I’m happy to report that not only am I still alive, but I’ve also been published in the latest issue of Unwinnable Exploits! My section essay is on the mechanics of horse care in Red Dead Redemption 2 [RDR2]. I’d already written on RDR2 for this blog—a little bio piece on Arthur Morgan—but even after I bid farewell to everyone’s favourite gunslinging middle-manager, I couldn’t quite get the game out of my head. That’s not unusual; RDR2 is often described as “unforgettable, ” but I still felt I’d overlooked something important after posting that piece. Then it hit me: many have paid tribute to Arthur, but what about the companion creatures that took him from the Grizzlies to Lemoyne and everywhere in between? In Exploits Issue 79, I give the horses their due and argue that caring for them in-game can teach us a valuable lesson about how we play. To read the issue, you can purchase it for $2 USD or get a free download by subscribing to Unwinnable Monthly.

As a general update, I’ve completed my first month of an MA program in Communication and Culture at York University. This means I’ve been super busy lately, but I’m also going to be able to focus a lot of my research and writing/creation on video games. It may take a while, but stuff from essays and projects will make its way to this blog eventually. Put simply, stay tuned, because cool things are coming.

— Joel