If you live in Europe, then Nintendo has some good news for you! They have announced that they are giving away 5,000 Metroids!

No, not the alien organisms that suck the life force out of anything they come in contact with. But rather, they have 5,000 "copies" to give away of the game which started it all, Metroid for the NES, by way of the Virtual Console.

But here's where it gets a little bit weird. In order to get your free download, you must be one of 5,000 people to register your copy of Metroid Prime Trilogy on the European Club Nintendo website. That part makes sense.

What's strange is that you must also have previously registered a copy of one of the three previous Metroid Prime games for the GameCube or Wii.

I don't know. That last part seems a little like overkill to get a five-dollar download of a 20-year old game that has already been remade in a superior fashion.

Not to mention the potential for redundancy; besides the fact that they are requiring you to essentially own at least one game twice, the original Metroid Prime also featured the original Metroid as an unlockable. So if that's the game you previously registered, then there may very well not be any need.

Maybe it's just me. I think the idea of the promotion is cool, but the secondary requirement seems to kind of gum up the practicality to some degree. I suppose it could be that it's for the really hardcore Metroid fan, or maybe one who registered but sold one of the previous games and is buying the new one.

But even so, it just strikes me as a bit strange.