If you're sick and tired of your larger, flashier current-gen gamerpic and were blessed enough to have one dating back to the Xbox 360 days, then you're in luck. Xbox will soon let you switch back to your retro 360 gamerpic and unlock that sweet feeling of nostalgia.

Microsoft Engineering Lead Eden Marie revealed on Twitter (below) that Alpha Skip Ahead Insider players will now be able to reboot their consoles today for a new option on their "change gamerpic" screen. It's out with the new and in with the old. With the change in place for Insiders, the option should appear for regular users in the not-too-distant future.

Hey all, I know a bunch of you were asking for a way to go back to your Xbox 360 gamerpic. Exploration Time to the rescue!

If you're an Alpha Skip Ahead Insider, you may need to reboot your console, but starting today you'll find a new option in your "change gamerpic" screen. pic.twitter.com/YWijIJR2HE

— Eden Marie (@neonepiphany) September 21, 2021

When changing your gamerpic back to its 360 counterpart, Marie notes a few important things. Firstly, the only option you have in terms of your old 360 picture is whatever you set it to last. Not only does this mean that you might want to prepare yourself for a bit of self-reflection if it's not what you expected, but also that to change it, you'll still need to log back into your 360 console where any changes should then carry over.

When setting your 360 gamerpic on newer consoles, fans might notice that it looks a little different to how they remember. To bring it over to current-gen consoles, the 360's classic square design has been mapped over the top of a semi-transparent dark circle to ensure consistency with other current gamerpics. Unfortunately, for fans who didn't originally have a 360 gamerpic, there's no option to go back and choose one from the catalog of images available at the time.

News of the change follows a similar story that surfaced last month after Marie decided to make it her "personal mission" to fix one Twitter user's 360-era profile picture that, as a result of advances in Xbox UI, had shrunk to the size of a tiny square surrounded by a void-like grey circle. With 360 gamerpics as far back as 2006 now firmly back in play, who knows what Xbox might drag out from the late 2000s next.

Listen, I can't promise anything, but I'm going to make it my personal mission to fix this https://t.co/o1zYjBBHSd

— Eden Marie (@neonepiphany) August 25, 2021

For more on the Xbox Series X, make sure to check out this article discussing updates rolled out to Alpha-Skip Ahead users in August that have allowed the console's dashboard to run at a higher resolution.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

It’s been two years since Death Stranding’s release; in that time, the PS4 and PC versions of Kojima’s backbreaking delivery man simulator have gone on to sell more than five million copies combined, making it a success by any measure. However, anecdotally I’ve come across just as many people who have played Death Stranding and completely loved it as I have people who’ve bounced off it within its intentionally grueling opening hours. It’s the latter group of people who perhaps wanted to like it but couldn’t, along with any other fence-sitters, that this PlayStation 5 Director’s Cut seems to have in mind; its raft of quality-of-life improvements and player-friendly features added specifically to make more manageable molehills out of its many formidable mountains. It's just odd that so many of these concessions seem to directly contradict the deliberate hard-working spirit that many appreciated about the original version, which makes the Director’s Cut feel somewhat… compromised.

The new firing range is definitely a welcome inclusion. Accessed via the terminal at any distribution center, it allows you to get to grips with every weapon – and each of them now feels more distinct thanks to the subtle feedback afforded by the DualSense’s adaptive triggers. On top of just blasting paper targets, there are around 30 different VR drills in which you compete against the clock – from stealth-slicing umbilical cords through a gauntlet run of BTs to making fools out of MULEs using only grenades. These are enjoyable little challenges in their own right, but more importantly, they allow you to get a feel for Death Stranding’s combat without the risk of losing any precious cargo that comes with trying to learn to fight while you’re out on the job.

The firing range may provide a safe space to master Death Stranding’s fighting, but it’s not as game-changing as the buddy bot and cargo catapult. Previously only glimpsed in cutscenes or employed unseen for automated deliveries, the buddy bot can now be used in a number of different ways: it can strut along behind you carrying crates, leaving Sam unencumbered and less prone to losing his balance; or you can load it up with a shipment, slap it on its sassy robot arse, and watch it sprint off into the distance to the cargo’s intended destination. If that still sounds like too much hard work, it can even carry your Norman Reedus-shaped sack of bones all the way to the nearest distribution center on autopilot, which is huge news for anyone who’s ever wondered what it must feel like to be a bored house cat riding a Roomba.

Meanwhile the cargo catapults, which you can start constructing around the story’s midpoint, allow you to load up your boxes and fire them hundreds of metres across the map, a bit like using one of the Angry Birds as a carrier pigeon. There is a limitation to how far you can launch your flying freight before a parachute must be triggered in order to manually guide it safely to the ground, but it’s at least far enough to clear some of the nastier crevasses or wider rivers in Hideo Kojima’s stunning (albeit oddly Icelandic) vision of post-apocalyptic America.

If, during my darkest hours with the original game – such as the extended slog through the mountains roughly 20 hours through the story – you’d offered me a cannon to fire crates of medical supplies even halfway to their summit destination I’d have loaded that cannon with hundred dollar bills and fired it directly into your beautiful face. However, while the cargo catapult and buddy bot certainly make completing orders less painful in Death Stranding, they don’t necessarily make them actually fun. At the end of the day, you’re still moving stacks of indistinguishable boxes from A to B, over and over again. Just because a menial task is made to be easier, doesn’t make it any less dull or repetitive; the calculator app on my phone may well prevent me from having to count on my fingers, but it certainly doesn’t mean I gain any more excitement out of doing my taxes.

In fact, although I certainly had my frustrations with the original “cut” of Death Stranding, never once did I think its demanding delivery gameplay was in any way arduous by accident. Kojima is undoubtedly one of the boldest game designers of all time, and he appears to be surrounded by an extremely talented team at Kojima Productions. Death Stranding isn’t a great game idea that was executed poorly; in my mind, it’s a fundamentally unappealing idea for a game executed extremely well.

That makes it especially odd that some of these Director’s Cut additions seem to actively undermine what I interpret to be the whole meaning behind the gameplay. Unless I’m mistaken, the rewards in Death Stranding are intended to be earned by carefully managing cargo and plotting intelligent routes to your destination in order to make a successful delivery. The buddy bot takes that stiff challenge, loads it onto its cargo tray and literally walks it all the way back, taking any potential sense of satisfaction with it. Sure, there is a slight penalty for relying on your doting droid to do it all for you – buddy bot deliveries are capped at A ratings, meaning you derive slightly less likes than you would completing a delivery unassisted and attaining an S rank. And they’re also not entirely infallible, since occasionally they can get stuck on the steeper sections of terrain. But these are both minor inconveniences to suffer in return for such a sizable reduction in labour.

Retracing Your Steps

Meanwhile, there are a handful of features presumably intended to entice die-hard Death Stranding fans – or Die-Hardfans as Kojima prefers to call them (probably) – but like the contents of Sam’s backpack after he’s taken his umpteenth tumble down a modest incline, these are a bit of a mixed bag. At the very least, you can gain quick access to most of the new features without having to start the whole campaign over; as long as you still have access to your completed PS4 save you can import it into the PS5 version with all your progress and various shared structures intact.

I made a beeline for the new race track, which can be constructed by delivering the requisite materials to a dedicated site just south of the Timefall farm. Sadly, it turned out to be barely worth the effort: the racing track features just two unremarkable circuits that can only be raced in simple solo time trials (with the added option of racing them both in reverse). Ironically, for a game otherwise preoccupied with weight management and inertia, the three vehicles on offer here exhibit a noticeable lack of heft. The truck and trike are both slow and far too easy to steer around full laps without requiring any real need for braking. Meanwhile, the sleek new roadster vehicle is at least fast enough to be thrown sideways around a sharp corner, but the way you’re brought to an instant halt by an invisible force field should you even touch the trackside rumble strip kind of sucks the fun out of it. It’s no wonder that Monster Energy has seemingly pulled its products out of the Director’s Cut, since Death Stranding’s bland brand of circuit racing is about as far away from extreme sports as you can get.

On the plus side, completing the race track’s time trials gives you the ability to fabricate the roadster for general use in the world. It’s only really practical to take it out on one of the player-paved highway stretches, though, since attempting to steer the sports car’s low suspension over Death Stranding’s otherwise jagged terrain feels about as smooth as trying to iron the creases out of a shirt made of rhinestones.

As far as new story content, I can’t say that the over-explained nature of the ending left me begging for more details, but this Director’s Cut gave them to me anyway, although only in a very modest serving. The new ruined factory is situated to the northeast of the Distribution Center West of Capital Knot City. (Giving directions in Death Stranding sure is confusing – no wonder these people never leave their bunkers.) It’s a dilapidated facility recessed into the side of a mountain that provides an interesting space to explore, but there’s just not enough of it to really leave a mark. It’s effectively comprised of two main areas that each house a small gaggle of guards to take out, a token Metal Gear Solid reference, and then a short sequence that gives some fresh insight into the backstory of one of Sam’s closest allies. If you’re fascinated by the end of the world lore that Kojima Productions has created then you’ll likely lap this up, but just don’t go in expecting an enormous amount of new information to uncover.

Elsewhere there are ramps to build if you fancy going from Postman Pat to Evil Knieval. There’s a new maser gun that fires out electricity, allowing you to wrangle MULEs into submission like a Ghostbusters’ proton pack. There’s the option to replay boss fights and compare your scores with other players. You can even customise BB’s pod with a number of cosmetic options including ‘wood grain’ and ‘leather’, although unfortunately none of the options is ‘soundproof’. There are quite a lot of other small additions that make up a fairly long list of new features, but none of them make as considerable difference to the gameplay as the buddy bot.

Death Stranding Director’s Cut comes with a slew of updates and new content, including but not limited to new weapons, a new vehicle, new ways to deliver cargo, and even a brand new story mission. Unlike the recently released Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, which came with one big piece of new content and several quality of life updates, Death Stranding is instead opting for a ton of smaller tweaks and additions, which can make it a bit more confusing when trying to identify exactly what it is you’re getting with this upgrade. But don’t worry, we have you covered. We’ve combed through as much as we could, and picked out what we think are the 13 biggest additions and changes to the Death Stranding Director’s Cut.

1. New Graphics Options

Before we get into the bigger things, let’s go through some of the graphical updates. The game now features two graphic options, a quality mode that runs at a native 4K resolution and targets 60fps, or a performance mode that features a scaled 4K resolution with a more stable framerate – though it’s still not locked at 60fps. Also, both of these modes can be played in an ultra-widescreen mode on PC, or an “ultra-widescreen simulator” mode that letterboxes everything on PS5.

2. Monster energy is GONE!

Sam’s favorite drink, Monster Energy, seems to be no more. Monster Energy could survive the apocalyptic Death Stranding, but it couldn't survive a console jump. We assume this is the result of some sort of simple licensing deal expiring, but regardless, all mentions of Monster Energy are gone and are now replaced with the more on-brand “Bridges Energy''.

3. DualSense Support

You can’t have a PlayStation 5 game without some really cool DualSense features, and Death Stranding Director’s Cut has plenty. First off, the adaptive triggers work exactly how you would expect – weapons all fire with different sensations, and the heavier Sam’s cargo load is, the harder it is to pull down the trigger. When running on different terrain, the controllers vibrating haptic feedback responds appropriately. For example, running on smooth concrete will feel a lot different than sloshing around in the snow. And finally, BB's coos and cries will be heard through the controller's speaker, alongside other various sounds like flowing water when crossing a river.

4. New Combat Abilities

Combat has also seen a bit of an improvement. Sam now has equippable gloves to pummel your opponents with – they can also help climb faster. He’s also a bit more agile now and can dropkick and knee kick foes as he runs towards them. Also, Mules have taken a liking to using turrets. Of course, once you take that turret enemy down, it's free for you to use to rain hell down on your combatants.

5. New Equippable Items

A few new items have been added for fabrication. The first is the Maser Gun, which fires a continuous electrical charge that immobilizes Mules and vehicles. Because it’s electricity-based, it's even more effective when in water. Unfortunately, since it’s not blood-based, it has zero effect on BTs. Another new item is a brand new equipable exoskeleton called the Support Skeleton. This is meant to be the most all-around skeleton option to somewhat replace the all-terrain, power, and speed skeletons that are available. It’s fast, it can carry a lot, and it's good on rough terrain. It’s more of a jack of all trades, master of none type of deal. Also, unlike any other exoskeleton in the game, it’s solar-powered, so it can charge in sunny or even cloudy weather, leaving you way less likely to be stranded without power.

6. Firing Range

A Firing Range has been added to the terminals, allowing you to check out all the weapons in the game and even test your skill with them. All of the weapons are on a table and you can equip whichever one you’d like to try and shoot at the provided targets. Or, you can jump into one of the many drills available and see how long it takes to get through one of the various pre-made scenarios. There’s also Ranked Drills which allow you to compete with other players for the best results.

7. The Roadster

An all-new vehicle has arrived, in the form of the Roadster. The roadster is meant for smooth highways, or the race track, but you can use it to make deliveries, too, but it's not super great in rocky terrain or water, and even though you can load cargo onto it, unless the client demands you make your deliveries in style, I’d stick with the truck and keep the Roadster on the race track.

8. Race Track

You can now build a fully-functioning Race Track by the Timefall Farm that allows Sam to test his driving skills by racing against the clock in a reverse trike, truck, or the previously mentioned roadster. The race track gives you access to a few different courses as well as mirrored versions of each, and just like in the training ground there are ranked races that allow you to submit times to compare yourself to other players.

9. New Buildable Structures

Death Stranding Director’s Cut now has a few new buildable structures to help Sam on his deliveries. First is a Cargo Catapult that can be loaded up with a bunch of cargo and shot through the air towards your destination – don’t worry, it’s fitted with a parachute so as to not damage your precious cargo. The range on it isn’t incredible, but it should help when getting over some small mountains or wide rivers. Another is a Jump Ramp that allows vehicles to shoot over a small distance. When on a reverse trike, you can even have Sam do some cool moves, which are great for photo mode. And finally, Sam can build a Chiral Bridge to help get over tighter areas that the larger bridges can’t fit. Chiral bridges are also fitted with a special network ID that prevents Mules from using them. Watch out though, Chiral Bridges will disappear if it rains or snows.

10. Ruined Factory

The Ruined Factory, seen in the reveal trailer for Death Stranding Director’s Cut is a set of new missions that sees Sam delving into an underground facility littered with old-world interiors, and of course, Mules. I don’t want to spoil anything about what takes place down here, but I can confidently say that it’s worth a look.

11. Buddy Bots

Delivery bots have been in Death Stranding since the beginning, but they’ve only technically existed in cutscenes where you could send them on autonomous deliveries while you prioritize other things. Now, you can actually build a Buddy Bot to travel alongside you. The Buddy Bot has two functions: It can hold a bunch of cargo for Sam and follow him around, or, if Sam is able to hold everything in his backpack and suit, he can ride the bot to his destination. You won’t be getting many S ranks riding the bot as it’s pretty slow, but it's a nice feature to have if you basically want the game to play itself and just be along for the ride. Watch out though, the bot can only travel within the Chiral network, and he doesn't do so great when attacked by Mules or BTs.

12. New Cosmetics and Backpack Customizations

Death Stranding has always had an emphasis on customization, so it only makes sense that we’ve gotten even more control to make Sam look exactly how we want. We can change BB’s color scheme, your suit now has an array of colors to choose from, and best of all, Sam’s backpack has gotten quite a few upgrades. Not only can you change the color, but you can now add patches and stabilizers to the back, allowing Sam to keep his balance better, and even glide from high distances with upgraded stabilizers.

13. You can replay Cliff memories and Boss Battles

In the base version of Death Stranding, once you beat the game, you could replay Cliff’s Nightmares of War. In the Director’s Cut, you’re now also allowed to replay any of the big boss battles, known here as Nightmare Battles. And, just like the racing or firing range, there are also ranked versions that allow you to submit high scores against other players, judging both time taken to finish the encounter and damage taken.

So those are the biggest changes to expect when booting up the Death Stranding Director’s Cut. There are even smaller tweaks such as being able to ride zip lines with a carrier attached and new routing tutorials at the beginning. Will you be suiting up for the Death Stranding Director’s Cut? If so, which of these new features has you the most excited? Make sure to sound off in the comments!

The European Commission has announced plans to force electronics companies to adopt USB-C as a universal charger on all devices – meaning Apple would have to abandon its Lightning chargers, or add a second port to smartphones.

Announced in a press release, the plans have been announced as a means of reducing e-waste "caused by the prevalence of different, incompatible chargers for electronic devices." The Radio Equipment Directive will mean that devices sold in EU countries will need to include USB-C as standard "for all smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers and handheld videogame consoles."

The directive would also force manufacturers to sell devises without bundled chargers, allowing consumers to keep using their existing USB-C cables. Fast charging would also become standard, meaning manufacturers couldn't artifically limit the speed of USB-C charging, presumably in the hope of making proprietary chargers more attractive.

The directive itself has yet to pass a vote, but European Parliament has already voted in favour of the idea of bringing in a standardised charger, meaning it's expected to be approved. Manufacturers would be given 24 months after the directive passes to make changes to their devices.

The company most obviously affected by this change would be Apple, which uses USB-C on many of its devices but continues to use its own Lightning chargers on smartphones. Apple has not yet commented on the plans.

Of course, the timescale involved means that current Apple devises will continue to use Lightning cables – but it's feasible that the newly-announced iPhone 13 could be one of its last products to use the proprietary charger.

Thumbnail image by Mohssen Assanimoghaddam/picture alliance via Getty Images.

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].

After Respawn's community coordinator Jason Garza said that the studio is currently working on "too many other games" to create new content for the Titanfall franchise, Respawn's social media account seems to be offering a more hopeful take on the future of the series.

After reports highlighting Garza's comments circulated the internet, Respawn took to Twitter to set the record straight – at least, sort of. "Contrary to what some folks are reporting," a tweet from the studio (below) reads. "Titanfall is the very core of our DNA. Who knows what the future holds…"

Contrary to what some folks are reporting, Titanfall is the very core of our DNA.

Who knows what the future holds…

— Respawn (@Respawn) September 23, 2021

Garza's initial comments suggested that any news of upcoming Titanfall content was unlikely, "There's nothing there. We've got too many other games in the works right now," he said. Last year, when asked by IGN if the Titanfall franchise was over during an interview about the studio's 10th anniversary, Respawn co-founder issued a similar sentiment. "There’s nothing currently in development. But it’s always there," he said at the time.

Whether Respawn's recent comments on Twitter are anything more than a reminder that the company still holds the Titanfall series close to its heart is unclear, however, fans will be hoping that it signifies something more significant.

Since the release of Titanfall 2 in 2016, Respawn has fleshed out a number of other IPs. The studio is currently working on Titanfall spin-off Apex Legends, which sees regular updates. Given the success of Apex, it may be that Titanfall's future lies within that game – this year's updates have included overt Titanfall references, after all.

In 2019, the studio also released third-person action-adventure game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. During an earnings call following the success of Fallen Order EA CEO Andrew Wilson confirmed that it would be the "first title in an entirely new franchise" for the publisher. If Respawn is considering a return to the core Titanfall series in the future, it would need to be part of an impressive balancing act for the studio, especially as it's also working in a new single-player game set in a different universe altogether.

At present, Respawn is still investigating rumours of major security vulnerabilities in Titanfall 2 that have caused panic within the community. The concerns, which were raised earlier this month in the form of a screenshot from Discord, claimed that the game had been compromised and warned players against launching the game on PC. All in all, it's been a long, strange road for Titanfall 2, and it only got stranger when the game was effectively abandoned by its developer.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.