MTV.com has been showcasing the most colorful clips that have aired across the site in 2008. We just had to send them some of our favorite Multiplayer video content. Like this batch, which highlights the “Best Celebrity Gaming Pitch-Person” and includes three clips you should check out!

MTV.com has been showcasing the most colorful clips that have aired across the site in 2008. We just had to send them some of our favorite Multiplayer video content. Like this batch, which highlights the “Best Appearance Of A Video Game In A Music Video” and includes three clips you should check out!

MTV.com has been showcasing the most colorful clips that have aired across the site in 2008. We just had to send them some of our favorite Multiplayer video content. Like this batch, which highlights the “Best MTV Use Of A Gaming Gadget” and includes three clips you should check out!

Let’s hope nothing important happens in the video game industry until Monday, December 1. Your Multiplayer blogging team is on vacation until then. We’re celebrating Thanksgiving, because that’s what Americans do.

If any news breaks while we’re away, uh, ignore it?

Please play some games while we’re away, everyone!

We’ll only have a few updates for you while we’re away. And they’re kind of … different.

Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Every week, we’re learning more and more about the exclusive downloadable content that’s showing up on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Which platform is getting the new scenarios for “Fallout 3″? Will there be anything new when I buy “Red Alert 3″ on PlayStation 3? Do we know anything more about “Grand Theft Auto IV”’s new missions?

We have the answers you are seeking in our updated exclusivity chart.

Thanksgiving is a great time to catch up on the games that have been sitting in your to-do pile for the past couple of weeks.

I may finally decide to move on from “Fallout 3″ after this weekend, for example. Well, on second thought, that means I won’t be playing “Fallout 3″ anymore.

Scratch that…

Stephen’s Not Playing…
“Loco Roco 2″ (PSP)

Why he’s not playing what could be the best PSP game of the year: Because it’s only out in Europe right now, or so I’ve heard. When did Europeans start getting games before Americans? And on Thanksgiving week no less! What is going on? I think this game is also coming out in Japan — where it was made — before it ships in the U.S. Were there just too many awesome PSP games filling up the holiday release calendar in America already? Or is America the new Europe?

Patrick’s Not Playing…
“Sonic Unleashed” (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii)

Why he’s fallen out of love with this hedgehog: Sega has burned me one too many times with this franchise. Diehard “Sonic the Hedgehog” fans seem intent on supporting the publisher by buying these en masse every time there’s a new one, but I won’t be a part of it. I’m told the 2D-ish bits of “Sonic Unleashed” show glimpses of greatness, only to be heavily outweighed by the overbearing werehog nonsense. Sega’s going to have to try a little harder next time.

As stories become more important in video games, so does knowledge of the universe, characters and existing plots when entering a game sequel.

Too often, however, game companies leave this narrative homework to their player. There’s almost nowhere to go — officially — to discover what happened in a previous game.

It’s been a while since I played “Tomb Raider: Legend,” the most recent story-based “Tomb Raider,” which is why I’m applauding the decision to include a “Previously…” video segment summarizing what already happened in “Tomb Raider: Underworld.”

Is it particularly well edited? No. Does it properly introduce the character nuances and narrative set pieces that defined “Legend”? Not really. It’s clear this was a last minute, low-priority video. But, at least it tells you — minor spoiler warning — someone from Lara’s past has come back to haunt her and has knowledge of the whereabouts of Lara’s mother, who was presumed dead.

That last line defines the basic setup for “Underworld.” It’s just too bad the summary doesn’t play when the game starts. Instead, I found out about it because it’s mentioned in one of the tips that appears on a loading screen.

This is a step in the right direction, though. Am I the only one that wants to see developers take a more proactive approach in catching us up on story?

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How quickly should downloadable content follow a game’s release?

This question came to mind yesterday when Bethesda Softworks announced that the first of three downloadable content packs for “Fallout 3” will be released in January. And the day before that, Lionhead Studios said they’re planning to release a premium DLC pack with new quests, characters and items in mid-December for “Fable II.” Last week, Rockstar Games said the first DLC for “Grand Theft Auto IV” will be out on February 17, with additional characters, missions, weapons and vehicles.

Both “Fable II” and “Fallout 3″ came out at the end of October, and their first DLC will come less than two and three months, respectively, after their original releases. Meanwhile, “Grand Theft Auto IV”’s content will arrive about ten months after the title’s initial release.

I’ve spent almost 20 hours in “Fallout 3″ so far, and I’m nowhere near finished; as for “Fable II” and “GTA IV,” there are still plenty of side missions to be completed.

Is the DLC for “Fallout” and “Fable” coming out too quickly? Or has the wait been too long for “GTA IV”? Judging by the number of used copies of “GTA IV” for Xbox 360 I saw at my local GameStop yesterday — I counted 46 — ten months may be a little too far out.

But what do you think? How swiftly do you need downloadable content for a game you’ve enjoyed playing? Do you want it as soon as you’re finished or can you wait a while?

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Was there a good reason for fans of Aquaman, Robin, Goro and Johnny Cage to buy the “Kollector’s” version of “Mortal Kombat vs. DC“?

Yes. Because the small comic packaged with that $70 version of the game can put such fans at ease. The comic explains the perfectly good reason those characters aren’t in a fighting game that did have room for Superman, Sub-Zero and that master of fisticuffs Lex Luthor.

Check out the comic book panel in this post and read the explanation for yourself. Note that the narrator is Dark Kahn, the villain who brought these two universes of characters into a collision. Can we believe him? Read more…

The hot news on gaming sites this morning is that Nintendo of Europe has ditched the traditional red Nintendo logo for a grey one — and that the company did this years ago.

Maybe this is just in Europe? And, by the way, how did Europe’s reporters miss this?

Don’t feel so bad, my European friends. I was blindsided by this same news just a couple of a weeks ago. I learned that this secret logo revolution occurred in the U.S. years ago as well. Read more…

Above is a photo of 46 copies of “Grand Theft Auto IV” for the Xbox 360 taken yesterday at a Brooklyn GameStop near my apartment.

Just last week, Rockstar Games announced that the first exclusive “GTA IV” DLC for the Xbox 360 is due out on February 17. And yes, you’ll need the original game to play the additional content.

Do these 46 gamers just not care about the upcoming DLC? Or did they not know about it? (The back of the box and the manual mention content downloads but nothing specific.)

Do you see a bunch of copies of “GTA IV” piled up at your local game store?

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The moment that former Electronic Arts executive Neil Young held an iPhone, he knew change was coming.

That feeling was so strong that he left his post at EA over the summer and formed an iPhone-only gaming company called ngmoco:).

Speaking to MTV Multiplayer over the phone yesterday, Young compared his experiences with the iPhone to working on both the Wii and DS.

“If you think about the games that were successful, have been successful on the Wii — and it’s also true of the DS — they’re games that have kind of been built from the interface out,” said Young. “And by successful I mean both from a critical standpoint but also a commercial standpoint.”

“I just read Jeremy Parish’s [story] on 1UP on iPhone gaming,” he continued, “and he was talking about when the DS started to accelerate as a platform was when designers started to do more than just port the old games over, try to map some hokey extension with the stylus and started really building games that specifically took advantage of the stylus. I think that’s true on the iPhone here, too. We’re just at the very, very beginning.”

One of the reasons some publishers started supporting the Wii early on was lowered development costs. Building a Wii title was far cheaper than the same scale on Xbox 360 or PlayStation. Young views iPhone development the same way.

“The development expense is just very different,” he said. “You’re spending a lot less money so you can afford to take a lot more risks in what you’re building.”

ngmoco:) has several iPhone games out and more coming soon. “Rolando,” a “Loco Roco”-style platformer with accelerometer controls, looks very promising.

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