It was nearly a year ago that I bought my Nintendo Wii (I can't seem to say Wii by itself), which would equally make it roughly a year since I last bought any games for it.

While I've bought plenty of Virtual Console games since, and not to say there aren't any games that don't interest me, I've felt as though I need to buy (let alone complete) as many PS2 games I had forgotten about, now that the console is over the hill, and prices are dropping.

Anyhow, as for the game itself: I've played three and a half hours of it since I picked it up at my local Toys R Us, and it's looking to be a great game. Initially, I felt a bit nervous, being as I haven't played any Wii games in a while, the transition would take some time getting used to. Moving from a PS2 controller to a CG or 360 controller is only a matter of remapping the important buttons in your head, as they're for the most part, fundamentally the same. However, SMG allowed me to move into the controls without much of a problem before anything too important was required out of the player.

Levels are referred to as galaxies, which orbit each other in larger groups, which you're required to unlock as you progress, collecting stars. What's different of course are the controls, and the way at which you move about in the game. It can seem a bit perplexing at first, moving around the outside of a sphere (or within), or jumping high enough that it lands you on another side of these King-Kai sized planets. This is not to say the game is full of these bit-sized asteroids, as there are plenty of larger platforms of each level too.

I learned last week that upon buying SMG at a Toys R Us between its launch and the 17th, you would receive a $25 gift card for the store, effectively cutting the price of the game in half (why they would do this, considering most stores receive a very small profit margin for videogames and consoles, I don't know). So, Tuesday morning, around 10am, I stopped by to pick up a copy of the game, hoping without a preorder, the earlier the better. However, they informed me that they won't be receiving any shipments until 5-6pm. So, I decide to preorder the game (which sounds odd to do on a game's launch day). When I came by latter that day, I learned that they no longer had any available for those without a preorder, so I consider myself lucky.

I look into my bag the woman hands me as I'm leaving the videogame section of the store, and I see what looks like two copies of the game. I pause. Do I continue on, and act as though nothing happened? I decide to return to the counter and inform the cashier of her mistake. She politely says that there was no mistake, and that rather, the second case houses a promotional coin, given with all launch purchases.

It seems as though as of late I've been compelled to buy significant videogame releases at launch, such as Twilight Princess, Halo 3, and Super Mario Galaxy. I'm going to guess I'll end up preordering Brawl, and MGS4 when it comes to the 360 (given the PS3's sales, and the production costs involved building the game, this only seems [hopefully] inevitable). As to why, I don't know. I'm only adding to the problem that buying something should be done at my convince, and that rushing around to preorder and anticipated game, only to wait for the next big thing, shouldn't become the norm. I suppose I'm simply sick of playing old, used games from Gamestop. :\