1Upsmanship

A new day has dawned, and that means it's time for Michael Swaim and Adam Ganser to level up and present 1Upsmanship to you afresh with a very special Elden Ring ep! Our intrepid heroes have a new theme song, a whole new attitude, and even a new format that's been re-tooled so slightly as to confuse both old fans and new listeners alike. What hasn't changed is the topic, so let's get to it (it's video games, by the way)! 

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The hosts decided to take a review of the celestial hard drive. How does it work? What’s on it? How much space does it have? You see, we’ve been real lax about this in the past and this bit needs codification. With help from fellow Small Bean, askingseven, a list of all the “keeps” has been drafted and now the hosts must answer for their thought crimes.

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Adam and Michael discuss the crunchy combat of this year’s Sifu by Sloclap! Both hosts found the game’s ability to create the feeling of becoming powerful incredibly satisfying. Unfortunately for them, it isn’t real fighting and they’re both still wimps in real life. Seriously, you could probably just push Swaim over and he’d just say “Left Stick Up, Left Stick Up + X.”

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Hana Michels, who makes cat buttholes on Etsy and is a celebrated Small Bean, joins the pod for a special episode about cramming tiny animals into balls. They discuss the limits of the Pokemon lore, their shared joy of pelting things with apples, and Hana asserts her dominance as the one true trainer.

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Michael is the Halo hater. Adam is the Halo lover. This episode they talk about Halo Infinite and 343 Industries in some kind of red vs. blue deathmatch. See who wins the podcast. I bet it’s Adam. I don’t know why, that guy just seems like he has his shit together.

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We brought David Bell, big bean and famous pervert, to come talk about one of our GOTYs: Deathloop, a first person shooter with a groundhog day twist. All the 1Uppers enjoy this title and discuss what made it compelling. Is its simplicity a feature or a bug? How did the hosts’ play styles differ? Michael mined the story and embraced the puzzle structure. Adam shot all the people with impressive precision. Dave found a way to make AI do all the work. This all makes sense.

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It’s time to cover the Miles Morales game! Michael and Adam discuss Insomniac Games’ influence on the zeitgeist of Spidey. Michael thinks Peter Parker is done, Miles is the new hotness. Adam thinks sequels have become something companies just do for the next gen consoles and this all takes too long. So let’s get all caught up in the web of conversation that is 1Upsmanship. Let’s listen to these gooey white takes.

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Our hosts end the year with their Top 5 Games of the Year! While this isn’t a review show, we thought we’d take a moment to tell y’all our picks. It was a great year and we won’t spoil their picks so just put our sound beans in your hear beans.

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On the most important episode of 1Upsmanship yet, the hosts have Vanessa Guerrero on to discuss the cult hit Psychonauts 2. Vanessa, like Michael, loves this series. Adam thinks “it’s definitely a sequel.” Get ready for the what we’re already calling internally “the “‘Raz’zle-dazzle.” Also, witness a historic Speed Run.

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This episode Adam has a secret agenda and forces Michael to cover a Call of Duty. They talk about the casual gaming aspect of the game, the try-hard competitive mentality, the battle royale format, and the children of Call of Duty. Oh, the children. With their open mics. Screaming into oblivion.

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