1Upsmanship

iHeartPodcasts
  • 4.8 (162)
  • VIDEO GAMES
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Michael likes story-driven games with lots of contemplative moral quandaries and inventory management. Adam likes action-driven FPS games with gorgeous graphics and no down-time. Together, their friendship is constantly on the verge of ruin! But you can watch it all crumble before your very ears on 1Upsmanship, the pod where two lifelong gamers run one game an episode through the crucible to determine if it belongs on the Celestial Hard Drive. GAME ON.

  1. 06/19/2023

    1Upsmanship: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Feat. Cody Johnston)

    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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 4m

  2. 06/12/2023

    1Upsmanship: L.A. Noire

    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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    57 min

  3. 06/05/2023

    1Upsmanship: Legend of Zelda - A Link To The Past (Feat. Danielle Radford)

    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! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 11m

  4. 05/01/2023

    1Upsmanship: No Man’s Sky (Feat. Cody Johnston)

    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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 7m

  5. 04/24/2023

    1Upsmanship: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

    Join the chorus, new one. Voices clash and clamor in the never-ending quest to recover our lost souls from the dark places they may wander. In this episode, your stalwart hosts Adam and Michael pore over a game that demands to be taken seriously, both by virtue of the topics at hand and the loving care the developers obviously put into the exercise. But does laudable handling of human suffering equate to a good game? Should it? Does it have to? There’s no doubt Senua’s is a work of art, but to make it onto the Celestial Hard Drive, we’ll have to answer those questions and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    51 min

  6. 04/17/2023

    1Upsmanship: Katamari Damacy (Feat. Starline Hodge and Hana Michels)

    Ship Heads, prepare yourself for maximum fun, because our illustrious host has teamed up with two stellar guests, Starline Hodge and Hana Michels to talk about a game that’s truly one of a kind! Though tough to explain, the sheer joy of rolling up all of known civilization into a junk star is an unparalleled experience that deserves unpacking (and then re-packing obvs). The squad tackles deeper issues like whether this game actually means something and what’s up with dads, man? Things get personal, zany and a little poignant as we endeavor to wrap the universe of Katamari Damacy into a small hour-sized glob. Don’t miss it! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    56 min

  7. 04/10/2023

    1Upsmanship: Callisto Protocol (Feat. Tom Reimann)

    Stranded in a cold, dark, and surprisingly poop-covered future, our 1upsmanship crew battles its way through Callisto Protocol. Joined by longtime colleague and friend Tom Reimann (Gamefully Unemployed) our heroes debate whether this game got unfairly maligned and whether there’s ever truly enough spike-covered walls. They answer key questions like do we really need this particular white male protagonist? How does Callisto Protocol stack up to its obvious predecessor Dead Space? And will anybody ever bring Adam the space cowboy he so desperately desires? Listen and find out! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    58 min

  8. 04/03/2023

    1Upsmanship: Atomic Heart

    Your original 1Ups Boyz are back in the USSR! Michael officially returns from some time away, although we air episodes out of order so that’s not actually useful information. What is useful is their breakdown of the first big title from Mundfish, a little bit of Bioshock and a little bit of Fallout all wrapped up in a Soviet Russian package. Blast ‘bots, uncover mysteries similar to mysteries you may have uncovered before in the games that inspired this one, and find out P-3’s ultimate fate – or at least whether you should pick the game up or not. Will it find a place on the Celestial Hard Drive? Listen. Learn. Love. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    49 min
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4.8
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About

Michael likes story-driven games with lots of contemplative moral quandaries and inventory management. Adam likes action-driven FPS games with gorgeous graphics and no down-time. Together, their friendship is constantly on the verge of ruin! But you can watch it all crumble before your very ears on 1Upsmanship, the pod where two lifelong gamers run one game an episode through the crucible to determine if it belongs on the Celestial Hard Drive. GAME ON.

Information

  • Channel
    iHeartPodcasts
  • Creator
    iHeartPodcasts
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2023
  • Episodes
    122
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    2025 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia
  • Show Website
    1Upsmanship
  • Provider
    iHeartMedia + Entertainment, Inc

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