Thanks for the recommendation. Since I've bought the first since I wrote the OP, it seems I'm halfway there. I notice that Mario Kart Wii has its own controller-thing. Would I have to buy a bunch of those to play multi-player? I'm already smarting after playing £25 for a crappy proprietry component cable to get 480p out of the machine. £25! Bloody hell! 480p isn't worth that! An HDMI cable only costs me a fiver!

Okay, rant over. Sorry.

Obviously not all my games are must haves, but out of the games I own I would choose these 5 in this order that you don't own (assuming you already bought galaxy). These are based on my own personal tastes and knowing you want games for your family. If I was only buying games for myself I might change some of my picks out.

1) Mario Kart Wii - best bang for the buck, and best Mario Kart to date. Mario Kart 64 beats this in battle mode, but the online racing totally rocks (note online is 2p only, but the local 4p is very customizable)

2) Punch-Out!! - this is a fast pace dodge/punch game. Essentially it is all pattern recognition, but totally rocks. If you're not sure, download Punch-Out!! for NES on VC. Lots of fun for everyone.

3) Mario Strikers Charged - unless you completely hate soccer/football this game is awesome. The game is hard if you try to win the striker cup, but tons of fun to play together. I spent weeks trying to beat this with my brother. It has the perfect mix of motion control and pointing.

4) Shuan White Snowboarding: Road Trip - excellent use of the balance board. You can play 3 people at a time while using the balance board and it is a lot of fun. The regular controls are a little lame, but swaping out who uses the balance board makes this lots of fun.

5) Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - If you like strategy games you can't go wrong wit this. If you've never played a strategy game before this game can be punishing. However, this was the game that got me into strategy video games and I've been hooked ever since.

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other games worth buying but single player experience hence why I left them off my top 5

Metroid Prime 3 - but I'd wait for the collection as it would be the same price but you would get all 3 games. Unless you don't like the First Person Adventure experience you shouldn't get bored from playing all 3. However, you can always play other games in between finishing them just to break things up.
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - if you love Zelda
Mega Man 9 - if you love classic hardcore 2D platformers.

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The rest of the games I own are take it or leave it. Okami is an ok Zelda ripoff, but I got bored of it after it ended for the 3rd time (they tricked me into thinking it was over anyways). Tales of Symphonia is ok and I bought it because I was a fan of the first which is a lot better. Gemoetry wars is great if you like SHMUPS. So, as you can see they are quality titles, just not must haves in my opinion.

Ooo, that souns good. I'll look that baby up. Anyone else recommend that? I think I may be sold on that description alone.

Zack and Wiki is a point & click adventure. I bought it since I got it for $6, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you are a fan of those games. It plays slow so while I beat most of it I got bored. As you get farther the stages get longer and dieing sets you back a lot more.

You got ripped off on that cable. I bought a $5 one online twice. One I gave to my brother.

Yeaj Wii Fit was an essential purchase for us, and was the driving reason for buying the machine. It's already had a fair bit of use, but I was surprised to learn I'd lost 4lbs in just 10 minutes of 'working out'. Hmm, not the most accurate then. That said, it's still a good larf.

As for Super Paper Mario, I know pretty much nothing about this; what's the game about?

I never played Bully, but Godfather: Blackhand edition is essentially the same kind of game (sandbox game) and was the best I've ever played. I never had more fun choking, beating and shooting people to death. I know, it sounds so horrible

It was all water weight. As you sweat you can easily lose 10lb of weight if you don't rehydrate yourself. Which is why you should weigh youself once a day before you really do anything.

(so, does all my replies start to count as spamming yet )

As I said above, a long list of titles doesn't really help me much due to my general ignorance. Why are those games, in particular, worth playing? that'd help tons.

And, on Galaxy, is it really that good? I've started it, and I can't say I'm stunned or blown away. Certainly, it's a fun Mario game; but, if anything, I've found it a bit fiddly. That said, I've just started, things may change massively as I get into it.

Yup. I hear ya. I bought it already.