The Nintendo Switch is now Nintendo’s third best-selling console of all time, trailing behind the SNES and Wii. In addition to Pokémon Sword and Shield selling over 16 million units at the tail end of 2019, the rest of the year also looked fantastic.

When Luigi and pals – Mario, Princess Peach and a trio of Toads – are invited to a shiny, grandiose hotel, it seems a bit of respite from the daily duties of jumping on the heads of goombas, breaking bricks and saving princesses. It probably also gives the Italian labourers a bit of time away from the vocation that away from the plumbing that’s listed in their job descriptions, but we never actually see them do. A bit of a break in a swish hotel! Who could say no?

May the gods have mercy on your bank balance, because October's video game release schedule certainly won’t.

Months of planning going into a trip that would most likely be over in the blink of an eye. No dice. Gamescom took its time, and it was very much worth every moment. Brad Lang and I arrived in a city that entirely shared the enthusiasm of the event it was hosting. Cologne was awash with Gamescom flags. Ads for …

Gamescom has Gamesgone and after a ferocious week of pushing through crowds, eating the cheapest food we could find and playing an unscrupulous amount of games, Sam and I sat down to shout very loudly at each other over what we thought was the dopest thing we saw all week. We took everything into account, both factoring in presentations and …

In all honesty, Luigi’s Mansion 3 was my most anticipated game walking into Nintendo’s business lounge at Gamescom. Sure, Geoff’s terrifying excitement may have had an influence, but Luigi Mario’s adventures as a Ghostbuster is one of the most bizarre outings for this franchise’s characters. Knowing what I know about its core mechanics, it’s also to be admired for just …

There's no disputing it; E3 was weird this year. Not because Sony didn't want to party, or Microsoft didn't take the chance to steal the spotlight. Not because there weren’t great games on show, or a small number of them. It just felt all too predictable, without a concrete look at the horizon of games that is expected to dawn with new console hardware. But E3 was still home to some notably strong titles that are set to make the next 12 months incredibly interesting, especially when you consider most of the games on show this year should be out by then. From futuristic role-playing games to haunted houses and plumbers, here are the best games we saw at the show this year.

With the Switch, Nintendo can reintroduce many of their great but unappreciated franchises to a new audience. It's perhaps why re-releases of games like Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker have found new life on the console, after being relegated to hardware that hardly captivated mass audiences. It's part of the reason why sequels to established franchises can feel so fresh, and Luigi's Mansion 3 is no exception. There are small refinements here and there, but so far this sequel looks and feels like more of what made the previous two titles so great, and a perfect starting point for those unfamiliar with it.