At least with Wario Ware for the GBA, the point wasn't to finish.  It's more like the "old-school" games where getting the high score was more important than finishing the game.

Maybe they just created a bad demo for Musashi.  All the previews I've read have been pretty positive.

I'm on my second time through with DA2 and am still enjoying it.  It's not great, but it's fun to pick up every now and then.  The story does indeed suck, but it's not confusing.  It is also really easy, even on "Hard" mode, especially if you do the sidequests.

I haven't played Twin Snakes, but I've founded that most people grossly overestimate cutscene to gameplay ratio.  I would guess that gameplay seems to go by much faster than cutscenes since you are actually involved in the action, leading people to think the cutscenes take longer than they do.  For instance, you'll hear a lot of people say that Xenosaga spends as much time on cutscenes as on gameplay, whereas there are actually only around 8 hours of cutscenes in 40-50 hours of play.

Ys looks great, but I've heard it's really short - 10-15 hours or so.  The official website lists "Hidden, unlockable secrets that showcase the timeless legacy of Ys" as a feature.  Hopefully, that means at least one of the previous Ys games, which make getting the game worth it for me.

I picked up Warlords Battlecry 3 from $10 at Best Buy, although it was still marked $19.99, following a tip from another forum.  It's also $10 on their website, so this could be a nationwide price reduction.

You didn't get a manual at all?  You should have - my Gold Edition came with a full, spiral bound combined manual and a foldout case for the CDs.  I doubt they'd put out two versions of it, so you might have gotten either a used, or at least opened, copy.

Did you find it somewhere for $10?  From the reviews, it looks like it would definitely be worth that.

Are you trying to launch yourself through the goal?  You just need to get launched up on top of the spire.  Then, you can use the level overview view to find where you need to drop over the side to hit the goal.

It looks like all preorders will get the limited edition.  Here's Bioware's page announcing it.

There are a lot of non-major RPGs coming out this year -
Arc the Lad - End of Darkness
Atelier Iris - Eternal Mana
Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2
Makai Kingdom
Dragon Quest 8 (not big in the US yet, but it will be soon )
Phantasy Star Trilogy (if it ever makes it to the US)
Radiata Stories
Shining Tears and Shining Force Neo
Stella Deus
Samurai Legend Musashi
Fire Emblem for Gamecube
Namco X Capcom
Sigma Star Saga
Tales of Rebirth (assuming it's coming to the US)
Wild ARMs Alter Code F and WA4
Ys : The Ark of Napishtim

Among non-RPGs
Advent Rising
Psychonauts

I think they wanted to distance the game from Phantom Brave, and play up the Disgaea tie-ins like Prinnies, thus the name change.  They also have a PSP game coming out called Makai Wars (again featuring Prinnies).

More classic game compilations.

Nippon Ichi America has announced that they are bringing the Disgaea-esque strategy RPG Phantom Kingdom to the US under the name Makai Kingdom.  RPGFan has some screenshots.

"I have hated the Nintendo Corporation ever since they screwed over Atari back in the 1980's"
Yikes, way to hold a grudge  Seriously, what did they do?  I know they offered Atari the rights to sell the NES in the US, and Atari turned them down, or something like that, but that's about it.

"I know there are two Paper Marios, is one of them actually a sequel to the other, or is it just an expansion in gameplay? "
There's Paper Mario for the N64 and Paper Mario : The Thousand Year Door for the Gamecube.  They share similar gameplay, but I don't think there's any storyline connection between the two.  The Gamecube version is fantastic.

Shadow Hearts : Covenant has an awesome group of characters, and they're definitely unique.  How many other games have vampire pro-wrestler superheroes?  I'd recommend playing SH1 first, though, as the second is more meaningful if you have.

Gamespot and IGN both did updated previews of the game last week, but it sounded like there was a lot left to do before the game was ready.  Perhaps they're just redoing the website?

EA has confirmed that a sequel to the Third Age RPG is in the works.  I'm really enjoying the first one.  Despite its derivative gameplay, it's great fun to explore the world the book and movies created.

Gamespot, Game Informer, and IGN have posted their impressions of the Japanese version of Radiata Stories, the newest RPG from Square Enix and tri-Ace, makers of the amazing Star Ocean : Til the End of Time.  The previews sound positive, and according to IGN the game has been getting good reviews in Japan.  Best of all,

You can kick pretty much anything in the game, whether it be road signs, livestock, or even people. While some characters, such as the guards in the castle, will resist your kicks with unpleasant moans, other people will often get angry, so you'll get pulled into one-on-one engagements with them.

"I don't know how much the product quality decline can be contributed to the merger, but it certainly seems like there has been a significant drop in creativity and overall polish in SE's recent games."
I think it has more to do with Square's need to make up for the huge loss that was Final Fantasy : The Spirits Within.  They needed money, so quick-turnaround games like FFX-2 (which I thought was great in its own way) and easily localized games like Drakengard were released.  I have to disagree about Enix, as I thought DW7 and Star Ocean 3 were absolutely fantastic, with SO3 competing with FFX as my favorite game of all time.  I have never seen a game so polished and detailed as SO3. From the incredibly detailed scenery to the huge backstory and details on everything in the world from the races to the plants and animals, the game was obviously a labor of love for the designers.

This new game from Konami definitely sounds interesting.  Survival themes like this seem like they would be good settings for games, so it's odd they're so rarely used.  Hopefully, this one will be good.

MonolithSoft (of Xenosaga and Baten Kaitos fame) is developing a strategy RPG using characters from the libraries of Namco and Capcom.  RPGamer has the details.  This sounds really cool (and odd ) - I hope it makes it to the US.

I haven't seen many Alias threads lately, but tonight's episode was too good not to be discussed.  The story was good, the interaction between Syd and Vaughan was better than it has been since the beginning, the show was both creepy and funny, and the scene in the car dealership was just perfect. Last week's episode was good too - hopefully, the show is back on track for good.

RPGFan has details on the next PS2 installment in the Castlevania series.  The first PS2 game was more in line with the earlier Castlevania games, while it looks like this new one will be more like the GBA games, with experience points and a variety of skills.

According to IGN  Namco is bringing the newest Arc the Lad game, called Arc the Lad : Generation in Japan, to the US in May.  It takes place in the same world as Twilight of the Spirits, but is an action-RPG, unlike the previous games in the series.  They also have some impressions of the Japanese version.

According to RPGamer a Director's Cut version of Shadow Hearts : Covenant is due to be released in Japan.  While there's pretty much no chance the US will ever see this release, it does seem like a very good sign that there will be a Shadow Hearts 3 someday.

This sounds really cool.

The videos at IGN, especially of the fights on the ship and against the hydra look amazing.

Wow, you hang out with Doug Henning?

Whoever cast this show did a great job.  Most of the actors are (relatively) unknown and they're all good.  The writers are also doing a good job of providing variety in the backstories - it's almost like an anthology series.

IGN has posted an updated preview for the upcoming sci-fi action game Advent Rising, as has Gamespot .  Earlier previews were pretty negative, but it looks like many of the earlier complaints have been dealt with.  The game looks very ambitious, and it now looks like they'll be able to pull off the execution.  There's also a great new trailer at IGN.

Craziness.

There's a post here about the future of games set in the Star Trek universe. Most interesting is that a previously cancelled game may be resurrected - Secret of Vulcan Fury perhaps?

I'm a couple of hours in, and I'm enjoying it.  There's definitely an attempt to evoke memories of the first game - the health displays, sound effects, and battle win theme are straight out of Suikoden 1.  The graphics have been technically ok, but very lacking in detail.  Details can really make graphics come alive, as in Star Ocean, but the environments in Suikoden 4 have been bland so far.  As in S3, the main character has an odd walking animation, although the battle animations are nice.  

The ship-to-ship battles and minigames have been the highlight so far.  I even had my own litle gambling problem, where I kept losing at the dice game, and couldn't stop until I'd made my money back  My main gripe is the four-character battle party.  I didn't like the partner system in 3, but at least the 6-character battles from 1 and 2 allowed for some strategy in placing your characters.

The last word on Baldur's Gate 3 is that it is indeed being worked on.  I would guess it'll be unveiled at E3.

Suikoden 4 is actually supposed to be pretty short as RPGs go - most reviews say 25-30 hours.  Reviews have been in the 7/10 range, although Game Informer gave it an 8.5 and said that at its best moments, it's as good as the best RPGs.

Gamespy has some screenshots of the upcoming sequel to Katamari Damacy.  Unfortunately, they're really tiny.

"About the only quibbles I have is that I wish they tried to have the dialog match the setting a little more. Having the main character run around saying stuff like ‘Dude’ and ‘Pops’ and essentially be a character with a 90s sensibility is somewhat jarring. There’s so much they could do with the setting but haven’t."
The first game has a certain quirk factor, but to me, that was part of its appeal.  The sequel definitely turns the quirk up a few notches, but it fits better with its lighter tone.  It also helps that Covenant's translation and voice work is much improved.

Circuit City has it on sale this week for $22.99.

To answer my own question the sale is going on in-store, but there was no indication on the sign of when it ends.