Xbox Series X and Series S will open for pre-orders at 8am UK time on September 22. Announced by Xbox UK's marketing lead on Twitter, the timing is currently only confirmed for the UK timezone. However, that time maps to midnight, September 22 in Pacific time. Given Xbox headquarters are in the Pacific timezone, midnight feels like a likely time for pre-orders to open in the US.

Pre-orders for Xbox Series X | S go live on the 22nd September at 8AM from the following UK retailers:

Microsoft Store Amazon GAME Argos Currys PC World Smyths Toys John Lewis & Partners AO .com Very .co.uk pic.twitter.com/W0zf1bSVda — Samuel Bateman (@samuelofc) September 15, 2020

The September 22 Xbox preorder date was announced last week, when we learned that Xbox Series X will cost $499 / £449, Xbox Series S will cost $299 / £249, and both consoles will see release on November 10. Both consoles will join the Xbox All Access program (a subscription service that gets you a console and an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership), with Series X coming in at $34.99 USD / £28.99 a month, and Series S at $24.99 USD / £20.99. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true"] We'll likely learn about PS5 preorder plans tomorrow, September 16 at the PS5 showcase, which will "feature updates on the latest titles from Worldwide Studios and our world-class development partners." Still not sure if you want an Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, or a PS5? Check out our PS5 vs. Xbox Series comparison chart to get a better sense of what each shiny new box will offer. [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.

Disney has released the first trailer for Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 2 revealing glimpses of what we'll see from the continuing adventures of Mando and The Child (or Baby Yoda, if you're being informal, which I will be from here on out). The main revelation is that Mando is seemingly instructed to return Baby Yoda to its own kind – and that includes tracking down "a race of enemy sorcerers" called Jedi. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/15/the-mandalorian-season-2-trailer"]

Aside from that detail, we see the returning Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), Cara Dune (Gina Carano), and get a glimpse at a character seemingly played by WWE's Sasha Banks, who was previously rumoured to be making an appearance.

That comes alongside looks at urban and icy planets, as well as a possible return to Tatooine, and an alien wrestling match. There are also action scenes on land, air and speederbike (including a look at more X-Wings).

The YouTube trailer's description runs through a list of Season 2's directors, including Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rick Famuyiwa, Carl Weathers, Peyton Reed and Robert Rodriguez.

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The Mandalorian Season 2 will premiere on Disney+ on October 30. It's not clear how the episodes will be dropped as yet, but it seems likely that we'll see weekly releases in the same manner as Season 1.

Season 1 ended with a return for the fabled Darksaber - if you want a refresher on the legendary weapon before Season 2, we've got just the thing.

[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.

Toby Fox has issued a status update on Deltarune, the sequel to 2015's Undertale, saying it's been much harder to make, but outlines for every chapter in the game are now complete. In line with a number of celebratory occasions to mark the fifth anniversary of the indie RPG, the game's creator posted a Deltarune Sept 2020 Status Update on the Undertale website, detailing the current state of the project. As well as thanking fans for their continued support of his projects, Fox noted how Deltarune has been "much harder to make than Undertale" due to the complexity of new systems, plotlines and graphics. Fox explained that he has been managing severe pain and wearing many hats during the game's development – roles that would usually be taken by multiple developers. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2016/01/12/undertale-review"] Despite all of this, Fox has been "writing, composing, designing and drawing" over the past two years with a small team, with readable outlines now completed for every chapter in the game. After investigating different engines during that time, Fox has now decided to return to Game Maker, and development for Chapter 2 has now commenced as of May 2020, with plans to finish the chapter by the end of the year. Fox ended the status update noting that he hopes Chapter 3 will be easier to make as the team can use Chapter 2 as a base. He is looking to hire people on to work on Deltarune in the future and has asked people to send in portfolios. Chapter 1 of Deltarune launched in October 2018 for PC, landing on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in February 2019. You can check out our strategy guide here. A fifth-anniversary Undertale concert will be held later today at 7 PM PDT, with new Fangamer merchandise arriving to coincide with the gig, as well as some new "alarm clock" dialogue from the game's main characters. For all the details, check out the fifth-anniversary webpage here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Despite everything, Jordan Oloman is still a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

When Nintendo Switch was first announced, the Internet immediately began speculating on how its detachable Joy-Con controllers could be experimented with, many imagining that different configurations and game-specific designs could be created, mixed and marched. Cut to a few years later and, besides a range of colour choices and some NES-style controllers, Nintendo's yet to release a dramatically different take on the Joy-Con. But that's not to say the developer hasn't been thinking about them. Over the years, we've repeatedly seen Nintendo patents for new Joy-Con designs surface, showing the company toying with ideas around shape, button placement, peripherals, and even entirely separate designs for the Switch controllers. Below, we've rounded up every Nintendo Joy-Con patent we've spotted so far (and we'll update this story as and when more emerge):

Standalone Joy-Con

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=nintendos-standalone-joy-con-patent&captions=true"] Filed in 2018 and registered internationally in 2020, this patent appears to show a Joy-Con that ditches the rail design altogether, showing a controller that's designed to be entirely separate from the Switch console. With what seems to be a more ergonomic design, it may have been envisioned as a complementary product for the Switch Lite - which features built-in controls - to allow for multiplayer play. Others have suggested that it could be released alongside the rumoured Switch upgrade in 2021.

Hinged Joy-Con

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=nintendos-hinged-joy-con-patent&captions=true"] Applied for in 2018 and published in 2019, this patent reimagines the existing Joy-Con design with a bend around a third of the way down. It may be that the controller is hinged, allowing the top part of the controller to be bent backwards, or permanently in the crooked shape. The patent shows a rail design that allows it to be attached neatly to the base Swtch model. This is presumably an ergonomic change, designed to be more comfortable on the hand during longer or more intensive gaming sessions.

Wide Joy-Con

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=nintendos-wide-joy-con-patent&captions=true"] This is one of three patents filed ahead of the Switch's release in 2016, all of which resemble the final Joy-Con design, but alter it in a fundamental way. Perhaps the most striking is this wider Joy-Con design, which retains the button layout of the final design, but offers a lot more space around it. This could have been envisioned as a comfort solution for players with bigger hands.

D-Pad and Thumbstick Joy-Con

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=nintendos-d-pad-and-joystick-joy-con-patent&captions=true"] The second of the three 2016 patents reimagines the Joy-Con in a couple of key ways. The first is that both left and right controllers feature a traditional D-Pad and a thumbstick (which appears recessed, looking more similar to the 3DS thumbstick than the Switch joystick). The second is that all buttons are presented in a straight line, perhaps to make this design preferable when used on its side, rather than upright. It also lacks the plus, minus, home and screenshot buttons of the final Joy-Con design.

D-Pad Only Joy-Con

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=nintendos-d-pad-only-joy-con-patent&captions=true"] The final of the three 2016 patents looks initially similar to the release Joy-Con, but drops any joysticks, instead putting a D-Pad on both the left and right Joy-Con. This model also lacks plus, minus, home and screenshot buttons.

Plug-In Controller Pieces

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=nintendos-plug-in-controller-pieces-patent&captions=true"] Likely an early take on what would become the Joy-Con design, this patent didn't show controller elements sliding onto the base console, but had them plugging into or clipping onto the side. An early clue to Nintendo's plan for detachable controllers, this design also connected to other patents that showed a console able to use infra-red to read hand gestures to either side of it.

Modular Controller Elements

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=nintendos-modular-controller-elements-patent&captions=true"] Originally published in 2014, this patent embraces the idea of detachable elements on a handheld console, but reduces them down to detachable sets of buttons or sticks that can be slotted into the base unit. Perhaps an early part of the thinking around the Switch (then codenamed the NX), the modular elements include D-Pads, different button configurations, and joysticks. It would have allowed for a player to craft their own favoured design, or perhaps create a controller set-up on each side to allow for two players to play on one horizontal console.

Joy-Con Touch Pen

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=nintendos-joy-con-touch-pen-patent&captions=true"] More an attachement for the Joy-Con than a Joy-Con design itself, this 2019 patent shows a touch pen that can be slid onto the Joy-Con rail and used with the Switch touchscreen. Available for both left- and right-handed use, the pen would work in tandem with the Joy-Con itself - for instance, drawing a line on the screen, then pressing a button to make that lines drawn thicker. [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.

After Xbox Series X last week, we've now got the packaging for Series S to look over.

It looks like Ubisoft changed the name of Gods & Monsters to Immortals Fenyx Rising due to a trademark dispute with Monster Energy. As detailed in this video from Hoeg Law, the Gods & Monsters trademark faced an opposition filing from the Monster Energy Company in April of 2020, which may have forced Ubisoft's hand, necessitating the name change to Immortals Fenyx Rising. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/06/10/gods-monsters-reveal-trailer-e3-2019"] You can see the full timeline of Gods & Monsters attempted patent registration over on the United States Patent and Trademark Office website. Ubisoft applied for the patent back in June of 2019, and did not face any issues until January of this year, when Monster Energy applied to oppose the trademark under a belief that its brand would be damaged due to the "likelihood of confusion" between the two entities. In the notice of opposition the energy drink brand cites its ties to the games industry through sponsorship of professional gamers and esports organizations in support of its many claims. What's interesting is that in Ubisoft's May 2020 answer to Monster Energy's notice of opposition, they deny almost all of the claims. Yet ahead of September's Ubisoft Forward, the game's name was officially changed from Gods & Monsters to Immortals Fenyx Rising. In an interview with VGC last week, associate game director Julien Galloudec said that the name change was not a technical decision, but one related to the evolved "vision" of the game: So no, the change of name was entirely because of the vision of the game. When you start a game it’s always an adventure and it’s a very iterative process. So you start with a vision that evolves as you craft it with the team and we get feedback and ideas. [...] So after that, the game changed a lot, to the point where we felt we needed a new name to be better aligned with that updated vision, so that’s where we decided to change to Immortals Fenyx Rising". [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=immortals-fenyx-rising-screenshots&captions=true"] We've contacted Ubisoft for comment. Immortals: Fenyx Rising will launch on Google Stadia, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch and PC on December 3, 2020. You can check out our preview here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Update: In a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, Sony denies the details in Bloomberg's report. "While we do not release details related to manufacturing, the information provided by Bloomberg is false," Sony says. "We have not changed the production number for PlayStation 5 since the start of mass production." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Original Story: Sony has reportedly cut its estimated PS5 production for its fiscal year by 4 million units, bringing the new total to around 11 million, following "production issues with its custom-designed system-on-chip for the new console." As reported by Bloomberg, Sony had boosted orders with suppliers in "anticipation of heightened demand for gaming in the holiday season and beyond, as people spend more time at home due to the coronavirus." However, these manufacturing issues are causing "production yields as low as 50%" for its system-on-chip, which have hindered its ability to produce as many PS5s as planned. Bloomberg's sources did mention that yields have been "gradually improving" but they have yet to reach a stable level. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/12/ps5-reveal-event-in-5-minutes"] Sony's shares dropped by as much as 3.5% following this news, which is its biggest intraday drop since August. Daniel Ahmad, a senior analyst at Niko Partners, has stated that this production delay will "hit PS5 supply during 2021," and Sony is planning on using Air Freight to "meet demand this holiday and ship as many units as possible in the launch period." Ahmad notes that "production yield issues will always exist, especially at the beginning of a console launch, though this does seem more severe than expected." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-playstation-5-games&captions=true"] This news follows both Sony's announcement of its PlayStation 5 Showcase event this Wednesday, September 16, and Microsoft revealing both the price and release date of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. We have yet to learn the price and release date of the PS5, but we now know that the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will cost $499 and $299, respectively. Bloomberg's intelligence analyst Masahiro Wakasugi says the PS5 could be priced as low as $449, while the PS5 Digital Edition could possibly "dip below $400." If we do learn the price and release date for the PS5 this Wednesday, we will keep you up-to-date with our PS5 preorder guide. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/14/playstation-the-edge-play-has-no-limits"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

In 2018 Microsoft had the idea to sink an entire data center to the bottom of the Scottish sea as an experiment to see if submerged conditions were better for data centers. After two years, Microsoft resurfaced its nautical data center and discovered the results turned out great. Microsoft sunk 864 servers, which contained 27.6 petabytes of storage, down 117 feet into the ocean. Microsoft’s Project Natick team believed these underwater conditions would actually be more energy-efficient and better overall for data centers. And it looks like they were correct. As it turns out, underwater data centers had just one-eight the failure rate of on-land data centers. The reason is that on land factors like oxygen, moisture in the air can corrode computer components. Not to mention the many temperature fluctuations over time. Meanwhile, if data centers are placed in Microsoft’s submerged pods, engineers can create a stable environment where they control factors like humidity and oxygen, or just keep data centers away from people who might break things themselves. Having deployable data centers like this can also allow companies to build servers near coastal areas that need them. The next stage of the experiment will see if Microsoft can safely recycle retrieved data centers once they reach the end of their lifespan. Check out Project Natick’s full research blog here, and the video explainer here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN. Photo by Microsoft