well in storage terms, 1gb equeals about 8000 blocks. i'm using a 2gb card right now, and with anout 28 games on it, and a few other things (wii channels, and some guitar hero songs saved on it) it's still obly about a third of the way full.

so even if you wanna get a lot of stuff, just get a 4 or 8gb card, and you could fit hundreds of games on it.

whew, this may take a while

i guess ill first list the games with the most interesting premise (as opposed to "the other games"):

Deadly Creatures; youre a scorpion or tarantula beating on other pests and human feet. it sounds silly, but the insect violence is just too awesome. action-adventure.

Fatal Frame 4; youre battling hundreds and hundreds of ghosts. and you have a camera... thats probably what makes it (in my opinion) the scariest of all survival horrors.  survival-horror.

Trauma Center: New Blood; self-explanatory. ive always wanted to pretend im a surgeon! medical simulation.

Madworld; pretty much an answer to God of War. i wouldnt suggest playing it in front of kids. ridiculously bloody and violent, but the art style prevents you from getting too grossed out. you have total control of how you want to execute your enemies. sandbox? action-adventure? somewhere in the middle

next, games that follow their predecessors nicely. if you thought the predecessors were good games, get these:

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess; this is most closely comparable to ocarina of time. however, it relies just a bit more on nostalgia and IS a bit more stale than its older counterpart. its an incredible game none-the-less. the story is more or less the same, but how link, zelda, and ganondorf end up together changes. you can use the wii reticule to aim with projectiles, which makes up for the fact that you have to swing the remote to slash (it gets annoying at times). style is darker and more realistic than OoT. if you like zelda, get it for sure.

Super Mario Galaxy: it ditched the adventure-ish scheme found in Mario Sunshine, and went full-platformer. beautiful game, plenty of suits, same old mario. many people find it infinitely better than sunshine, though i liked both equally.

Resident Evil 4: turned into a 3rd person shooter, which drastically lowers the fear factor, as now you're able to control your character more freely. in a way, its a plus. in a way, it isnt. with the wiimote, you can aim freely, making the wii version superior to the rest. has some light puzzles, and a cool money system, with a killable merchant. i like the bosses particularly, since you rely on intuition rather than wit to kill them; their weaknesses are pretty self explanatory at a moment's glance.

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn; sequel to path of radiance; as usual, perfectly formed characters, decent voice acting, great story. why is it different from the other fire emblem games? well, its harder. brutally harder. if you dont have save data from path of radiance, you may find yourself replaying levels over and over again. its in 3D and... well thats about the only differences. still, if you liked any fire emblem, this is one of the better ones, so id recommend it.

Batallion Wars II: interesting game, as its sort of a hybrid between a third person shooter and a real time strategy game. youre a commanding officer in any unit you choose (you can switch  between units). your controls include: attack, patrol, hold position, select all of one type of unit, select one unit, capture, select all... thats all i can name at the top of my head. plenty of units to choose from, decent (but predictable, as the famicom wars series ALWAYS has a third faction pulling the strings) story, and... passable voice acting.

Animal Crossing City Folk: social-ish game, life simulation game. they added online so you can now visit others. uses Wii-speak. thats all i have to say about that.

finally, the "new" games

Okami: very little new content compared to the PS2 version, but drawing is a lot more quick. it really did make all the difference though.

No More Heroes: lightsaber action adventure. makes fun of just about everything you can think of: policemen, otakus, comic nerds, russians, magicians, superheroes, and more. kills are humerous, and its especially satisfying to decapitate 6 people at once and hear one LOUD "AH! MY SPLEEN!" youre the 11th best assassin in the world vying for the #1 position.

Link's Crossbow Training: meant to test the wii zapper. its a seamless, short game. its sort of like those arcade police-training games. youll probably want to get platinum medals for all the challenges. no story, just a test-game with areas you find in legend of zelda: twilight princess, though still a great game. visuals are just as stunning as those in twilight princess. plenty of modes to play.

Elebits: a casual game. just find the little guys. its a light-hearted fun one.

Soul Calibur: Legends; soul calibur as a third person adventure; story revolves around how siegfried obtains soul calibur and soul blade. not an incredible game. cheap tho.

now, brawl.

Super Smash Bros Brawl: perfection. well, not really, but i love it.

thats about all i feel like talking about

if theres any specific title up there you have questions about, ill probably muster up an answer

Right, firstly, I'd like to offer a big thank-you to all those who have helped me in the thread. I have a few games now, and I'm looking out for some more on eBay and the like, hoping to pick up a title or two I missed in my first round of purchases.

Now I have two more specific questions:

1) Wii Ware and the Virtual Console: I know so few of these games. Which are the best, and why? I currently have a preference for good rpgs, but play everything, really, if that modifies any replies.
2) Gamecube games: I missed out on the cube, and am interested in playing some of the best the machine had to offer. In short: which should I buy sooner rather than later? I already have Super Mario Sunshine and Eternal Darkness.

Thanks in advance.

Well, I would say Metroid Prime 1 and 2, but those are coming packaged with 3 on the Wii this holiday season.

Mario Kart DD is solid, Geist was a decent fps that you can get for cheap. Wave Race is fantastic if you like somewhat difficult racing games, F-zero GX is the greatest, again if you like hard racing games. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II is awesome, if you like flight/action games. If you're into dark, graphic, and surreal stuff, check out Killer 7. It's an fps on rails, and the controls aren't exactly the greatest thing ever, but it's a fantastic game, with a really cool and mind twisting story from Suda 51. Baten Kaitos is a really cool RPG, that is mighty different in terms of how you do battle. Zelda: The Wind Waker is one of the greatest on the system. Metal Gear: The Twin Snakes is a great remake of the Playstation original. Burnout 2 was probably my favorite "normal" racing game on the system. The Resident Evil remakes were also incredibly good, if you are a RE fan.

I could go on like this for quite a while. I think that's a decent list though to help get you started. :)

For gamecube: - Paper Mario: The Thousand years Door
- Zelda : The Wind Waker

You're right, that is a pretty decent list. Of those:

• Metroids: I'll pick up in the Wii package.
• Geist: FPS on Gamecube doesn't sound so hot; is it really worth playing that much after playing modern FPS's on PS3?
• Wave Race: I've never really been interested in this. Again, is it really worth it dome someone without much interest in the game?
• F-zero GX: I've always been a WipEout fan -- do you know how the two titles compare?
• Rogue Squadron: Now this I'll have to pick up, methinks.
• Killer 7: Sounds intriguing. Anyone else have on opinion on this?
• Baten Kaitos: Sounds pretty awesome. I'll have to look this one up.
• Zelda: The Wind Waker: Looks like it's a must-buy to me.
• Metal Gear: The Twin Snakes: I forgot about this, and I'm a total MGS fan now (it's taken me a while to get here -- MGS4 consolidated it); I can't imagine this one will be cheap.
• Burnout 2: I think I can easily miss this.
• Resident Evil: I'll probably pick up the Wii conversion at some point instead.

Thanks for all that; it's a really good start. I trust you have nothing to say on Wii Ware and the Virtual Console, though; does anyone else?

Yeah, as mentioned in my previous post, The Wind Waker is aleady at the top of the list (didn't take long, huh?). Paper Mario, however, I have no experience with. Is it good? Is it worth playing the previous titles first?

Paper Mario: TTYD is a master piece :D dont miss out on that one

but when u havent played the previous titles then do it like it did and get Mario RPG (SNES) and Paper Mario (N64) via virtual console. You dont need those to have fun with PM:TTYD but are a nice addition or preparation for it.

I played PM:TTYD also first and loved it, still one of my favourite games and played the others later, so its eitherway fine

Get RE4, Mario Kart, and Metroid Prime 3

I've only played the WipEout HD demo, but I think F-Zero is much better. F-Zero doesn't have weapons though. You race really fast in a similar manner, and then you can do side attacks to knock people off the tracks. I only played GX at my cousins place, but I loved F-Zero and F-Zero X.

I think all the Paper Mario games are great. Paper Mario: TTYD is better than the original, and if you like RPGs is definitely worth it. Super Paper Mario is a really good platformer with RPG elements and a long yet humorous story, however only get it if you like new and interesting things, because it is nothing like any Mario before it.