I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in my game training efforts.  I'm brushing up on my Super Mario skills in preparation for next month's Super Mario Galaxy, but instead of returning to one of Mario's 3D adventures I finally went back and finished off Super Paper Mario, defeating Count Bleck and conquering the Flipside Pit of 100 Trials.  I'm working my way through the Flopside pit now, plus I have to go back to Chapter 6 and finish off the Sammer Guys.  I did find the last of the Pixls though, so now I'm running with a full crew (including Piccolo, Barry, Dashell, and Tiptron).  So yeah, I'm ready!

Another important part of buying a new video game is, of course, tearing away the plastic wrapping and breaking the seal.  Inside those cases we find our beloved game discs, yes, but also included is the precious instruction manual.  But are they really so precious?  How do you handle your manuals?  Do you read them cover to cover before starting a game or do you just refer to them after getting stuck?  Or do you just throw them away entirely?  As always, cast your vote and leave some comments.