I love a tightly scripted game as much as anyone, but Leigh is right that the more profound and meaningful "choices" in games are those that allow us to author our own experiences. Still, I'm with Jamin in saying that New Super Mario Bros. Wii was not that game. I read a rather touching account by 1up.com's Jeremy Parish about playing it with his fiancee and came away wondering how we could possibly have had such different experiences. Like Parish, I played the game largely with my wife, who is not a gamer and who was also excited to play a Mario title for nostalgia's sake. Every time we booted it up, things got so tense within a few levels that I was in danger of having to sleep on the couch.