Just throwing out a couple of my opinions.
If a video game is bought as much for its story line as any other reason, (if not more so, since a 'compelling reason to care about pushing on') is needed, doesn't that mean after you played the game once, unless it was a masterpiece (in your opinion) you're done with that game? After all, yes, there are books and movies you would read or watch more than once, but how many? So, GoW2 should only be played thru once and that's it?
Now some, like the FF series, have the storyline in them, and at least I cared about the characters, and mourned the ones that died. But it was a RPG, and is sort of mandatory to HAVE a storyline. It would be nearly impossible for a character like Mario to be in a deep storyline like that, equivalent to saying that you want Scooby Doo to be in a Tom Clancy triller. Of course, a lighter storyline, like Super Paper Mario has Mario in it, but a masterpiece storyline? No, it's fluff.
Finally, I agree with those that want to be able to skip the already watched cut scenes or the long conversations that go on forever, but don't help with the game play (ie, telling you were to go next, etc). There are places to tell very good stories, and places not to. SMG is close enough to a place not to. And what if there HAD been a story? And it was a crappy one or at least not a 9.8 story? Then, the overall game drops down a bit and cost more to do so!
Torturing the numbers. Hear them scream.
