If you're holding off on getting a Nintendo Switch 2 because you think that Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza are the only two games you can play right now, you're mistaken (although, you definitely need to play both of those games). In fact, there are a lot of games you can play on the new handheld, including the best titles from the original Nintendo Switch generation -- and with better visuals than ever before. That's because Nintendo has released Nintendo Switch 2 upgrades for a slate of its most popular Switch games. Can you upgrade your Switch 1 game for the Switch 2 for free? While you can upgrade some Switch games for free, others require you to purchase a Switch 2 upgrade pack, though these upgrades are much cheaper than a typical video game.

The Legend of Zelda game franchise was created by Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, with the first game launching in 1986. Since then, the franchise as remained one of Nintendo's best known brands, and has sold more than 150 million copies across its multiple instalments over various consoles. Video game adaptations have had a mixed reception at the box office over the years. Many, such as Resident Evil, Tomb Raider and Mortal Kombat, were not always as well received as their source material. But more recently, the success of The Super Mario Bros Movie, Sonic The Hedgehog, A Minecraft Movie and Uncharted, along with the TV adaptation of The Last of Us, has gone some way to turning the tables.

When you think of Nintendo, it's almost impossible not to picture Donkey Kong. Yet despite Donkers' undeniable place in gaming history – and obligatory appearances in Smash Bros and Mario Kart – for the last few console generations, Donkey Kong platformers have been MIA. Enter DK's first standalone adventure in 11 years, Donkey Kong Bananza. While Mario's recent adventures saw him exploring the reaches of outer space or deftly possessing enemies with an anthropomorphic hat, DK's grand return is all about primal rage. As you smash and punch your way through walls, floors and ceilings, you can burrow all the way to the ground below, forging new paths and unearthing hidden treasures.

Its name is Ani, and it cost me 300. Elon Musk's xAI dropped the new visual chatbot feature on Monday in the Grok iOS app. The top-tier subscription unlocks access to xAI's best-performing model, Grok 4 Heavy, and special settings for interacting with two custom characters designed for flirting or chatting. A third character, which looks a bit like a sexy boyfriend, is listed as "coming soon." It's not xAI's first dip into adult content, either: Back in February 2024, the company rolled out a chatbot mode for "sexy" conversations.

Oleksii Sukhorukov's son was 12 when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. For months, the family existed in a state of trauma and disarray: Sukhorukov was forced to give up his work in the entertainment industry, which had included virtual reality and video games; they became isolated from friends and relatives. But amid the chaos, his boy had one outlet: Minecraft. Whatever was happening outside, he'd boot up Mojang's block-building video game and escape. "After 24 February 2022, I began to see the game in a completely different light," says Sukhorukov.

If you love retro gaming, but your emulators leave quite a bit to be desired, you'll love this ultimate retro gaming emulator with thousands of preloaded games, including classic titles. Better yet, the Kinhank Super Console X2 Pro Retro Gaming Emulator & Streaming Console is on sale right now for only 89.97, which is 43 percent off the regular 159.99 retail price. This device is plug-and-play for easy setup. You can connect it to multiple devices, such as your TV, computer, laptop, or projector, to enjoy stunning sound and visuals. A quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU running at up to 1.8GHz and Mali-G31MP2 GPU ensure smooth gameplay on all titles.

On Wednesday, members of the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or SAG-AFTRA, voted to ratify a new contract for video game performers, officially bringing an end to a nearly yearlong strike. A majority, 95 percent of members, voted in favor of the contract, which guarantees annual raises for three years, increased compensation, and guardrails designed to prevent game companies from giving their work to AI. Actors in the video game industry had been on strike for 11 months as part of a fight to secure protections against AI, a sticking point that held up negotiations for most of that time. Every other issue in the contract, including compensation and working conditions, was already resolved months ago, says SAG-AFTRA's national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. The strike was temporarily suspended in June, pending contract ratification. According to Sarah Elmaleh, a voice actor who also serves as a SAG-AFTRA committee chair, actors in the games industry have been wearily eyeing AI for years--even before tools like ChatGPT exploded in use.

In 2017, a game design thinktank called Project Horseshoe gathered a group of developers together to define the concept of cosiness in video games. Games, of course, have had non-violent elements since the medium was invented. Early life simulators such as 1985's Little Computer People, a low-stakes game in which the player interacts with a man living his unremarkable life in a house, could fit the bill; then there was the proliferation of social farming simulations after 1996's chibi-adorable Harvest Moon. But the resulting report, Coziness in Games: An Exploration of Safety, Softness, and Satisfied Needs, is probably the first organised effort to define a then-emerging genre. Cosy games (cozy in US spelling) don't have high-risk scenarios: "There is no impending loss of threat," they wrote.

For anyone looking to gauge the mood of the UK games industry in 2025, there has been only one place to hang out this week: the bar of the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Brighton. It's in this building that the annual Develop conference has been bringing together developers, publishers, students and journalists since 2006 – and during the three days of talks, roundtables and keynotes, it's in the bar that everyone meets and unloads their theories and concerns about the state of the business. This year, after many months of cuts and closures, the mood has been dour. On Tuesday, I spoke to many coders, artists and studio heads who have had games cancelled, staff axed and deals obliterated; several senior developers predicted that the recent savage cuts to staff numbers and game projects will lead to a gaping black hole in the release schedules of many triple-A publishers in late 2026 and 2027. Grand Theft Auto VI was always going to be huge; now it's looking like the only game in town.

Enshrouded is a beautiful combination of Minecraft, Skyrim and resource gathering that makes it at least three games in one. My daughter told me I would love it and I ignored her for too long. I've tackled Elden Ring, but much prefer the often gentler combat of Enshrouded. It sometimes makes me feel like an elite fighter, then other times kicks my arse in precisely the right measures. Its real joy is the flexibility to spend your time doing whatever tickles your fancy. I'll spend a few hours growing crops to make a cake or smelting metals for better armour, then knock off a few quests to unlock new materials and weapons.