New media: Luigi's Mansion

While Mario didn't make an appearance in his own game for the launch of the Japanese GameCube, his brother Luigi was more than happy to fill in with his own marquee launch game. In Luigi's Mansion, the plumber sidekick is out to find his kidnapped brother, armed with a vacuum. One of three GameCube launch games in Japan, Luigi's Mansion sports some impressive visuals, including advanced lighting and particle effects. However, the game plays at a pace that is decidedly different from previous Mario platform games, and it will be interesting to see if its unique gameplay style will appeal to fans of the series. Nintendo, for its part, hopes that Luigi's Mansion will help push early sales of the GameCube console in Japan.

While we continue to play the game in order to bring you hands-on impressions, check out new video clips and screenshots from Luigi's Mansion.