Yeah, most game stores charge the five bucks, but it can depend on the game. For example, the local Babbage's (now GameStop >:0) required a five dollar deposit on Wind Waker but did not charge for Banjo-Tooie.
I preordered it 2 weeks ago. I didn't preorder Echoes and I almost didn't get a copy of it when it came out (whew). I guess that is what I get for living in such a low populated area. Anyway, I talked 2 of my buddies into ordering it too. So we will be online Tuesdays as soon as we get back from the store. :D
Er, the "cost" of preordering a game is just putting money down on it... that $5 actually goes towards the cost of the game, so when you go pick it up you pay the difference. $5 is just kind of the minimum to put down for whatever reason, so that's what most people do, but really you can pay off the whole game right when you preorder.
I preordered Echoes because they would give me an bunch of free stuff. I got a T-shirt , and morphball disk case, and a Metroid Prime 2 back pack.
Wow I didnt know they were giving out backpacks!? Where did you preorder from? Also, I don't suppose you would be able to post a picture of it, I didn't see any on google.