Jason Cipriano can't stop talking about "Super Smash Bros. Brawl." Except this time, he's defending it against an attack from Stephen Totilo, who won't jump on the hype train -- for now, at least.

As it turns out, the reoccurring theme at Multiplayer this week isn't really what we're all not playing. Instead, it's games that one of us is playing but the other isn't. Sorry, "Rainbow Six Vegas 2"!

StephenTotilo: ["Super Smash Bros. Brawl"] certainly seems like a really well-made game. But it also seems like... "Super Smash Bros. Melee." I played "Mario Kart Wii" yesterday, and I have a similar reaction in that the WORST thing I can say about it is that it certainly seems very similar to the "Mario Karts" I have played before.
StephenTotilo: Because of that, I've been leaving games like "Smash" to the side.
StephenTotilo: They're predictable comfort food, as it were
StephenTotilo: Big bowls of mac and cheese
StephenTotilo: A hearty stack of pancakes
JasonCipriano: Coincidentally, I love mac and cheese and pancakes, too
StephenTotilo: A pot of chicken noodle soup

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What do Will Smith and Charles Van Doren have to do with each other? Mostly nothing, but they were both indirectly brought up in this week's edition of "What We're Not Playing."

Following the release of "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" last week, the releases this week were a little thin, but not too thin to pick out a handful of games not to play. Read on as "Condemned 2," "Buzz" and even "Smash Bros." get the WWNP treatment.

PatrickKlepek: Trivia games are frustrating because there's always someone who knows every answer.
PatrickKlepek: With someone like that, what's the point in playing?
JasonCipriano: Unless you're that guy.
JasonCipriano: Which sometimes (more often than not) I am.
JasonCipriano: Not to sound like a know-it-all... but I am an abyss of useless knowledge.
PatrickKlepek: If we're doing trivia about the "Hellraiser" movies, maybe.
PatrickKlepek: Other than that, count me out.
PatrickKlepek: Congratulations. I will never play trivia games with you.
PatrickKlepek: (Or at least you better be on my team.)
JasonCipriano: Awesome.
JasonCipriano: I think that means I win

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Some really great games could come out this week, and we wouldn't even notice... or care.

Why?

Not to rub it in, but we just got sent "Super Smash Bros. Brawl," a game that many of us have been waiting to get for months, even years.

So any game, no matter how great, must wait. For us, that includes "God of War: Chains of Olympus," "Army of Two" and "Bully." But let's get to the real issue at hand here. Are there too many pony games on the market?

TraceyJohn: But seriously... can the market have TOO MANY pony games?
TraceyJohn: They're almost as abundant as war shooters.
JasonCipriano: maybe we need to create a crossover genre
JasonCipriano: "Pony Shooterz"
TraceyJohn: PETA will call.
JasonCipriano: It's virtual
TraceyJohn: Unless the horses are the ones with guns

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The GDC is over, (thank God) and it's not just me holding down the fort. This week Patrick and I bond over a mutual respect for "Bubble Bobble" and then destroy said bond over "LOST." C'est la vie. Find out whether Patrick's judgment is clouded by a late night gaming session of "N+" or if his picks of games to not play this week are dead on. I'll give you a clue about what to expect ... we didn't agree on "LOST."

PatrickKlepek: Are you a fan of "LOST"?
JasonCipriano: I'm not and you actually struck upon my pick of the week
PatrickKlepek: Excellent. There, we are polar opposites.
JasonCipriano: So you plan on visiting the island?
PatrickKlepek: Absolutely. I'm a complete freak for "LOST," just ask Stephen. I take solace in the fact that he's obsessed, too. I don't know if he's playing it, though.
PatrickKlepek: I mean, I even beat "24: The Game" because I wanted the story bits.
PatrickKlepek: Thus, I have no reason to turn down "LOST."
JasonCipriano: Even if I was a fan ... I'd be a little weary of it

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With most of the Multiplayer gang out in San Francisco at GDC, the two Jasons were left to hold down the fort that is "What We're Not Playing." With a short list of games released this week, and we somehow managed to end up not playing most of them; everything from "The Club" (which we like) to "Dynasty Warriors" (which we didn't) and back to "N+" (which we love).

I fear most of this week's game fell victim to our love for "Professor Layton," but one managed to escape our interest due to its' to eerie box art.

JasonMitchell: One last game I'll mention that i won't be playing is "My Horse and Me." Not only because it's not a game I would play but more because the box art is creepy... like really creepy.
JasonCipriano: Really? The box art doesn't suck you in? Call your name out?
JasonCipriano: Good box art is sometimes important.
JasonMitchell: I agree.
JasonCipriano: The whole judging a book by its cover thing.
JasonCipriano: I mean - at least while games still have box art.

Oh well, there's always next week.

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This week not only marks my first time visiting New York City since being a child, but my initiation into “What We’re NOT Playing,” as well.

Being hundreds of miles away from my apartment is a bit of a hurdle to my game playing, but that didn’t stop Jason Cipriano and I from discussing what I wouldn’t have been playing even if I had been home.

Mostly, we discussed why the latest Hironobu Sakaguchi epic, “Lost Odyssey,” isn’t appealing to us because of the time sink involved in actually finishing it.

JasonCipriano: "Lost Odyssey" is probably the biggest name being released this week, why pass on that?
PatrickKlepek: Two reasons. One, it's an RPG and I'm already playing through "Kingdom Hearts 2." I don't know how I found the time to play 70 hours of "Final Fantasy VII" when I was in high school, but never again. Two, everything I've read says it involves lots of reading. Reading is for books, not games
JasonCipriano: Yeah. You'd think on four discs they would encourage them to have less text
PatrickKlepek: Is it four? Jeez. At that point, I don't even know where I'd put the box. I live in San Francisco, for crying out loud! Maybe I'll play the demo. I'm curiously interested in Hironobu Sakaguchi's work, I just don't have the time

Readers, do you find that to be a problem, too? Would you like to play an RPG, but can’t justify the $60 price tag knowing that you’ll never actually finish the adventure? Is the need for a new "Final Fantasy" that important to you?

Oh, and for once, Multiplayer doesn’t bring up "Endless Ocean." Read on for more.

[Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox]

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I wish I could say that we didn't mention "Endless Ocean" in this week's "What We're NOT Playing."

But alas, I cannot: the ocean exploration sim keeps on creeping into our conversations. Also this week, Jason Cipriano gives me his laundry list of reasons why he's not picking up "Devil May Cry 4" right now. Here's one of them:

JasonCipriano: I haven't played any of the others in the series
JasonCipriano: while I know you don't really need to in this case
JasonCipriano: I feel like I'd be missing out on a bit of the story
JasonCipriano: I call that the "Halo 3" effect

When I asked him what he meant, since he had played "Halo 3" without playing "Halo 1" or "2" first, he said:

JasonCipriano: I did and I feel like I learned a bit of a lesson from "Halo" -- since I had no clue what was going on, and I just wanted to finish the game to get it out of the way -- no invested interest in the story.

What about you, dear readers? Do you play games without having played all the prequels, or do you prefer to wait and play everything in order? Does it depend on the franchise and the continuity (or lack thereof) in the story? Read on to see more of our discussion on this topic and why the hell we talk about "Endless Ocean"... again.

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This week, we switch up "What We're NOT Playing" a bit.

It's just me and Totilo, and we talk about what we are playing (go figure!) -- namely "Endless Ocean" (still) and "Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn" (still). But those games brought up a good question:

StephenTotilo: Thankfully, "Fire Emblem" is turning a corner for the better... on its 14th hour
TraceyJohn: So 14 hours in, you're finally getting some satisfaction out of it? How long should someone play a game to give it a chance? I think Cip mentioned last week he played "Endless Ocean" for 10 minutes and gave up.
StephenTotilo: Somewhere between 10 minutes and 14 hours is the sweet spot, for sure. 10 minutes isn't enough time for just about any game

So readers, what do you think? How long should a game be given a chance?

Read on for more of our thoughts on "Endless Ocean" "Fire Emblem, and why we aren't playing "Advance Wars: Days of Ruin" and "No More Heroes" (yet)...

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This week's "What We're NOT Playing" became a hotly contested debate about a certain ocean-exploring Wii game.

Despite Totilo's humpback whale-riding and penguin-petting, the Jasons of MTV Multiplayer could not fathom that Totilo or I could like a "game" (or "experience") called "Endless Ocean." Why? Because you can't fight... or "win":

JasonCipriano: YOU CAN'T WIN
TraceyJohn: Why do you have to win?
JasonCipriano: there's just no ending or whatever
JasonCipriano: when you beat the last boss, and save the world from the land of darkness
JasonCipriano: yeah, you win
JasonCipriano: the story is over
JasonCipriano: the game is done
JasonCipriano: because there is a game
JasonCipriano: there is a conflict
JasonCipriano: a fundamental element of story-telling
JasonCipriano: and gaming
JasonCipriano: you need a conflict in order for it to be enjoyable

Let me interject here to ask you, readers... do we need to have conflict in a game? Does a game always need set goals? Do you have to win? Read on to see me take a type-lashing, and weigh in with your thoughts...

[Photo Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images]

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Should game developers be held up to the standards of their predecessors?

Do you like playing a game in which a character you've worked so hard to build can die and never come back?

Do people in the U.S. care about train games?

All these questions and more are discussed in this week's "What We're NOT Playing." Here's a taste of what's to come:

JasonCipriano: so you guys are holding a newly released game to standards for a console two generations removed?
GeraldFlannory: nah, it's just that it's from the same devs
GeraldFlannory: so one would expect the same quality
JasonCipriano: but that was what? like 9 years ago?
GeraldFlannory: still
StephenTotilo: whatever. it's clearly a successor.
JasonCipriano: I don't think it is fair to hold new games to standards of a developer that could only be the same in name - and not necessarily talent
GeraldFlannory: but like in the cg business, the studio as a whole will get the blame and not the talent
GeraldFlannory: Pixar has new animators all the time yet their quality always remain a high point in animation

What game and studio are they talking about? Read on to find out...
[Photo Credit: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images]
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