How many hours have you all put into the game (The one you bought the most recent), so far? I have clocked in 60 hours and 24 minutes. I bought this game on the 14th, which was a week ago exactly.
5 1/2 hours. Just got the game yesterday, a friend let me borrow his SoulSilver version while he plays HeartGold.
It definitely has some nice things:
1. Apricorns: picking them doesn't kill the tree, definitely a wise decision. There is also more of them
2. Seems to include a lot of the things that were Crystal-specific
3. Pokegear!!!! Vastly superior to Pokenav or Poketch
4. The touch screen is by far put to better use.
Neutral on:
Following pokemon: Some of them don't look good, some of them it doesn't make sense (fish pokemon), and they are always moving. Can't wait to have a diglett follow me, though. Would've been better if optional
Don't like:
1. Apricorns replaced all berry trees. They basically pansied out of doing away with loamy soil. Last time I checked, picking berries didn't kill the tree they grew on (though the berry planter you carry around is definitely better than the loamy soil system in Hoenn/Sinnoh)
2. They got rid of my grassy area on Route 36 that allowed me to catch a growlithe/vulpix really early in the game
3. Couldn't catch a Teddiursa/Phanpy early in the game either