Biden Administration to Review Supply Chains Causing PS5, Xbox, Graphics Card Shortages

President Joe Biden's administration has signed an executive order pledging to review the supply chain issues that have led to PS5, Xbox Series and graphics card shortages. As reported by NBC News, President Biden is looking into the gaps in America's supply chains amid the pandemic. The 100-day review will look into vulnerabilities and improvements in supply chains for pharmaceuticals, rare earth minerals, semiconductor chips and large-capacity batteries. It will focus on increasing production within the US, as well as strengthening ties with those exporting the products involved. Biden made clear that this won't be an immediate fix for shortages, but should help stop similar problems in the future. The semiconductor shortage has caused major issues for the video games industry in recent months, and has been brought up by many games industry figureheads, including most recently PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/26/ps5-scalpers-used-a-loophole-to-buy-stock-before-it-was-live-in-the-uk-ign-news"] In an interview with GQ published earlier this week, Ryan said that the semiconductor shortage was one of the main issues affecting PS5 production - with semiconductor chips in short supply, it's tricky for automobile, phone, console and PC hardware manufacturers to operate at full capacity and get their products into the hands of consumers. AMD's chips power both of the next-gen consoles and CEO Lisa Su raised similar concerns during the company's Q4 2020 earnings call, forecasting chip shortages to last throughout the first half of 2021. With this executive order, Biden's administration is planning to assess and hopefully remedy these supply chain issues, with a focus on boosting domestic production in the US to mitigate these problems in the future. Beyond chip shortages, scalpers are also causing problems for consumers trying to pick up top-tier graphic cards and next-gen consoles. A potential console scalping ban is currently gaining momentum in the UK in light of recent market troubles. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Pokemon Presents Broadcast Coming Tomorrow Amid Remake Rumours

The Pokemon Company has announced a Pokemon Presents video presentation for Friday, February 26. The presentation will air at 7am Pacific / 10am Eastern / 3pm UK (that's 2am AEDT on February 27) on the Pokemon YouTube channel. The Japanese Pokemon Twitter account indicates that the show will be around 20 minutes long. The news arrives after consistent rumours about the announcement of Pokemon Diamond & Pearl remakes, including repeated leaker Centro Pokemon saying that fans wouldn't have to wait until Febrary 27 for "big news they've been waiting for", accompanied by images of legendary Pokemon introduced in Diamond and Pearl. February 27 marks the Pokemon series' 25th anniversary, lending some credence to the idea of an announcement – and one that looks back to the series' past feels somewhat appropriate. All rumours should be taken with a grain of salt, however. It seems likely that we could also learn about yet-to-be-released Pokemon games such as New Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Sleep, and the (somewhat controversial) Pokemon Unite. [poilib element="accentDivider"] 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 newstips@ign.com.

Bravely Default 2 Review

The Bravely series has always excelled at evoking the feeling of playing classic Final Fantasy-style RPGs, while sanding off some of the rough edges that may make those classic games less approachable to modern audiences. Bravely Default II, confusingly enough the third game in the franchise, maintains much of its predecessors' retro charm--but it actually removes some of the quality-of-life features that made the first two such breezy nostalgic throwbacks. Instead of simply reminding you of the satisfaction of playing a classic RPG, Bravely Default II demands that you relive the entire experience, faults and all.

For the uninitiated, Bravely Default gets its namesake from its innovative risk-reward combat system. Along with your typical health and magic meters, you have Brave Points (BP). And rather than a standard Defend command, you can choose to Default, which both defends and banks BP for later use. You can spend up to four actions using Brave command, but if you don't have enough BP banked you go into debt and skip future turns undefended.

This has always been key to Bravely Default's battle system, and it remains essentially untouched here. The approach is a little less novel the third time around, but it still creates a unique wrinkle of strategic RPG battle planning. Do you go into debt to unleash a flurry of attacks or do some emergency healing? Do you bank first and take the damage for a few turns? Bravely veterans will fall right back into the habit, but nothing about it feels too complex that it should give newcomers trouble. And newcomers will be able to jump in here because, like Final Fantasy, Bravely Default II's story is disconnected from any continuity. Four strangers come together as the selfless Heroes of Light to stave off certain doom--you know the drill.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Bravely Default 2 Review

The Bravely series has always excelled at evoking the feeling of playing classic Final Fantasy-style RPGs, while sanding off some of the rough edges that may make those classic games less approachable to modern audiences. Bravely Default II, confusingly enough the third game in the franchise, maintains much of its predecessors' retro charm--but it actually removes some of the quality-of-life features that made the first two such breezy nostalgic throwbacks. Instead of simply reminding you of the satisfaction of playing a classic RPG, Bravely Default II demands that you relive the entire experience, faults and all.

For the uninitiated, Bravely Default gets its namesake from its innovative risk-reward combat system. Along with your typical health and magic meters, you have Brave Points (BP). And rather than a standard Defend command, you can choose to Default, which both defends and banks BP for later use. You can spend up to four actions using Brave command, but if you don't have enough BP banked you go into debt and skip future turns undefended.

This has always been key to Bravely Default's battle system, and it remains essentially untouched here. The approach is a little less novel the third time around, but it still creates a unique wrinkle of strategic RPG battle planning. Do you go into debt to unleash a flurry of attacks or do some emergency healing? Do you bank first and take the damage for a few turns? Bravely veterans will fall right back into the habit, but nothing about it feels too complex that it should give newcomers trouble. And newcomers will be able to jump in here because, like Final Fantasy, Bravely Default II's story is disconnected from any continuity. Four strangers come together as the selfless Heroes of Light to stave off certain doom--you know the drill.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Kevin Feige Says No MCU Project Has Been Held Back by PG-13 Rating, Deadpool an Exception

Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige recently asserted that the studio has never been stifled by PG-13 ratings when bringing MCU stories and character journeys to the screen, and made clear that Deadpool is an exception to that policy. During a Disney+ panel at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour on Wednesday, Feige participated in a Q&A session where one participant asked about the possibility of Marvel Studios creating more adult-orientated projects in the future, especially now that the streaming service has expanded its library of content with more mature offerings through Star — a new entertainment section that has been added to the platform in multiple locations. "I think we target everything we're doing now for kids and adults. So I think your question is more adult, or R-rated," Feige clarified in his response before delving further into the subject of ratings. He then added: "Other than Deadpool, which has already established itself as a certain genre and a certain rating that we've already said we would not mess with when we start working with Deadpool, which we have, other than that, we've not ever encountered a story or a storyline or a character's journey that a PG-13 or the tone or the ratings that we've been using up to this point has prevented us." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/12/deadpool-3-confirmed-as-part-of-the-mcu-ign-now"] Feige went on to say that he isn't opposed to the idea of R-rated Marvel projects, as he explained that he would be open to venturing down that avenue if there was ever a specific project that suited a different tonality and rating structure, but for now, the studio hasn't been prevented by ratings when telling the stories that they've wanted to tell on the big or small screen. "We've never been held back by it," he stated. "If we ever are, then certainly there could be a discussion to be had now that there are other outlets, like Hulu, like Star, but that just hasn't been the case yet. We've been able to tell all the kinds of stories we've wanted to with the tonality and the rating structure that we have now." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"] At the beginning of the year, Feige confirmed that the next Deadpool movie will be R-rated, and be part of the MCU – with Ryan Reynolds working on a script right now. The news arrived after some confusion arose over whether the MCU would (or perhaps could) include Deadpool, particularly as no Marvel movie had yet crossed over into R-rated territory. There is a lot of MCU to come before Deadpool, however – with pandemic-related delays meaning no MCU content arrived in 2020, many of us have been tuning in each week for WandaVision, as the first Marvel project to hit our screens this year. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is up next and launches on March 19. There's also Black Widow, Loki — which has had its release date pushed back from May to June — Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, What If...?, Eternals, and the new Spidey sequel, now officially titled Spider-Man: No Way Home. Here's every official project on the MCU slate right now. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

PUBG: New State Is a Mobile Sequel to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

Krafton Inc has revealed PUBG: New State, a mobile sequel to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds set in 2051. Developed by PUBG Studio as a full battle royale experience for iOS and Android, the game will "evolve" the original PUBG experience, adding in-game weapon customization, drones, a combat roll ability, and more. New State will also feature destructible windows, interactable objects, futuristic ballistic shields, and new environments to explore, including a defunct shopping mall. A press release for the game mentions how New State will leverage "state-of-the-art Global Illumination rendering technology" to push the game's mobile graphics to their limits while remaining stable. New State is set in 2051 and features futuristic buggies and bikes, which players can use to cross 8x8 maps. You can check out the pre-order trailer for the game below, which provides a glimpse into how the game will look and play when the free-to-play title launches later this year. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/25/pubg-new-state-official-trailer"] "Players will be dropping into a brand-new battleground called TROI," reads a press release, "where they will have the opportunity to discover how the universe has evolved." Players can pre-register for the game right now via the Google Play store, with iOS pre-registration coming at a later date. Alpha tests for PUBG: New State are also on their way and set to launch later this year. New State appears to be the game reported to launch in 2021 during a Bloomberg interview with Krafton CEO Kim Chang-Han. The same interview mentioned that another PUBG game was on the way in 2022, a "PUBG-related PC and console game" which is separate from the survival horror title The Callisto Protocol, which is set in the far future of the PUBG universe, and was revealed during The Game Awards 2020. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=pubg-new-state-screenshots-and-art&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

A 500GB PS4 May No Longer Be Able to Fit Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Modern Warfare and Warzone

Activision has said that players with a 500 GB PlayStation 4 may "need to make room" if they wish to have the fully updated versions of Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War and Modern Warfare/Warzone present on one system. In a post on the Call of Duty blog, the franchise publisher wrote: "Those who own a standard PlayStation 4 with a default hard drive of 500 GB may need to make room if they have the full versions of Modern Warfare®/Warzone and Black Ops Cold War with all modes and packs installed. Should you have both games installed and have kept up to date with updates, you may need to delete some unused Game Content to have a successful download and install of the [latest] Warzone patch." It's common knowledge that Activision's latest Call of Duty games take up swathes of storage, but it seems that they may be stretched beyond the capacity of a base PS4 as they receive more updates. It may be that, without compression, external storage may be come the only way to have the full Call of Duty package on one console fro some players. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/18/call-of-duty-black-ops-cold-war-warzone-season-two-gameplay-trailer"] The blog notes that players can click R3 on the main menu of Black Ops Cold War to uninstall "content you may not have played in a while," say the Campaign or Zombies, for example. The same can be achieved in Modern Warfare or Warzone by heading to the 'General' tab in the options menu and then clicking the 'Games Installs' option. Of course, you don't need to download the Warzone Season 2 update if you only plan to play Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War. This news arrives ahead of the launch of Season 2, which brings with it a new Zombies mode called Outbreak, new operators, weapons and maps. Zombies also appear to be headed to Warzone, if recent leaks are to be believed. Back in October of 2020, Epic Games pushed a patch to the similarly sizable Fortnite to cull its storage real estate by 60 GB. At this point, hopefully, Activision is looking into similar measures, as this certainly won't be the final Call of Duty update. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Rugrats Reboot Coming to Paramount Plus with Original Voice Cast

The Rugrats are coming back. Nickelodeon has announced it is reuniting the original voice cast for a new animated series.

The new series is trading the original 2D animation by Klasky Csupó for CG and returns the cast to their original baby/toddler-sized POV. The series will debut on Paramount Plus, Paramount’s new streaming service, sometime this spring following Plus’ launch on March 4.

Check out the clip below.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/25/rugrats-reboot-official-first-look-clip-from-paramount"]

The series will once again star E.G. Daily (Tommy), Nancy Cartwright (Chuckie), Cheryl Chase (Angelica), Cree Summer (Susie) and Kath Soucie (Phil and Lil).

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“Rugrats is one of the most iconic cartoons recognized by fans around the globe, and this original version is one we are taking great care and pride in creating for a brand-new audience,” said Ramsey Naito, President, Nickelodeon Animation. “Having the voice cast behind these special characters come together is one of the essential pieces to making the show recognizable and we can’t wait to watch this talented group bring them to life again.”

The new series is being spearheaded by familiar Rugrats leadership, including executive producers Eryk Casemiro and Kate Boutilier, Rachel Lipman as co-producer, and Kellie Smith (The Fairly Oddparents) as line producer.

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Rugrats originally debuted in 1991, spawning an empire of three theatrical films, nine seasons on TV, four Daytime Emmy Awards, and countless bits of merchandise, including 27 video games.

It's a busy week for Paramount Plus, which is also getting high-profile movies like Mission Impossible 7, A Quiet Place Part 2, a new division dedicated to Avatar: The Last Airbender properties, and more. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/Reptar for IGN.

The Boys: Season 3 – Karl Urban and Cast Post First Look Set Photos

Cast members from The Boys have posted some first look set photos from the upcoming season. The Boys executive producer, Eric Kripke, started the fun by posting a photo what appears to be a golden statue of Antony Starr's Homelander on Twitter today. The statue is very reminiscent of something you'd see at the Oscars, and it's not hard to imagine how happy a statue like this will make Homelander. You can check out Kripke's photo below. It's also not hard to imagine how angry a statue like this will make Billy Butcher. Speaking of him, Karl Urban posted his own photo announcing Billy Butcher's return to the show. "Hullo hullo," Urban wrote in his Instagram post. "Day 1. Shooting [The Boys] Season 3. So good to be back!" The actor also said the show has "some real goodies lined up" for viewers. You can check out his post below. The final cast member to post about Season 3 of The Boys today was Erin Moriarty, who plays Starlight in the show. Her Instagram post features two selfies with Jack Quaid, who plays Hughie Campbell in The Boys, with the caption, "back on our bulls***." If these photos are anything to go on, it seems Season 3 of The Boys has officially begun filming. Read this story about how the first episode of the new season will focus on Soldier Boy and then read about how Homelander is set up to become a "homicidal maniac" in the show. Check out this story about how Season 3 will see The Deep fight back against the Cult after that. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/10/the-boys-season-ending-explained"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes

GameStop Stock Is Surging Again, Though It’s Not Entirely Clear Why

Here we go again, folks. GameStop stock is soaring once more. Since its massive short squeeze driven by the Reddit community WallStreetBets and a few financial influencers, during which GME peaked at $483 per share in late January, GameStop's stock has been hovering in the $40-50 a share range since early February without much motion. Until today. This morning, GME opened at $44.70 a share, and until a few hours ago it looked like today would be another normal day. Then, just before 4pm ET, it began creeping up again, rising faster and faster in the final hour of trading. Trading was halted multiple times in the final stretch due to its rapid ascension, and by the end of the day GME had closed at $91.70 per share. But somehow, it's not done. GME has since continued to climb in after-hours trading, fluctuating wildly close to $200 per share at points. Why are we doing this again? It's hard to tell. Skimming the r/wallstreetbets subreddit doesn't reveal much for sure, and Reddit was down for a period of time earlier today right around when this started kicking off, though it's unclear if those events are actually connected. It is clear that many of the investors there are as surprised as anyone, if also delighted. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/28/what-is-going-on-with-gamestop-stock-ign-now"] The most obvious theory is that this is connected to the announcement of the departure of GameStop CFO Jim Bell yesterday, though this doesn't fully explain what's going on. Bell's resignation was revealed late yesterday, and if that were the only motivator, the stock likely would have gone up in after-hours trading yesterday and opened much higher. Instead, it remained steady until nearly the end of trading the following day. Another theory circulating is that it was indeed because of Bell's departure, but with different context. A source speaking to Forbes last night indicated that Bell's resignation wasn't exactly his idea, and that the board had lost faith in Bell to make the necessary e-commerce shifts to save the company. That would be in line with other supporting information about the situation at GameStop, such as a recent board refresh to include long-time activist shareholders and Chewy CEO Ryan Cohen -- who is very popular among the short squeeze crowd for his success in previous companies. And it would certainly explain why GameStop was willing to part with Bell when his contract stipulates a $2.8 million severance package. But the weirdest theory out there is that the surge is because of this tweet from Cohen, depicting...just a McDonalds ice cream cone and a frog emoji. What does that tweet mean? Who can say? But Cohen has been a major figure in the WallStreetBets short-selling spree simply by virtue of his joining the board and having been successful in previous ventures. He has petitioned the board for a more dedicated and focused e-commerce strategy, and while he's been light on the exact specifics of what that would entail so far, it seems to jive with what the company's other activist investors are up to. It's not clear what the ice cream has to do with any of this, but it's worth noting that Cohen doesn't tweet all that often, and several of his recent tweets are along these lines -- an image, and an emoji. For example, in early January he tweeted an image of a Blockbuster and a "poo" emoji. Deeper meaning or no, it's possible Cohen's tweet combined with the Bell situation could have been enough to get a buoyant Reddit community of amateur investors buying stock again. But regardless, at least for now, GME Reddit investors are back to cheering on others to keep their "diamond hands" -- holding onto the stock for as long as possible, waiting for even higher prices. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.