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Help Us Name The Greatest Canine In Video Game History (The Dogs And Wolves Edition)

Posted 2/11/08 5:15 pm EST by in Animal Crossing, Animals, god of war, Pokemon, resident evil, Retro, The Greatest Animals In Video Games, Top Entries, zelda


videogamedogs.jpgHorses are great for traveling, but we can't forget about man's best friend: the dog.

Last month, we embarked on a year-long quest to find video games' greatest animal. We started off with finding the best horse, and our all-star panel of judges chose the one fine equine who will represent horses in our end-of-the-year competition.

Now this month, we move on to canines. That includes dogs and wolves, to you non-veterinarians out there.

While dogs (and wolves) have certainly proven to be a gamer's best friend, they also can be a gamer's worst enemy. You have played "Resident Evil" haven't you? From survival-horror to action-adventure to first-person shooters to casual titles, we take a look at all the canines we could think of for our judges' consideration. And dear readers, feel free to weigh in with your favorite hound and suggest any that we missed.

Then check at the end of the month, when our our judges will select The Greatest Canine In Video Game History.

The leading contenders...

okami_small.jpgAmaterasu as Shiranui in "Okami"

When legendary monster Orochi is resurrected with an evil curse in tow, it's up to the wolf-embodied sun god Amaterasu to regain the 13 powers of the Celestial brush and restore peace to the world.

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The Greatest Video Game Horse Revealed, As Chosen By Our Stunningly High-Profile Panel

Posted 1/30/08 8:01 am EST by in Animals, bioshock, penny arcade, Pokemon, Retro, The Greatest Animals In Video Games, Top Entries, world of warcraft, zelda


epona_blue_ribbon_281×211.jpgA horse is a horse, of course, of course...

But not these horses.

Two weeks ago, we announced our year-long quest to find the Greatest Animal In Video Game History. First, we proposed a list of the best virtual horses and asked you, the readers, to tell us if we missed any. Then comes phase two today: the official vote.

Now this is serious business, folks. For our Blue Ribbon Panel, we went to straight to the top:

  • A pretty good game creator -- Ken Levine, President and Creative Director of 2K Boston and chief creative force behind the 2007 GOTGOTY
  • A pretty good artist -- Mike "Gabe" Krahulik, illustrator of the "Penny Arcade" webcomic
  • A pretty good writer -- Leigh Alexander, editor of Worlds in Motion, writer at Gamasutra and her blog Sexy Videogameland
  • A pretty knowledgeable person about animals --Tofuburger, co-founder of cultural phenomenon/funny animal picture blog I Can Has Cheezburger

After weighting each judge's top three choices -- many of which, were, uh, shocking -- the winner turned out to be...

Epona from the "Legend of Zelda" series. Pokemon's Rapidash came in at a close second. The horses from "World of Warcraft" tied with Hannah the Horse from "Zoo Race" for third place.

And the Readers' Choice winner: Agro from "Shadow of the Colossus." (Epona was a distant second.)

Are the judges out of touch? Or do they know something the rest of us don't? They are pros, after all. You've got to see what they picked and their justifications (provided in words and pictures). So read on.

Take it away, Ken Levine... Read More...

My Achievement Quest: I Both Giveth And Taketh Away

Posted 1/22/08 5:23 pm EST by in Animals, Cipriano Achievement Thermometer, Xbox 360


gamehunter281.jpgIt was a very a unique week for my Achievements quest. I spent a significant amount of time playing one game I never thought I would play, and another that I had made fun of some of my co-workers for playing. The weird thing is that I enjoyed both of them.

To catch everyone up, with last week's heartbreaking news of "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" being delayed into March, I tacked on an extra 5,000 achievement points to my quest. The new addition upped my target goal to 25,000 points (15,000 more than my original number). With more time brings more games. I was able to stay on-point this week, scoring 1,230 points, bringing my overall points scored in this challenge to 19,180. I have 5,820 points to go. I'm so close, yet, so far.

This past week I ran up my Gamerscore with the help of "Viva Pinata," "Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2008," "Heavy Weapon," "Gripshift," and the ever-present "Scene It: Lights Camera Action." Prior to this challenge I could have sworn that "Viva Pinata" and "Big Game Hunter" would never enter my Xbox 360, yet, in the name of Achievement points, I played the hell out of them - and liked them.

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Help Us Name The Greatest Horse In Video Game History

Posted 1/15/08 8:54 am EST by in Animals, Pokemon, Retro, The Greatest Animals In Video Games, Top Entries, world of warcraft, zelda


Photo by China Photos/Getty ImagesWe here at MTV Multiplayer love animals.

Yes, we do. Especially virtual ones (no shedding).

And that's why we'll let other video game websites squabble over competitions to name the Greatest Video Game Ever. We're after something far more grand.

We are now launching a year-long quest to name the Greatest Animal In Video Game History. And we will need your help.

It's time our video game animal friends got the appreciation they deserve. Whether used for travel, companionship and/or battle, there have been many video game animals that we'll never forget. So every month we'll list the nominations for the best beasts from a certain category -- dogs, cats, and so on. At the end of the month, our Blue Ribbon panel will choose the winning creature for the species. Then, as 2008 draws to a close, we'll choose the very best animal across all species.

Throughout this process we will depend on you to remind us of any animals we forgot.

To start this grand effort, we are channeling our inner equestrian to nominate a shortlist of Greatest Horse In Video Game History. (Voting concludes at the end of the month.) From a variety of no-names to unforgettable life-savers, these are the some of the most beloved video game horses we came up with for consideration:

twilight-princess-horse.jpgEpona in "The Legend of Zelda" Series

Link's loyal companion Epona has not only carried him around long distances throughout the series, but she's also helped him in multiple horseback battles, most recently the final epic fight with Ganondorf in "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess." And -- bonus points -- she has her own song.

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The $13.37 Gamer: BK "Viva Piñata" Toys

Posted 10/11/07 6:38 pm EST by in $13.37 Gamer, Animals, Xbox 360


1337gamer_viva.jpgLet’s hope this is the most unhealthy $13.37 Gamer ever, because as much as I like fast food, every now and then my chest starts hurting. Anyway, this week’s $13.37 Gamer sends you off to Burger King (or “BK” as all the cool kids are calling it) for lunch, or perhaps dinner, to get a questionably awesome “Viva Piñata Party Animals” toy. Either way, your friends will be jealous and will want to know where you got your Hudson Horstachio toy with a dreidel fortune spinner inside, all for a whopping 55 cents. Of course, that’s in addition to the cost of a Kid’s Meal, which will cost you $2.87.

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Short-Term Memory Week — The Game Shelf, Re-Visited

Posted 8/28/07 8:29 pm EST by in Animals, Game Collections, Short-Term Memory Week


Quimby Explores The New Game Shelf(It’s Short-Term Memory Week, a celebration of earlier Multiplayer posts with full-sized updates. Today: remember… February 2nd?)

It was winter. It was cold. And I was ready to reveal one of my most stubbornly held gaming idiosyncrasies:

For the last few years, I have wanted all of my modern gaming collection to fit on a single shelf in my apartment.

I didn't mind shoving my Nintendo 64 cartridges in a closet. I was happy to toss my Game Boy Advance games in a shoebox. But I maintained that every game I kept, from PlayStation 2's launch until now, should fit on one shelf I originally bought for books. In the February 2nd entry of Multiplayer, I wrote:

...the perfect 21st century gaming collection, no matter what, will fit 27 inches x 12 inches.

Because of this, I undertake a fierce review of my personal collection every few months. I force myself to chuck old favorites because of a bizarre credence I put in the wisdom of some furniture maker who probably designed my shelf to hold Judy Blume or Tolstoy volumes instead....

I held that truth to be self-evident. I stood by it, even as I was later challenged by others.

And then the winter melted into spring and summer. And my wife and I had to move to a new apartment. The future of the shelf itself was in jeopardy.

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