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After stuffing ourselves with turkey, family time and "Rock Band," Multiplayer has returned. See what you might've missed this week -- or just read it again:

BOYFRIENDS SUCK:

* If you're sharing a game with a friend, a sibling, a lover, do you have a right to beat the game while they're away? Read one poor woman's tale of how her boyfriend beat "Super Mario Galaxy" -- without her.

A REASON FOR NO RHYMES:

* Harmonix CEO and "Rock Band"-maker Alex Rigopulos explained the problems behind rap in rhythm games.

DEAD MAN WALKING OVER "KANE & LYNCH"?

* Rumors spread about how a longtime GameSpot reviewer was fired due to his 6.0/10 review of Eidos' "Kane & Lynch: Dead Men" (Eidos also happened to be an advertiser on the site). The Big Dog is on the case...

WHAT'S ON THE BOX?

* "GTA IV" box art is here! The only thing cooler than the box art itself was the way it was revealed.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC?

* Multiplayer's Gerald Flannory teaches you how to become a "Master of Illusion" with Nintendo's latest Touch Generation title. Prepare to be amazed! (I sure was.)

Read more...

We all know "Guitar Hero" is an awesome game. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you can play "Through the Fire and the Flames" on Expert -- if you pick up a real guitar, you’re lost.

On the other hand, "Master of Illusion" for the Nintendo DS will teach you a real-life skill... Magic! With the new Touch Generation title, you are doing real magic with real cards. MTV Multiplayer's Gerald Flannory took a short break from playing "Super Mario Galaxy" to see how one can become a "Master of Illusion," and in the process he dazzles co-worker Tracey John with his newly acquired talents.

MTV News Intern Steven Roberts attended the Blip Festival and filed this report over at MTV's YouRHere blog (which is all about concert write-ups, you know).

He starts:

The Blip festival wasn't your typical concert. Instead of a stage crew setting up the bands instruments or a DJ spinning records, artists literally bought Gameboys to hook up to a mixer. I wasn’t sure that they would be able to create much of a show.

Granted, creating music with a Gameboy or a Nintendo is impressive, but I wasn’t sure it would be aesthetically pleasing. Alex Mauer didn’t do much to change my thoughts.

But things got much better! Read more at the link above. And for more on the Blip Festival, which runs all weekend in New York City, go to the official site.

UPDATED With Comments from CNET

Penny Arcade made a comic about the -- rumor -- last night that GameSpot was having trouble reconciling the site's major ad deal with game publisher Eidos with the 6.0 review the site's head reviewer gave Eidos' advertised game, "Kane & Lynch."

Kotaku had their own post up last night, connecting the dots while still saying the review causing the firing was a rumor.

Read Gerstmann's written review of the game here. Watch his video review here.

Joystiq reported this morning that:

Jeff has confirmed his firing to us via e-mail, but says he's "not really able to comment on the specifics of my termination." He added that he's "looking forward to getting back out there and figuring out what's next." We're still digging.

Joystiq also got a no comment from GameSpot parent company CNET.

I've put in requests to Eidos and CNET myself, in hopes of finding out what Eidos' deal with Gamespot and expectations for "Kane & Lynch" reviews really were. I'll post anything I find out.

But, rest assured, any hint that a media outlet might reprimand a reviewer for a negative review of a game for which it is running ads is not sitting well with many gamers out there. Hopefully this story will be clarified so we can see what was really going on...

Update, 2:05PM: CNET director of public relations Leslie Dotson Van Every just dropped me a line.

I had asked: Separate from Gerstmann, there is the question of whether Eidos' advertising deal with Gamespot/CNET would have involved any stipulations or expectations regarding the nature of Gamespot's review of the Kane and Lynch game. Can you comment on whether there was Gamespot/CNET agreed to any restrictions on how Kane and Lynch would be reviewed on Gamespot?

She provided this company statement: "GameSpot takes its editorial integrity extremely seriously. For over a decade, GameSpot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community. At CNET Networks, we stand behind the editorial content that our teams produce on a daily basis."

Update, 6:09 PM:  Joystiq's Kyle Orland quotes a CNET spokeperson saying that Gerstmann was not fired at the behest of Eidos or any other advertiser. From his latest post:

While reiterating that CNET does not discuss personal employee matters with the press, [CNET spokesperson Sarah] Cain said directly that "we do not terminate employees based on external pressure from advertisers." When asked specifically about whether any such pressure was even attempted on Eidos' part, Cain had no comment.

How do those little games tucked inside big games get made?

I started publishing answers to that question earlier this month, when I ran my interview with "BioShock"'s Dorian Hart about that game's hacking mini-game.

Next up is Jake Sones, the developer at Insomniac Games chiefly responsible for the hacking mini-game in the PlayStation 3's "Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction.

The game is pretty simple. The player uses the Sixaxis motion control (or the controller's analog sticks) to tilt a circuit board, trying to get a metal ball to bridge gaps in the circuit as a spark inexorably creeps from a starting point to its destination.

Sones volunteered to make the game after the designer of the series' previous hacking mini-games left Insomniac Games. I wanted to know how Jake, who was given assistance by some of the programming, art and sound folks at Insomniac, came up with this game. Little did I know that we'd be talking about "Pipe Dream" again. But we did.

We also talked about early, scuttled concepts:

...one of the first concepts that we thought about was doing something like "Arkanoid" meets "Puzzle Bobble." When we started to work out the exact mechanics of that it started to fall apart.

We even chatted, sort of, about the mini-game's music:

Multiplayer: The music. How does the music get chosen for a "Ratchet and Clank" decryptor game?

Sones: That is an excellent question that I don't have an answer to. It kind of just showed up one day.

Multiplayer: You didn't put in any requests that this needs to be mellow or this needs to be frantic to freak the player out?

Sones: I talked to the audio guys and said, "Hey man we should really have some audio in here, that would be cool." And then it showed up.

For an in-depth interview on one of the more easily overlooked aspects of game development, read on. Jake Sones was a fun guy to talk to.

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In NYC any of the next four nights? Then you might want to check out the 2007 version of this...

Earlier this year, MTV Games ran the above clip, highlighting the sights and sounds of last year's Blip Festival. The festival celebrates the video game chiptunes scene and is back for its 2007 edition... starting tonight!

From the press release, the Blip Festival 2007 is "a four-day celebration of electronic music and art made with vintage video game equipment, including Game Boys, Ataris, Commodore 64s and other tricked out Old School gear sure to appeal to everyone’s inner geek."If you like what you see and hear above, check it out. Go to the official Blip Festival site for more details.

I played EA's "Godfather" game last year. And while it was a solid enough interpretation of the "Grand Theft Auto" open-world formula, it did not feel much like I was playing "The Godfather" movie.

I started playing BioWare's "Mass Effect" a few weeks ago. And, well, I'm only exaggerating a little when I say it felt a little like I was playing "The Godfather" movie.

How "Godfather" was "The Godfather" EA game? It had lots of shooting, driving, and twisting of merchants' arms. It was never designed to ape the film. It told a story that ran parallel to it, focusing on the experience of a young man hopeful to join the Corleone family.

But is that the "Godfather" fantasy? The classic "Star Wars" fantasy involves swinging lightsabers or flying starfighters. The James Bond fantasy requires gadgets and beautiful women.  I look at the picture at the top of this post and I'm reminded that the Godfather image many people like me have is of the Don, sitting in a dark room, listening to the pleas of the desperate, raising a finger, muttering decisions and being untouchably powerful without directly soiling his hands.

Is there a lot of violence in "The Godfather"? Sure. But there is even more potent... talking. That's not really the recipe for a fun game, most people would agree. It certainly isn't the recipe for a popular console game.

Or is it?

BioWare developers, this is where you come in.

Image courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment.

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What were the biggest games of 2007 that got pushed to 2008?

Earlier this week in my GameFile column at MTVNews.com, I ran through the hows/whys/whens on "Super Smash Brothers Brawl," "Haze," "Splinter Cell: Conviction," "Grand Theft Auto IV" (which now has a trailer coming next week, we learned yesterday), and -- indulge me on this one -- "Professor Layton And The Curious Village."

If nothing else, 2007's leftovers will make 2008 a pretty fun gaming year.

"Metal Gear Solid 4" did not make the list because they never dated it for 2007 in the first place. Should I have included "Spore"?

Check my round-up at MTVNews.com.

UPDATE: Reliable sources have told me I'm a fool. The E3 2006 trailer for MGS4 did indeed promise the game for 2007. So add that to my list. Go to 13:40 of this trailer for proof; though note that Kojima Productions got a little too clever for their own good as well.  

After enjoying a Thanksgiving holiday of playing tons of games, we return with a new installment of "What We're NOT Playing."

To any new readers out there, this is where we talk about new releases we're avoiding for our own particular (and idiosyncratic) reasons. This week, Totilo talks about how he won't be playing any one of the six versions of "Smackdown Vs. Raw 2008" he received, even though he likes real (fake) wrestling:

StephenTotilo: I don't enjoy fighting games in general.
StephenTotilo: But the bigger issue is that just because I like something in one medium doesn't mean I'll like it in the other
StephenTotilo: Like just because I like Star Wars doesn't mean I'll really like Star Wars games, you know?
StephenTotilo: What I like about wrestling (when it's good) are the crazy storylines and a well-choreographed match
GeraldFlannory: yeah, the stories in wrestling are a little to silly now for my taste
StephenTotilo: For storyline, I might as well watch some real (fake) wrestling rather than play along to a storyline of some fake (fake) wrestling
GeraldFlannory: ha
GeraldFlannory: you losing me there on that one
TraceyJohn: You just blew my mind, Totilo

We also gang up on "Cruis'n," Gerald for not wanting to touch "The Simpsons" game and yours truly for not caring about "Geometry Wars." Read on to find out why...

Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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For fans of innovation, the PlayStation 3's download service, PSN, has been a lovely thing. It has brought gamers things like "flOw" and "Everday Shooter."

And this Winter it will bring gamers an episodic sitcom game called "Rat Race."

On Tuesday, I interviewed comedian and head writer of the game Victor Varnado for MTV News. Turns out he's a bona fide gamer with some programming roots as well.

He says all the right things about "Rat Race" and the trick art of making a game funny. This game sounds like it has a chance to hit its mark. (Watch Varnao's stand-up here, if you want to see what his sense of humor is all about).

But what if you've already heard of "Rat Race," seen some clips from it on GameTrailers, and wondered why it wasn't funnier? From my story:

"Here's what really happened," said Varnado, who followed the reaction. "Some of the stuff that was leaked onto GameTrailers was some of the stuff meant for internal use, not something that was a finished product that would go out." He said some of the material was created to test the game's technology and didn't represent the finished product. "That isn't our best foot forward," he said. Only the video about the roach-bait commercial had gone through the proper approval process. And that one, he said, got the most positive response. "We'll make sure that what we put out next is something we've gone over and that we're proud of."

Read the rest of the story and find out what the first episode will be about in my full story at MTVNews.com.