Oculus Quest 2 Update Boosts Headset’s Refresh Rate To 90 Hz

A major update has given the Oculus Quest 2 a higher refresh rate. Previously, the Oculus Quest 2 ran everything at 72Hz, and only experimental updates could boost it beyond that in certain apps. Now, the Quest 2 will run everything at 90Hz, from games to apps.

Those who use Oculus Link to connect their Quest 2 to their PC will also enjoy the boost, and players can select between 72Hz, 80Hz, and 90Hz rates. This update also gives the headset a new interface to manage graphics settings, such as render resolution, as well as offering preset settings to maximize an individual game’s frame rate.

Alongside the update, Oculus announced Oculus Move, which is a system-level fitness tracker for both the Quest and Quest 2 that will estimate the number of calories burned across all games. It will roll out gradually over the next two or three weeks. Additionally, later this month, Oculus will introduce the ability to gift apps to friends, as well as casting your headset feed to a friend.

GameSpot previously named Oculus Quest 2 the best VR headset to purchase in 2020. While it’s universally considered a great improvement on the Quest 1, the headset’s Facebook integration has caused much controversy. A valid Facebook account is required to use the headset, and if that account gets banned, you lose access to all of your purchases.

Now Playing: Everything Oculus Gaming From Facebook Connect

PS5 vs. Series X: Security and Privacy Features Compared

When you first fire up your shiny new game console – whether it be the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X – you’ll go through a wizard that determines some baseline security and privacy settings. But if you’re willing to dig a little deeper, both consoles have a host of nitty-gritty tweaks you can make that determine who can use your console, what other people can see about you online, and what games your kids are allowed to play. Here’s what to look for.

PlayStation 5 – Login and Security

During setup, your PS5 will recommend that you set a passcode so that other people can’t use the console with your account. However, it doesn’t actually give you the option to do this during the wizard, instead just telling you to do so from Settings later on.

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If you were too excited to get into a game and forgot to adjust these preferences, head to Settings > Users and Accounts > Login Settings and choose Set a PS5 Login Passcode. You can also choose to log in to your PS5 automatically here, though that decreases your security somewhat, if you’re worried about others accessing your console.

This Users and Accounts page has a number of other security and privacy settings, too. Under the Account tab, choose Security to change your password, set a security question, and turn on 2-step verification. (Unfortunately, Sony only offers 2-step verification via SMS – there’s no option for more secure and convenient authenticator apps.)

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Under Payment and Subscriptions, you can choose to require a password for purchases made on your console, and in Communication Settings you can turn off two options to stop receiving emails from Sony and its partners.

PlayStation 5 – Privacy and Social Settings

The PS5 will give you an option between a few social privacy presets when you first set it up (like “Social and Open,” “Team Player,” or “Friend Focused”) but if you want to change those settings, you can do so from the Settings.

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Head to Settings > Users and Accounts > Privacy to see these options. Select Adjust Privacy Settings by Choosing a Profile to change your preset, or click View and Customize Your Privacy Settings to drill down and customize individual options. You can change:

  • Who can find you in search results, within games, in friend lists, or as friend suggestions
  • Who can see your friends
  • Who can see your online status, what you’re currently playing, and what games you’ve played in the past
  • Who can send you friend requests, party requests, and messages
  • Which players are blocked from communicating with you

From the Privacy tab, you’ll also see options to limit data collection and targeted ads.

Finally, if you’d prefer to appear offline (so others don’t bug you with messages while you’re gaming), head to the home screen, highlight your profile picture in the upper-right corner, and change your Online Status to Appear Offline.

PlayStation 5 – Parental Controls

If you have little ones in the house, you may want to set some parental controls so they can’t access games and features you’d rather they not see. From Settings > Family and Parental Controls > Family Management, you can sign in to your child’s account. If they don’t have one yet, you’ll be directed to the Parental Controls section of Sony’s site on your PC. You’ll need a valid email address for their account (annoyingly), with which you can:

  • Restrict games, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs to certain ratings
  • Allow or deny usage of PlayStation VR
  • Restrict chatting and messaging with other players
  • Provide a monthly spending limit
  • Restrict playtime to certain hours of the day and lengths of time

Kids can also request access to specific games above their age level, which you can approve or deny from this hub.

From Settings > Family and Parental Controls > Console Restrictions, you can close loopholes that would allow your kid to get around these blocks – like preventing new users from being created, or preventing people from logging in as guests.

Xbox Series X – Login and Security

When you first start up your console and go through the initial wizard, you’ll be given some “Sign-in & Security Preferences” that determine how much effort it takes to sign in and buy things on your console. Using a passkey is going to be the best balance between security and convenience, though you can choose to lock things down further if you want.

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To access these settings later, open the Settings app and head to the Account tab. Select Sign-in, Security & Passkey to create a passkey and change your sign-in settings.

I do highly recommend enabling two-factor authentication for your Microsoft account, if you haven’t already. To do so, open a browser on your computer, log into your Microsoft account, and head to your Security Settings. Scroll down and click the Set up two-step verification link. I highly recommend using an authenticator app like Authy rather than getting a code over SMS – it’s more secure, and allows you to sync your codes between multiple devices.

Xbox Series X – Privacy and Social Settings

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For more privacy-focused settings – particularly those pertaining to your Microsoft Account and Xbox friends – head to Settings > Account > Privacy & Online Safety. Here, you can adjust a few things:

  • Xbox Live Privacy: This menu allows you to decide who can see if you’re online, who can see what you’re watching and playing, who can see your profile and add you as a friend, and so on. There are a lot of settings here, so you can set an overarching set of defaults (like “Adult” or “Teen”) or dig in and customize them one-by-one by choosing View Details & Customize. There’s also a Contact Preferences menu here, where you can turn off email offers from Microsoft and its partners.
  • App Privacy: These settings determine what apps can do with your data – like whether they can send targeted advertisements, view your location, use your camera and microphone, and access your email, contacts, and calendar. You can turn any of these permissions off entirely or adjust it app-by-app.
  • Message Safety: If you’d like to filter offensive words or images from messages you receive, you can adjust those settings here.
  • Data Collection: Here, you can block or allow Microsoft to collect diagnostic and usage data about the console to improve the experience for others.

Finally, from Settings > Account, you can also link social accounts like Facebook, Twitter, and Discord – or choose to keep them unlinked.

Xbox Series X – Parental Controls

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If you have young kids in the house, it may behoove you to set up some parental controls so they aren’t watching R-rated movies and playing violent games without your consent (though you can allow individual games above their age rating if you so choose.) You can adjust these by going to Settings > Account> Family Settings, where you’ll find:

  • My Sign-in, Security & Passkey: These are the same account security settings described earlier in this guide. You’ll probably want that passkey to keep your kids out of your account.
  • Manage Family Members: Here you can add new family members and adjust what those family members are allowed to see and do. (Annoyingly, they’ll each need their own Microsoft Account for this.)
  • Family on the Web: This takes you to the Microsoft Family Safety web page in Edge, where you can adjust content-related settings and set up features like Find Your Family, if you want to track their location on a phone.
  • Signed-Out Restrictions: If you anticipate other people using your Xbox, you can head to Settings > System > Signed-Out Content Restrictions and create a Guest Key. This allows people who aren’t signed in to access content you choose – without your kids being able to get around parental controls by signing out.

As you’re adjusting these settings, take a look at that box on the right – it’ll let you know if there are any “workarounds” your kids might be able to use to get around your restrictions. Once that pane is full of green checkboxes, your console is sufficiently locked down.

Which Platform Does It Better?

Both consoles offer a number of options for tweaking your security and privacy on their respective platforms. After digging through both, though, I’d have to say Xbox offers more fine-grained controls – which isn’t surprising, given the fact it has a bigger company at its helm, who specializes in these types of things.

The Xbox allows more options for logging into your console, and supports two-factor authentication with apps like Authy – something I really wish Sony also offered as an alternative to SMS. It also offers more privacy features, so you can fine-tune things a bit more deeply – especially when it comes to what third-party apps can do. (I didn’t find any app privacy options on the PS5 – but then again, you don’t have email, contacts, and calendars on your Sony account, either). I also liked that Microsoft offers the ability to customize how offensive text and images are filtered from messages, and that it provided a little “cheat sheet” for parental controls, ensuring you haven’t left any workarounds for young rascals to exploit.

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That said, the sheer number of options Microsoft offers can also be a bit confusing, especially since many of those menus are accessible from multiple places in Settings, PlayStation’s settings are a bit more straightforward – I’d personally rather have more options, but I have to hand it to Sony for making a more easily navigable menu.

Settings are just one part of the equation, though. Remember that both companies reserve the right to monitor your communications over their services, as laid out in their privacy statements (PlayStation here, Xbox here). Both also allow users to record voice chats and send them to the company for offensive content, and both default to more lax privacy settings if you don’t change things during setup. In other words, I wouldn’t call either service a bastion of privacy – Microsoft in particular has been known to be a bit overzealous with its data collection, whether in Windows or in services like Skype, though the company did recently stop collecting voice data from search and text-to-speech features. Depending on where your priorities lie, Microsoft’s privacy reputation may outweigh the increased number of settings it gives you for controlling what other users and apps can see.

Ultimately, the security and privacy features aren’t likely to be the deciding factor in which platform you choose – but if nothing else, it’s good to know the options available to you when you first launch your new console. You’re probably itching to get gaming right away, but take a few minutes to dig through settings. That way, you can make sure everything’s tweaked to your liking before you get knee-deep in the next Call of Duty.

SpaceX Astronauts Take Baby Yoda Doll Into Space With Them

International Space Station astronauts aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule are using a small Baby Yoda doll as a zero-gravity indicator aboard the spaceship.

Seeing Baby Yoda in space is not surprising, but the little guy is usually accompanied by his Mandalorian partner-caretaker — not earthling astronauts.

That’s why it was a surprise when Baby Yoda was spotted floating about the inside of the recently-launched SpaceX Dragon capsule, as reported by HuffPost. It’s sadly not Baby Yoda, but rather, a small Baby Yoda doll that’s being used to help the crew determine whether or not they’ve reached a point of zero gravity.

As noted by CBS space news journalist, William Harwood, in the tweet above, the Baby Yoda doll seen in the upper right section of the image is used to help the Dragon crew determine if they’re in zero gravity. When the doll begins to float, they’ve reached zero gravity.

If you watch the SpaceflightNow video below, you’ll see Baby Yoda floating in quite a few shots. You can see him near the middle of the shot at the four-second mark and in the upper right corner of the shot at the 35-second mark.

The crew is set to dock with the ISS on Monday and we’re hoping they bring Baby Yoda with them. He is, after all, just a baby and shouldn’t be left alone. Can somebody get him some eggs in the meantime?

For more Baby Yoda, read our thoughts on the latest episode of The Mandalorian in our Season 2, Episode 3 review, and then learn when the rest of the episodes for Season 2 drop. Check out what the latest cameo in The Mandalorian could mean for the show and be sure to look at this slideshow of the most adorable Baby Yoda shots we’ve seen in the show so far.

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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

Star Wars: Everything We Know About George Lucas’ Abandoned Sequel Trilogy

Had things gone a different way, it’s possible George Lucas would never have sold the Star Wars franchise to Disney and instead made a sequel trilogy on his own. Lucas definitely had stories mapped out for his versions of Episodes VII, VIII and IX, even if Disney reportedly never made use of those treatments in any meaningful way.

However, with the release of recent books like Pablo Hidalgo’s Star Wars: Fascinating Facts and Paul Duncan’s The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005, we’re starting to get a much clearer picture of the story Lucas might have told. In some ways, his sequels would have been dramatically different from what Disney delivered, while in other ways they’re strangely similar. Here’s a rundown of everything we know about the plot of Lucas’ abandoned Star Wars sequel trilogy.

Note: This article was compiled with the help of several resources, including IGN’s previous reporting and io9’s breakdown of The Star Wars Archives.

Leia Was the Main Character

Disney’s sequel trilogy is structured in a way where each movie emphasizes one veteran of the classic trilogy and culminates in their death. The Force Awakens is Han Solo’s last ride, The Last Jedi shows us Luke Skywalker’s heroic sacrifice and The Rise of Skywalker is General Leia’s sendoff (as much as was possible given Carrie Fisher’s tragic death).

Lucas apparently would have handled his trilogy a little differently. In Star Wars Archives, Lucas describes Leia as the focal point of all three movies. Her conflict would have centered around the struggle to rebuild the Republic and avoid the corruption and needless bureaucracy that enabled the rise of Palpatine’s Empire in the first place.

Lucas tells Duncan, “I had planned for the first trilogy to be about the father, the second trilogy to be about the son, and the third trilogy to be about the daughter and the grandchildren.”

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That quote also seems to confirm Leia and Han’s children would have played a big part in the story. We can probably assume those children become members of their uncle Luke’s New Jedi Order, but at this point we can only speculate as to what role they would have played in the conflict and whether any of them would have flirted with the Dark Side a la Ben Solo in the Disney movies or Jacen Solo in the Expanded Universe of Star Wars novels.

Lucas also reveals he would have settled the ongoing debate about which member of the Skywalker family is truly the Chosen One the Jedi prophesied. Spoilers: It wasn’t Anakin or Luke, but Leia.

Interestingly, Lucas never seems to bring up Han himself. Given Harrison Ford’s well-known reluctance to return to the franchise, Lucas may have been downplaying Han’s role under the expectation that Ford wouldn’t want to be a part of the sequels.

The Time Period

While we don’t know exactly how much time would have transpired over the course of the trilogy, Lucas indicates in The Star Wars Archives that his Episode VII would have been set a few years after the events of Return of the Jedi. Similar to The Mandalorian, which is set five years after Episode VI, this setting would have explored the chaos and lawlessness that exists after the fall of the Empire and as the New Republic begins asserting control. Even as Leia is trying to establish a new and better form of government, her brother is beginning his quest to rebuild the Jedi Order.

“It starts out a few years after Return of the Jedi and we establish pretty quickly that there’s this underworld, there are these offshoot stormtroopers who started their own planets, and that Luke is trying to restart the Jedi,” said Lucas. “He puts the word out, so out of 100,000 Jedi, maybe 50 or 100 are left. The Jedi have to grow again from scratch, so Luke has to find two-and-three-year-olds, and train them. It’ll be 20 years before you have a new generation of Jedi.”

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Lucas seems to imply his sequel trilogy would have unfolded over the course of several decades, allowing him to show the fruits of Luke’s Jedi-training labors and Leia’s politicking. It would also have been interesting to see how he would have handled the challenge of de-aging Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher in Episode VII. Perhaps ILM would have pioneered the art of CGI de-aging before Marvel Studios?

Similar to how the original trilogy was shaped by Lucas’ strong opposition to the Vietnam War, the sequels would have been inspired by the aftermath of the Iraq War. There would have been no First Order-style replacement for the Empire. Instead, Lucas wanted to explore the challenges of reconstruction after the war has ended.

“‘Okay, you fought the war, you killed everybody, now what are you going to do?’” said Lucas. “Rebuilding afterwards is harder than starting a rebellion or fighting the war. When you win the war and you disband the opposing army, what do they do? The stormtroopers would be like Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist fighters that joined ISIS and kept on fighting. The stormtroopers refuse to give up when the Republic win.”

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Darth Maul Was the Main Villain

Among many other things, the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars is notable for reintroducing Darth Maul, revealing Palpatine’s original apprentice survived his battle with Obi-Wan and has been nursing a grudge ever since. Maul went on to play a pivotal role in later seasons of The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. But as Lucas reveals, Maul’s return was meant to lead into even bigger things. He envisioned Maul as the central villain of the sequels – a crime boss who unites the criminal underworld and fractured remnants of the Empire against the New Republic.

“There’s a power vacuum so gangsters, like the Hutts, are taking advantage of the situation, and there is chaos,” said Lucas. “The key person is Darth Maul, who had been resurrected in the Clone Wars cartoons—he brings all the gangs together. [Maul]’s very old, and we have two versions of him. One is with a set of cybernetic legs like a spider, and then later on he has metal legs and he was a little bit bigger, more of a superhero.”

Not only would Maul have returned for the sequels, he would have had a new apprentice in the form of Darth Talon. Talon was first introduced in the Dark Horse Comics series Star Wars Legacy, which is set more than a century after the events of the original trilogy. Presumably, Lucas’ goal was to reimagine the character for this earlier setting. Lucas describes Talon as “the new Darth Vader” and the one who does most of the fighting in place of her aged master.

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Obviously, some elements of that Maul storyline made their way into the franchise in other forms. Maul does eventually become the kingpin of the Crimson Dawn criminal syndicate, albeit during the Imperial era rather than the aftermath of Return of the Jedi. His cameo role in Solo: A Star Wars Story hints at bigger plans for the character in this pre-Episode IV era, though it remains to be seen where Maul will show up next. We’ll also have to see if Talon ever becomes an official part of the Disney Star Wars canon.

Interestingly, this Maul/Talon alliance also seems to have inspired the plot of a canceled Darth Maul video game at LucasArts. Developed by Red Fly and codenamed “Damage,” this Batman: Arkham Asylum-inspired stealth action game would have put players in Maul’s robotic shoes. According to Game Informer, the project eventually evolved to focus on Star Wars Legacy characters Darth Talon and Darth Krayt before it was ultimately shelved in 2011. By this point, Lucas may have decided his sequel trilogy wasn’t happening and toyed with exploring his Darth Maul/Darth Talon story in other media.

Luke Would Still Have Died

One of the biggest similarities between Lucas’ sequel plans and Disney’s movies is that Luke would have apparently died in Episode VIII either way. Hidalgo writes, “Years before The Last Jedi began development, the treatment left behind by George Lucas in 2012 also had Episode VIII be the one wherein Luke Skywalker would die.”

We don’t really know much else about the circumstances of Luke’s death in Lucas’ sequels, or how big a role Luke might have continued to play as a ghostly, Obi-Wan-like mentor figure. We can probably infer from Lucas’ comments in Star Wars Archives that Luke’s death would be a huge blow to his fragile Jedi Academy, forcing a younger generation to rise up and finish what he started. That’s probably where Han and Leia’s children would have come in.

We do have to wonder if Luke would have met his end at the hands of Darth Maul and Talon. Lucas, always a fan of storytelling symmetry, might have appreciated giving Maul the chance at revenge against the late Obi-Wan by killing his prized pupil.

Mark Hamill previously revealed he read a treatment where Luke doesn’t die until Episode IX, so this does appear to be a plot point that was in flux.

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There Was a Rey-Like Jedi

According to Hidalgo, another key similarity between the two trilogies involves the focus on a young, Force-sensitive woman. Lucas originally wrote her as a 14-year-old girl named Taryn, with later treatments changing the name to Thea or Winkie. Hidalgo even hints Lucas’ sequels may have revolved around this heroine seeking out a missing, disillusioned Luke Skywalker, with Lucas apparently drawing comparisons to Captain Willard’s hunt for Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.

It’s unclear whether Taryn/Thea/Winkie was meant to be one of Han and Leia’s children or a loner like Rey. Also, the idea of Luke going into hiding after the failure of his New Jedi Order doesn’t really seem to gel with Lucas’ other comments about the sequels focusing on rebuilding the Order. This may be another story element that changed a great deal as Lucas continued to tinker with his treatments.

Will We Ever See the Lucas Sequels?

At this point we have a much better idea of the story Lucas was planning for his sequels. And even though it’s clear some of these ideas have trickled out into the Disney canon, fans may be wondering if we might see that story told in a more official capacity. Even C-3PO couldn’t calculate the infinitesimal odds of Disney commissioning a series of live-action movies based on Lucas’ story treatments, but could that story be told in the form of a comic or novel?

There is some precedent for this already. Shortly before the Star Wars comic book license shifted from Dark Horse back to Marvel, Dark Horse published a limited series called The Star Wars. That series adapts Lucas’ original Star Wars screenplay from 1974, back when the saga revolved around Annikin Starkiller and his master, Jedi Bendu Luke Skywalker. It’s not impossible to imagine Marvel or Lucas Books doing something similar with Lucas’ sequel treatments – publishing a hypothetical, alternate universe take on what might have happened after the original trilogy.

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That said, adapting those stories wouldn’t be quite as straightforward as it was with The Star Wars. As far as we know, Lucas never got to the point of turning those treatments into full screenplays. Nor is there any sign he commissioned concept art or designs for the sequels. By comparison, The Star Wars artist Mike Mayhew had a wealth of art from designer Ralph McQuarrie upon which he could build. There might be no good way of conveying Lucas’ vision without Lucas himself being directly involved in the project. And he seems pretty happy to leave Star Wars behind him at this point.

That’s to say nothing of the fact that Disney has shown little interest so far in pursuing stories that aren’t part of its new Star Wars canon. Older Expanded Universe stories are still being reprinted under the “Legends” branding, but no new EU tales have been published. And given that at least some of Lucas’ ideas seem to be reflected in the new canon, Disney may fear spoiling future projects by revealing the full scope of those abandoned sequels.

Still, if Disney senses there’s real money to be made by adapting the Lucas sequels into a finished product, they’ll probably get around to it sooner or later. This is the way.

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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Justice League: Zack Snyder Wanted to Release His Cut As Two Movies

Zack Snyder has revealed that he initially thought that his cut of Justice League would be released as two movies, one month apart from one another.

As Screen Rant reports, Snyder recently sat down with TheFilmJunkee crew to discuss some very early plans that he had for his version of Justice League, which is releasing in four parts on HBO Max next year. In the interview, Snyder said one of his original ideas was to split his four-hour cut in half to release it across two movies, with a month between each installment.

“The studio had seen the director’s cut, but even the director’s cut of the movie was shorter than my cut,” he admitted. “This is my cut of the movie, but there was a cut that I created that I said this is too much for the studio. The mandate was, make the movie two hours long. I cannot show them a four-hour version of the movie.

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“If I show them a four-hour version of the movie,” he hypothetically explained. “I did have this idea, ‘Oh, maybe we could just split it in half and make it into two two-hour movies.’ My first idea was like, you showed two hours, and then there’s like, maybe a month, and then the next two hours come out. That was one of my ideas.”

Instead, it was agreed that the Snyder Cut of Justice League would be released as a multi-part series, cut into television show-like chunks, with each one being an hour long. Snyder admitted that the change in direction turned out to be the correct course of action, as he specifically structured the story as “six chapters,” which “leant itself” to the miniseries format.

It is, however, understood that all four parts will be released as a single four-hour movie sometime after the Snyder cut of Justice League debuts on WarnerMedia’s streaming service. Despite its massive runtime, Snyder recently revealed that, out of the four hours, there’s probably only going to be about “four minutes or five minutes of additional photography for the entire movie.”

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Although there might not be much in the way of additional photography, there will be plenty of differences between the Snyder cut (which is being dubbed the “director’s cut”) and Joss Whedon’s 2017 theatrical release. For more, read our complete breakdown of all of the major differences, including the new Steppenwolf design, Jared Leto’s Joker reprisal, and Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke reshoots.

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Microsoft Expects Xbox Series X/S Shortages to Continue Into 2021

Microsoft CFO Tim Stuart has said the company expects shortages of Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S to continue through the first quarter of 2021.

Speaking at the Jefferies Interactive Entertainment Virtual Conference (transcribed by Seeking Alpha), Stuart was asked about resupplying after Xbox Series pre-orders sold out, and explained that demand is huge right now, adding, “frankly, gaming is just exploding”.

The upshot appears to be that supply won’t be able to truly meet demand for some time yet. “I think we’ll continue to see supply shortages as we head into the post-holiday quarter, so Microsoft’s Q3, calendar Q1 [the period ending March 31, 2021]”, said Stuart. “And then when we get to [Microsoft’s Q4, April-June 2021], all of our supply chain continuing to go full speed heading into kind of the pre-summer months.”

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Stuart expects to see supply begin meeting demand during that April-June period. “We’ll have supply cranking over the next, what, 4, 5, 6 months. And that’s when I expect to see really that demand profile start to be met, which will be really, really great.” Stuart says he expects to see “real velocity kick up” once both Series X and S consoles are widely available to all.

It’s clearly been a good launch for Xbox, with Series X and S seeing the largest launch in Xbox history, and the company has promised that more consoles are being made available as soon as possible.

If you’re still looking for a new Xbox, here’s where to buy the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S when they come back online. If you’re one of the people with a new Xbox console, here are 7 things to do first with your Xbox Series X. Be sure to check out all of IGN’s Xbox Series X guides when setting up your new console.

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Keanu Reeves Is Canon in Cyberpunk 2077 (Not Just Johnny Silverhand)

As well as his in-game character Johnny Silverhand, Keanu Reeves the actor is also canon in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe.

CD Projekt Red Senior Quest Designer Patrick Mills revealed the “lore-friendly” news on Twitter. Mills is referring to a lyric in the new Run the Jewels song ‘No Save Point’ created specifically for Cyberpunk 2077.

In it, Killer Mike raps “That’s righteous, huh? Slapping palm, holding a pump – Keanu Reeves, cyber arm under my sleeve.” Given that Run the Jewels are appearing as in-universe group Yankee and the Brave, the reference has to be in tune with the game’s lore. So how can Keanu Reeves exist in the same timeline as Johnny Silverhand?

Mills’ explanation is that Keanu Reeves was actually a “little-known Collapse-era actor who bore an uncanny resemblance to Johnny Silverhand.” Mills says that Reeves was mistaken for Johnny Silverhand following the Rockerboy’s disappearance.

What this means is that Johnny Silverhand and Keanu Reeves both exist in the Cyberpunk universe. It’s all a bit confusing, but it’s a neat nod and a good workaround for the potentially troublesome lyric.

Speaking of Keanu, we’re due to learn more about Johnny Silverhand in this week’s Night City Wire episode. In other Cyberpunk 2077 news, CD Projekt Red recently reconfirmed the game’s new December 10 release date after rumours of another delay began to swirl.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Will Get PC Achievements, Despite Ubisoft Saying It Wont

Ubisoft has announced that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla on PC will be updated with achievements, noting that a previous statement from the company saying that achievements were intentionally omitted is “inaccurate”.

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Currently, the Ubisoft Connect PC launcher page for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is missing the section for achievements. When the situation was made the topic of a Ubisoft forums thread, a Ubisoft support staff member responded stating: “Achievements are not not available for this title on PC, and this is an intended change.” They went on to explain that instead of achievements, Ubisoft Connect would offer expanded challenges.

But in an update to that forum post, Ubisoft has stated that the “response above was inaccurate”.

“We are aware that achievements are not available for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla players on PC – this was unintended,” says the response. “We are actively working to enable achievements and will keep you updated when more information is available.”

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Ubisoft has yet to clarify when achievements will be added to the PC version of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, but at least players now know that they will arrive sometime in the (hopefully near) future.

For more on Ubisoft’s latest viking romp, check out our pick of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s essential skills, how its main location is more real than the writers originally thought, and our full review.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Ryan Reynolds And Rob McElhenney Want You To Buy A Horse Trailer

Ryan Reynolds is back with another befuddling quick internet video in an apparent charm-offensive clip to remind you he is so much more than an actor. This time flanked–virtually–by It’s Always Sunny’s Rob McElhenney, the pair have cut together a peppy promotional video for livestock trailers.

Yes, you read that correctly. The video is meant as a tongue-in-cheek confusing gambit to catch your attention–they are sincerely promoting Ifor Williams Trailers, because they are the main sponsor for the Wrexham Association Football Club in Wrexham, Wales. Why are they doing that? Because the Deadpool star and It’s Always Sunny creator recently became owners of the Welsh soccer team, and, well, a pitch for viewers to buy a horse trailer for the holidays is more eye-catching than a straight-ahead corporate announcement about their new ownership status.

Reynolds has been mastering the craft of these sorts of bizarre promotional videos throughout the year. Recently, Reynolds re-ignited his smirking for-charity feud with Hugh Jackman in a similar video. Over the summer, Reynolds surfaced comic actor Rick Moranis in an understated silly video to promote Mint Mobile’s unlimited plan. Before these ploys, Reynolds also launched a streaming service for one movie–his 2003 film Foolproof, in an ad that enticed viewers to “binge over 80 minutes of Ryan Reynolds.”

In somewhat more sobering Reynolds news, his movie Free Guy was just bumped by Disney+ off the release schedule for this year.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot’s New DLC Adds A Horde Mode This Week

After a lengthy gap, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot‘s latest DLC episode finally launches this week. A New Power Awakens Part 2 will focus on the revival of Frieza, with the iconic villain now able to transform into a vastly more powerful Golden form. Goku and Vegeta will battle back with a new transformation of their own, Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan, or Super Saiyan Blue for short.

According to lead producer Ryosuke Hara, the ultimate battle with Golden Frieza is based on the setting from the Resurrection of F movie but the DLC has its own original story to match the setting and outcomes of the base game. For example, you’ll be able to fight the Ginyu Force once again if you resurrected them with the Dragon Balls during the main campaign.

Another big feature is the introduction of Horde Battle, which pits players against Frieza’s entire army. Hara explained that the battle system for this mode had been tweaked, with several adjustments to the enemy AI, SFX, skills, and more being added so that the experience will be both challenging and fun.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Horde Battle
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Horde Battle

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“One example is the Z Combination,” Hara said on the PS Blog. “When launching this skill in the Horde Battle, you will be able to wipe out numerous enemies at once. And the number of enemies you’re able to take out depends on the amount of combos you’ve been able to connect before launching the Z Combination. So combos will mean a lot more compared to what they do in regular battles.”

Hara also confirmed that the final DLC episode will launch in 2021 and is still undergoing development. Where that third chapter takes place is still a mystery, but there’s no shortage of content available. Chronologically the next major arc would be the Future Trunks saga, followed by the Universal Survival storyline, and the last film releases so far, Dragon Ball Super: Broly.

The latest Dragon Ball adventure scored a 7/10 in our Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot review. “If you’re looking for an enjoyable way to see the life and times of adult Goku through a new perspective, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will grant your wish,” wrote critic Heidi Kemps.

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