Mario Ga Ga

I have a reason to be cheerful this summer thanks to the release of Super Mario Galaxy 2. Forget football, that game will be my everything mid-June. But there's one problem. I have a Xbox, not a Wii. I would have to repurchase a Wii to get my hands on Mario Galaxy 2. I have never repurchased a console. This is a big issue. And it makes me wonder: why has it come to this? Why am I so ready to ditch the Xbox after only a year, to return to a console that I've lost faith in once already?

My pondering begins with my present issue: my birthday is just around the corner and yet I'm eyeing up zero, zilch, nothing. This is strange. No matter the year, I'm always able to pencil in a specific game for birthdays and holidays. Sometimes it's a new release, sometimes it's a game that's passed under my radar.

Here at the start of the new decade, though, I have squat. For all of its rave reviews, Bioshock 2 still seems an unnecessary sequel, while Mass Effect 2 sounds like it would suck 50 hours-plus out of my life. And 30 hours is my limit. I had pencilled in Red Dead Redemption but that's sadly been pushed back.

My current console lacks originality. FPS, FPS, FPS. I like shooting and the old ultra-violence as much as the next man, but not in every single title. I have other issues too with the 360, those which many modern gamers may disagree with. Gamer scores and achievements and avatars eh? They add nothing to the gameplay. And downloadable content? That's just a cynical ploy to make you pay for material which should have been included in the original product.

Anyway, I'm feeling all cynical now, so I'm going to finish on a lighter note.

Summer day, June 2010. Postman approaches front door with a slim, rectangular box in his hand. I'm like a dog, buzzing around in the hallway, waiting for him to poke it through the letterbox. The box is squeezed through and then hits the floor. Before I rip it open with my bare hands, I know what it has to be. Super Mario Galaxy 2. The finest example of my favourite genre, made by the best developer in the world. I feel like a kid again.