Kat’s away, but Activision’s own Jason Ades sits in and we tackle some listener letters. Conversation covers such topics as new Skylanders, the disappearance of cheat codes, Hockey Smurf, the new Steam TV box, Mass Effect 2, Toys R Us, HDMI to component converters, childhood memories, Black Ops II Apocalypse DLC, how much influence you should have over your kids when they play games, and truly crappy cats.

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More info after the jump…

Special Guest: Jason Ades, Activision producer, off-season triathlete, devoted father, and all-around nice guy

Host: Dan “OneOfSwords” Amrich, Activision Community Manager, author, musician, puzzle nerd, and fire juggler

Absent Co-host: “The Lovely and Talented” Katrin Auch, photographer, graphic designer, bassist, Mechromancer, and inventor of Headshotmas

Co-host: Hugh “DJ Darkhugh” Sterbakov, screenwriter, author, comic creator, Emmy-nominated writer/toy wrangler for Robot Chicken, and Governor of Somewhere

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

Relevant show links:

• 
  
• Free Origins ringtones
  
• New Skylanders website
  
• Treyarch’s fan appreciation week & events
  
• Rush, in theaters now
  
• Dads, on TV now
  
• Folex, on carpets now
  
• Kat and Hugh and Dan and Yameen on Twitter
  
• Dan’s book: Critical Path: How to Review Videogames for a Living
  
• Hugh’s book: City Under the Moon
  
• Kat’s DeviantArt page
  
• Enter your own question for Hugh Don’t Know Jack (or Stick It To The Dan)
  
• Suggest topics for The Third Degree
  
• Write to the show’s Megamailbag