Explore every episode of the podcast 1Upsmanship

Vwoom and jedi-leap your way through Respawn’s latest with Adam, Mike, and special guest Cody Johnston! Will this jedi survive to the end of the episode, or even score a spot on the Celestial Hard Drive? To find out, young padawan, you must use this zipline to go over there. This is very important. The fate of the galaxy itself may depend upon you being cool at zipline, can you do that? Use the force if you need to, just get it done.

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Possibly Rockstar’s most divisive open world experiment, 2011’s hard-boiled noir film homage gets the once-over by your favorite creative investigation duo. But beneath the glossy paint and ground-breaking motion capture is this game actually fun? How does the storytelling hold up in the twelve years since this game’s release? Does the game handle its problematic topics like race and gender inequality well? Would we want a sequel if they ever made one? Forget about it, Shipheads, it’s Rockstar. 

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Adam is joined by longtime guest, first time host, Vanessa Guerrero (Twitter: @nessguerrero) to talk about Stray, the 2022 beloved indie cat caper. The conversation gets predictably ‘zurked’ as our feline fans veer off into indie game development cycles, monstrous allergies, and whether they need a face to be loved! But did that cute ginger tabby claw its way into the Celestial Hard Drive? Do our hosts finally grant robots the same emotional significance as humans? Will Adam finally find that crack in the cyberpunk fortress and reunite with Michael who’s just, like, waiting outside for him? Leap on in to find out!

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Our chat with Brian Brushwood of The Modern Rogue about Starcraft.

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Fresh off their epic Sega/Nintendo clash, the guys calm things down with a game everyone can agree on. Why was SMW such a phenomenon? What aspects make it such a sustaining piece of interactive art? What does its appeal say about human nature? Probably something about turtles.

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Michael and Adam dispense with the niceties and go Fanboy a Fanboy in this uniquely-formatted episode of 1Upsmanship that aims to determine which was the more impactful system: The Sega Genesis, or the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. HINT: Things get dicey, it's the Genesis, and Michael wrote this copy.

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You are aware of what this is. It does not require further description. Happy New Year!

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Cody Johnston of Some More News stops by to discuss the Cracked Cigarette Tree and how it relates to one of the more important games ever made. A truly crafty deep-dive into the mine of gaming, friendship, and the ways in which our relationship to virtual cubes says a lot about who we are as people, you know?

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Get ready for some contention, some reaffirmations of fraternal love, and some going super duper fast! It's Adam and Michael dissecting Sonic CD, and, as they so often do in the process, the very nature of their friendship.

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Three Word Phrase creator and Cartoon Network animator Ryan Pequin graces the show with his opinions on a bright start to a new AAA franchise about robot dinosaurs and the people that love to slay them.

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Just in time for about a month before the release of the sequel, it's Red Dead Redemption! Adam and Mike invite returning favorite Vanessa Gritton to read her divorce/glitch journal, and help decide whether to keep or delete this Rockstar classic.

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In their most explosive dust-up so far, Adam and Michael square off to demolish and enshrine (respectively), Michael's favorite game that Adam also played and thinks is just fine! Gamer and comedian Vanessa Gritton joins to incite violence, Michael nerds up the end with a Fallout rap, and Adam and Mike's friendship is forced to bust out a couple of stimpaks to survive.

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Please note, you can only listen to this 1Upsmanship episode if you already have the Morph Ball, 15 Super Missiles, and the thing that goes on the other thing to reveal the secret thing. Join Samus, Adam and Mike for a rousing discussion of gating and how it makes games possible but also frustrating!

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Bounding across the barren video game landscape in search of digital treasure and probably our parents, it’s 1upsmanship! This time our boys take on the recently released and largely panned Playstation exclusive Forspoken in a desperate attempt to add their laundry list of gripes to the pile. But things take a turn toward the celestial as Michael and Adam discuss the value of the Hero’s Journey as a story structure in 2023, the value of a game being made for financial considerations, and how the combat is actually sorta awesome when you finally get all your upgrades. Check it out!

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Do synths dream of synthetic sheep? And if so, does that justify their total enslavement for the purposes of salvaging an apocalypse-ridden post war 1950's-style Earth? Vanessa Gritton joins Michael and Adam to parse the philosophy of Fallout 4, burn Boston, and argue about the potential future of the franchise.

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Adam and Michael discuss the latest installment in the Wad of Gore franchise, Wad of Gore 4: "Boy!" Edition.

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Whether you cry near or far, this is the fifth time you've done it, and it's in America now! Is that good? Join David Christopher Bell, Adam Ganser and Michael Swaim as they answer that question more thoroughly than anyone probably should.

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Star returns to laud Portal 2 for its awesomeness! The fellas agree.

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No guests. No filler. Just Skyrim. The 1Upsmanship fellas take on an obligatory entry in gaming history, and the current crown jewel of the Elder Scrolls universe.

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Tom the Rhyme Man stops by to discuss seminal Naughty Dog zombie stealth game/movie thing The Last of Us with Adam and Michael, and throw some shade at Zelda in the process.

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Star Hodge joins the 1Upsmanship fracas to discuss Overwatch, soccer, and bespectacled gorillas.

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Every possible multiverse version of Adam Ganser and Michael Swaim welcome every possible multiverse version of Tom Reimann to discuss the social and philosophical implications of Bioshock: Infinite.

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Mr. Ganser and Mr. Swaim both played GTA V Remastered, and their opinions on it differ substantially.

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Michael and Adam dissect The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

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Bar your doors and hit the floor Shipheads, cause this game’s about to rip off your jaw - in a good way! Joined by fellow maniac David Bell (Gamefully Unemployed), our heroes navigate the pros, cons and sometimes thongs of your favorite camp slasher turned asymmetrical multiplayer murder simulator! It’s a love letter to cinephiles and just a damned good time, in the sense that it’s utterly terrifying and Adam and Dave enjoy donning a hockey mask while they podcast. 

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Adam and Michael take a run at Super Mario Odyssey, and report their findings live from the Mushroom Kingdom (AKA Adam's house).

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Mike and Adam take a break from their relentless celestial campaign to discuss their favorite video game companions. But this ain’t no escort mission! Both gamers hold their own as they describe and defend their top ten. Will Mike ever reference a game Adam has played? Will somebody on this podcast finally acknowledge Final Fantasy? Will Adam somehow bring up Destiny again? I mean, yeah probably. 

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Start your engines shipheads, because 1Upsmanship is taking on its first ever racing game and they picked a classic! Co-piloted by special guest co-host DJ Danl, our boys boost past futuristic space gambling plots, Mode 7 graphical innovations, the history of racing games as a genre, and Adam’s dad hogging the controller. But will F-zero pass the great checkered flag in time to win its place on the Celestial Hard Drive? Tune in and find out!

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Your stalwart hosts test the very fabric of their friendship – even moreso than usual! It’s not just an argument about a video game, it’s an argument about arguments. Revel in two lifetimes of regrets as the fellas recount their own sordid histories with social games, plus the phenomenal job InnerSloth did harnessing that sick tension and using it to help us all survive the pandemic and come out the other side just a little more suspicious of our loved ones.

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Shipheads, meet Anthony and Aaron, VR devs with a new game to show off and fascinating insights into the unique space in which they work. Arcaxer is VR’s first turn-based RPG. We dive into how they came up with such a wild idea, went about accomplishing it, and the trials and travails of trying to market the thing now that it exists. Visor up and let’s see what the next evolution of gaming looks like (spoilers: it involves running on a treadmill and then vomiting).

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Joined by the internet’s own Seanbaby (@Seanbabydotcom) of 1900-Hot-Dogg and Cracked notoriety, the celestial debate continues with a deep dive on everybody’s favorite super fighting robot, Mega Man who slapped on some new gear and a fresh coat of paint in his first big outing on the SNES. Things get heated when our heroes clash over the game’s difficulty, how much this franchise steals from others, and whether getting the Hadoken is Mega Man’s ultimate power upgrade. Listen now to gain all our powers!

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Our heroes zip rooftop to rooftop over the grim streets of Dunwall, discussing all the important questions raised by one of the most creative franchises in recent video game history. How much does this game really owe to Bioshock?  Is stealth the only viable approach? Wait, Susan Sarandon is in this? Should every game consider making you lord of rats? Hop aboard, Ship Heads, this one’s a whale of a time!

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It’s that time of the year again! Michael and Adam decided to kick 2023 off with a bang and discuss the State of the Drive. In this special once-a-year extravaganza they each revisit five hard drive decisions they’d like reconsidered. Things get surprisingly heated as the two friends argue about whether they need to discuss Psychonauts ever again, whether the Hard Drive needs a morality clause, and whether being first or the most fine-tuned is more important for a game’s legacy. Major game franchises get slandered! Fundamental drive assumptions get patched out! It’s a must-download update for all our listeners!

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We’re back, fresh from the barren, content-less Dark World, and we’re starting this season with a bang! This week we warp into the 2D Zelda that perfected the formula, and we’re joined by our favorite Zelda Enthusiast, Danielle Radford! Some would say this is one of the greatest games ever made. Some would say this game is still being imitated to this very day. Some might even say this game remains a blast to play. But none of those people are Michael Swaim! Yeah. He goes pretty hard this episode. So pick up your hookshot, zip over the gap and join us for the new season of 1Upsmanship!

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The fellas cap off their first season at iHeart with the traditional ranking of their favorite games of the year-slash-airing of grievances. Elden Ring might even be mentioned; who’s to say? If all the “traditional” outlets let you down on the GOTY front, give this episode a spin. If nothing else, shipheads can trust Michael and Adam to give their unvarnished opinions on what made an impact and what fell flat, no matter how unorthodox or unsupported by the facts. Agree or disagree, hopefully it makes for some interesting conversation and a solid look back at how the medium advanced in 2022. 

To those looking to connect via Discord, you can join the Small Beans server by following this link - https://discord.gg/bJrUm5w2P5

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Kratos, Loki, Freya and all the other knuckleheads from God of War (2018) return to complete the Norse Saga. Did one of the most-anticipated games of 2022 live up to the hype? Mike and Adam are happy to explain to you why no, it did not. “Happy” might not be the right word. Exasperated? Livid? The boys get really bent outta shape in this one, guys. Let’s all listen to their ramblings and nod along before they unleash their spartan rage and destroy the studio.

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The game is afoot in Fabletown, and someone’s out to get ahead…or two. Your very own gaming detectives Tweedle Swaim and Tweedle Ganz set out to determine whether Telltale’s decision-driven adaptation of Bill Willingham’s stellar Fables comics belongs on our Celestial Hard Drive. Will you side with Mike or Adam? Either way, they will remember that.

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Joined by Daemon Hatfield, host of IGN’s Gamescoop, our heroes reflect on Mario’s first major foray into the 3D gaming, and the moment where he finally found his voice. How did Nintendo triple-jump over everybody’s expectations and nail it on their first try? Why aren’t there more 3D platforming games? What else is there to say about one of the most important video games of all time? Hopefully we figured out something, cause this thing’s almost an hour. Spoilers: We did. 

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One of our most esteemed guests, the designer of Subnautica and new miniature RTS game Moonbreaker, Charlie Cleveland stops by to talk about the design process, his long term goals and experiences as a designer, following up on the success of Subnautica, and how to deal with valid criticisms on a release. You can check out his new game Moonbreaker in Early Release on Stream. Join us for a great conversation about how games are made!

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Perched high in their AC-130, Mike and Adam revisit the subject of Call of Duty’s legacy through the night-visioned lens of one of the franchise’s greatest entries. Hard truth bombs get dropped! Friendly fire gets briefly tolerated! But will Modern Warfare finally breach the fortified walls of the Celestial Hard Drive? Join us on this special mission and find out. 

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Brian Brushwood of Modern Rogue and the World’s Greatest Con podcast pops on a headset and bumps virtual fists with your fearless heroes as they come together to cover Valve’s pinnacle VR experience! Before the G-Man stuffs them all back into stasis, they’ll finally determine whether there’s a viable path forward for the medium or it’s just a passing fad that gives most people motion sickness. VRoooooom!

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What? Back-to-back Half Life? That’s right Shipheads, we know what you like and this Halloween we decided you deserve a treat. Mike and Adam are joined by Mark Lentz, a video game developer who worked on the recent indie hit Cursed to Golf, to discuss the towering legacy of one of video games’ most beloved sequels, Half Life 2. Will Mike finally finish mocking the Smoking Man? Will the boys forgive the sequel’s profound refusal to clarify the story? Will we ever get tired of using the gravity gun? I mean…the answer to all these questions is no, but if you want to know the answer to the most important question of all, whether this game makes it to the celestial hard drive, you’ll have to listen all the way to the end. Enjoy!

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Grab your crowbar and conveniently pre-charged HEV suit Shipheads, cause we’re tearing down the fabric of reality and changing the course of human (and gaming) history! Join Mike and Adam as they talk about the enormous legacy of Half Life, the series’s unfinished story, and whether it holds up by modern gaming standards. (Spoilers: Adam played Half Life for the first time a month ago). 

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Shh! The 1Ups boys and Gamefully Unemployed’s own David Christopher Bell are huddled up trying not to get Xenomorphed. Actually, you know what? Just get in here. It’s safer, plus it smells like dude. We’ll talk about Alien: Isolation, a seminal survival-horror adventure and potentially the greatest film-franchise-to-video-game adaptation of all time. Well, Dave thinks so, anyway.

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Host of Some More News Cody Johnston sits in with Adam and Mike as they tackle a game with ambitions as vast as a galaxy and a launch scandal to match. Has Hello Games done enough to improve NMS over the years? Will it launch onto the Celestial Hard Drive or run out of hazard protection and get eaten by a Gek? They do that, you know. Strap in and let’s go exploring.

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Our heroes are joined by their longtime friend and collaborator Tom Reimann to discuss the second installment of the space horror/action RPG franchise, Dead Space. It’s an undeniably polished and action-packed sequel, but does that make it better than the original? What exactly does the Marker want, and does it matter if that’s clear to the player? Did the franchise take the right direction by toning down the scares? Will Tom rip Adam’s arm off and use it to spear this game onto the celestial hard drive forever using his Kinesis module? Hint: at least one of these questions gets objectively answered. Double hint: it’s the franchise direction one. 

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Seriously, what the hell is this game? That would be an appropriate question to ask, dear listener.  So appropriate, in fact, that our hosts were still asking it weeks after they’d finished the game.  Join Mike and Adam as they discuss this devious and spooky little deckbuilding game that transcends the boundaries of video game development, storytelling, and even the file structure on your personal hard-drive to become…one of our favorite games of all time? Wow, really? Huh. I guess that’s true. I mean we’d never lie in our intro paragraph. 

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Joined by returning guest Maggie Mae Fish, the 1ups crew explores yet another ChoreSim/faRmPG game designed by one brilliant, determined, and decidedly strange person. But can this adorably weird indie game keep up with the big boys like Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon, or will it take a couple swings, get tired, and have to sleep at like 10am? Strap on your listening tools and dive into the videogame mines with us. Yes, the game has mines.

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Our courageous gamerbois brave alien technology, uncertain terrain, and the wrath of the internet as they discuss the first entry in Bioware’s beloved Mass Effect franchise. Sure, it’s important, sure it’s monumental, sure Wrex is one of the greatest characters in videogame history, but does it belong on the drive? Find out if our hosts went Paragon or full Renegade on this special episode!

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