One Of Swords Podcast 025: Our Diamond Anniversary

by Dan on July 15, 2010

It’s our diamond anniversary — the 25th show — and I’ve got a phenomenal giveaway and a special guest to commemorate the event. OXM’s Ryan McCaffrey stops by to chew the fat about E3, Hank’s infamous “run,” and his own secret fansite past. Hugh Sterbakov joins me for the main segment of the show, during which we manage to touch on the Blur PS3 demo, Tim Schafer, new Activision executives, Zac Efron, Newcleus, Geometry Wars: Touch, and Ambrose Bierce…before disaster strikes. Plus, a new form of trivia joins the Free Stuff contest stable, and there’s an bonus, super-rare Call of Duty prize waiting for one diligent podcast fan…

[UPDATE: Ultra fail. Silver is the 25th anniversary, not diamond, which is 60 or 75 depending on who you ask. I will make sure we celebrate the 75th show with a silver anniversary to make up for my sheer stupidity!]

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More info after the jump…

Co-host: Hugh Sterbakov, screenwriter, comic creator, and Emmy-nominated writer/toy wrangler for Robot Chicken

Special Guest: Official Xbox Magazine Senior Editor Ryan McCaffrey

Soundtrack: Yameen – available on iTunes, Amazon MP3, and all online music stores

Relevant show links:

  • Eric Hirschberg will  join Activision in September. Kotaku’s interview
  • Blur PS3 demo available now
  • DJ Hero 2 features 108 artists
  • The Silver Lining is free for the downloading
  • Geometry Wars: Touch is $4.99 at the iTunes Store
  • Activision 2600 classics Barnstorming and Fishing Derby join the XBLA Game Room this week
  • Meet me at California Extreme this weekend and San Diego ComicCon next weekend
  • Don’t forget to play Hugh in Magic: the Gathering on XBLA on July 23
  • Hugh’s gamertag (by the way, his daughter is fine after her allergic reaction):

    • And here is that sweet, sweet rare Microsoft Zune with the Call of Duty graphics on the back that you can win if you correctly answer the question asked in this episode and are chosen as the random winner from all correct answers. Thanks for the 25 weeks of podcast support! If you have any questions about my giveaways, see the FAQ.


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    • mvbooth

      Hugh… Hollywood Hugh… Hugh of the People… common man! 18 Again!? It was 17 Again!!! But you were right, it was a charming movie. A pure delight!

      Seriously, my wife and I loved it.

    • pa21ris

      Don't get down Hugh, I like having you on the show. Keep up the great work guys. Also Kat, I like listening to you as well. Too bad you can't do all three at once Dan. *wink, wink*

    • http://twitter.com/JugglerOfGeese Goosejuggler

      Wow, I got that reference, My wife actually bought a copy of The Occurrence at Owl Creek last year.

    • http://twitter.com/JugglerOfGeese Goosejuggler

      Wow, Did I get that reference, Occurrence at Owl Creek is a good movie, My wife actually bought a copy of it last year from Amazon.

    • mvbooth

      Speaking of handstands… my buddies at work and I do 1 minute handstands 4 times a day with 15-20 push-ups and crunches. Since we are all website nerds, we're trying to keep off the computer nerd weight. At first it's super hard, but after 1.5 months it gets easier :).

    • http://twitter.com/reddjoey Joey Mock

      Dan & Hugh, I caught the reference to An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. I have read it 3 times mandatorily, and several times in between as a quick revisit for personal enjoyment.

    • DZ

      how long do we have to answer the question? my itunes isn't finding the 25th podcast episode… :(

    • DZ

      i really have to learn to read a bit better. i keep missing things lately.

    • Rockox

      I hope Hugh appreciates that the 3 minutes proceeding his departure were the dullest, most boring 3 minutes the show has ever faced. The show needs more Hugh!

      Dan, I was a bit disappointed you didn't make your cat a special guest, because you can always hear him (her?) in the background. I thought at the very least you could make an official introduction for your listening audience.

    • Cabrerajuan

      WOW! Dan bringing out the big guns! Awesome surprise and guest host Ryan Mccaffrey!

    • http://twitter.com/Hellhog Christian Sutter

      Great podcast Dan! When I heard special guest I was crossing my fingers that it would be Ryan. Then my break was over and I had to get back to work, but when I was done and got to listening again, I was so excited to hear Ryan. There is no better duo than the Ryan & Dan podcast! We need more Ryan!!! Sorry to hear Hugh had to leave early, hope his daughter is feeling better.

    • Hugh

      I girth corrected. Good performance, though, right?

    • Hugh

      She's better, but she'll be taking oatmeal baths for the rest of the week. Turns out she's allergic to penicillin. I completely misunderstood the severity of it when my wife called. It's a good thing it all worked out well after I cold-heartedly joked about it on the podcast. As I was racing to the pre-school and getting the actual details, it occurred to me that I was going to hate myself if I ever listened to this thing back…

    • Hugh

      I haven't heard it back, I'm not even sure which 3 minutes you're talking about. For my taste, though, I'd rather be talking about games than executives. Last thing I want to do is bully Dan into or out of a subject, but some feedback here from the listeners wouldn't hurt.

      Next time I promise I'll stay for the entire show. Unless another disaster occurs, at which point I'm sure I'll casually joke about it for a couple minutes before I rush out the door.

    • Hugh

      It was the first film I was shown in my first film class at Ithaca College. Strange choice, stranger reference. Glad you got it, though…

    • Hugh

      Just wanted to leave a note for everyone– I'm having to remove some of my friends in my Xbox LIVE friends list in order to make room for this Magic the Gathering event that I'm doing next week. You can't have more than 100 friends, unfortunately. I'm checking first for folks who haven't been on for a while, then I'm checking to see if they've played the Magic game. If I happen to remove you as a friend, don't take it personally. Just shoot me a new request after the weekend of the 23rd.

    • Hugh

      Doesn't a cool, limited edition Zune sound like something Alanis Morisette should have devoted a verse to in the song “Ironic?”

      It's like 10,000 spoons, when all you need is a knife
      It's like winning a cool limited edition prize… that turns out to be a Zune

      Give me a gift horse (which, really, is what? Is it a real horse? 'Cause that's not much of a gift, you'd need to buy a lot of crap to go with it), and I'll find some way to look it in the mouth (which, really, means what? If it's mouth is foul then it's not a good gift?).

      This is what I write instead of going to bed.

    • http://twitter.com/karlcramer Karl Cramer

      I laughed to myself incredulously that after hearing your daughter couldn't breath that you took time for some plugs. I know, I know. In these situations your brain doesn't work right. But still it was funny.

    • http://twitter.com/karlcramer Karl Cramer

      It's EVERYBODY'S first film in college film class. It's like a law or something.

    • http://twitter.com/karlcramer Karl Cramer

      Hey! Some of us love our Zunes. If you're comparing it as a straight up media player CNET, Gizmodo, Computerworld and lots of other tech sites agree it's better. Now if you're talking about apps the iPod Touch crushes the Zune HD. But this is the Zune 8GB which is comparable to the iPod Nano. No apps there.

    • http://twitter.com/karlcramer Karl Cramer

      Dan, what about a Singularity game night?

    • Hugh

      Really? It's better? I have a Zune as a gift from something I worked on and I've never tried to use it. I was going to give it to my cousin as a Bar Mitzvah gift, and then I saw that he got an iPod. What's better about it?

    • Hugh

      Ha ha… I felt indebted to mention the Magic the Gathering thing since it's this big partnership we did between them and Robot Chicken, and I won't be on the show next week. I planned to take the time at the end to give the thing its due, since I won't be on next week.

      But, again, I thought she just had a cold. When we dropped her off, she had a stuffy nose. And my wife thought the same thing, and that's what she communicated to me on the phone. We didn't realize what they meant until we were both on our way there.

      Still not my finest parenting moment.

    • http://twitter.com/Hellhog Christian Sutter

      Ya, allergies to medicines are not fun, I too am alergic to penicillin so I know the whole fun in that. Uhg.

    • Rockox

      Proceeding? Maybe that's the wrong word. The 3 minutes following your departure, and before Ryan showed up. It was horrifying to think that the rest of the podcast was going to be solo Dan (no offence to Dan) or that he'd even perhaps cut the show short.

    • mvbooth

      Yeah, I'll give Efron the credit he deserves. My favorite character was Matthew Perry's roommate. That character made the whole movie worth watching.

    • mvbooth

      Hugh, I'll trade you my old blackberry for your Zune. That's a fair trade right?

      Does any one else get turned off by miraculous appearances of the Microsoft/Apple debate on every forum and blog?

    • mvbooth

      If I got a gift horse I'd ignore the mouth because I'd be too concerned with having no place to keep it.

      After lodging, grain and dental work, it'd be like someone giving me a gift of credit card debt.

      But I guess you could sell the horse or Zune on cragslist but neither would fetch as much as a horse with a pretty smile.

    • mvbooth

      I get my copy on Monday Karl, I'm down for some multiplayer action.

    • SteveNMS

      I wouldn't mind owning a Zune. I wouldn't mind at all. Aside from the apps, it's just like the iPhone 4. Neither one can make calls. :p

    • http://twitter.com/reddjoey Joey Mock
    • DeucesWild

      I started a Hugh drinking game…one drink for every name drop. 2 minutes into the podcast I was drunk. HOLLYWOOD HUGH for the loss!

    • DeucesWild

      Just wanted to let my “fans” know I am big deal and maxed my friends list…carry on.

    • http://twitter.com/histerin Dave Roy

      A game I actually play! Are there details of this Magic: the Gathering event hovering around somewhere? Times and all that? And when do we need to shoot you a friend request to get in on it?

    • http://twitter.com/histerin Dave Roy

      My dreams fulfilled!

      Thanks for having Ryan on the show. When I heard “special guest,” I just knew it had to be Ryan somehow.

      I'm glad you worked out whatever potential ethical issues there might have been so that you could make it happen. I almost shivered with glee.

    • http://oneofswords.com/ Dan (OneOfSwords)

      Yes, I am planning one but have not set a date. This weekend is CA Extreme, next week is SDCC, and I'm attending both — so early August, I want to get Singularity nights slated for as many platforms as I can. Are you guys playing on PS3, PC, or 360?

    • http://oneofswords.com/ Dan (OneOfSwords)

      Jule 23 — there's some data in the show's blog entry above as well as a shoutout on the show this week.

    • http://oneofswords.com/ Dan (OneOfSwords)

      Ooh, I didn't take it that way, so let me explain what I think he meant. People take friends list removal as personal insults, and if you are doing any sort of publicized event on Live, you get a ton of friend requests and/or complaints that your friends list is full. So you have to boot people off who, say, only wanted to play GH5 a few months ago so people who want to play MtG next week can find you more easily. But those GH5 gamers might have felt insulted to be bumped like that, so…you know me, I'm always in favor of clear communication, and I think that's all Hugh's doing here.

    • mvbooth

      360

    • Bionic92

      So is the subject line for the trivia contest still “Trivia”?

    • http://twitter.com/holyheadshot Chris Maeurer

      OK, I'm a latecomer, the last few shows, but what's with all the Hugh haters? He doesn't seem that bad, and the chemistry between Dan and him make for many lol moments, really been enjoying the show. Where else can you hear Fletch, Tron and Axel F mentioned in the same 2 minutes? Nicely done! Flashback overload, thank you!

    • http://twitter.com/histerin Dave Roy

      Yeah, I figured that out…but only *after* I posted and looked like a doofus. :)

    • Pka4lif

      Just caught the podcast today. Sorry to hear Hugh couldnt be around more. That guys cracks me up and him and Dan have a good mix.

      So Hugh goes away, and who does he bring on? The biggest Douche-nerd on the planet…Ryan. Seriously, i've never heard a more ego maniacal nerd in my life. Im surprised he didnt talk about his lame ass car, or his oh my god thats so cool, dog. Im surprised he didnt compare your listener numbers to the OXM numbers like he does when he is on Talk Radar. Oh wait, he probably didnt do it because you were the best part of that show and now it is a waste of hard drive space. Please, this is your show and you will do whatever you want; but, please dont have him on again. He sux. Stick with Hugh, or even your lovely, sweet enough to give me diabetes from ten minutes on the podcast, wife Kat.

    • Dan's Podcast Listener

      You just confirmed their will be 60 more podcast!!! HECK YEAH!

    • arkhunter

      Wow, an Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge…I do actually know what that refers to. Twilight Zone FTW!

      I haven't finished this podcast yet so I don't know how to win that Zune yet.

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