Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey, along with Bernie Sanders from Vermont, are pushing for a universal charging standard for smartphones, the senators said in a letter sent Thursday to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

In the letter, the lawmakers urge the Department of Commerce to develop a strategy to protect consumers and mitigate e-waste, following lead of the European Union on universal chargers.

"Consumers shouldn’t have to keep buying new chargers all the time for different devices. We can clear things up with uniform standards—for less expense, less hassle, and less waste," Warren posted on Twitter.

Consumers shouldn’t have to keep buying new chargers all the time for different devices. We can clear things up with uniform standards—for less expense, less hassle, and less waste.https://t.co/rbxLleahIj

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) July 7, 2022

The senators argue that not having a universal charger creates a financial burden for consumers and creates more electronic waste, writing, "In addition to unnecessary expense for American consumers, disposing of and replacing chargers generates e-waste that leads to environmental damage, including spreading toxins in water, polluting soil, and degrading air quality. Discarded and unused chargers alone generate more than 11,000 tons of e-waste annually."

Though the senator's letter did not specify what that standard charger should be, the European Union's recent ruling made the USB Type-C cable the universal standard, and though that cable covers most smartphones, tablets, earbuds, headphones, and portable speakers, it doesn't cover the iPhone, which uses Apple's exclusive Lightning connector to recharge.

However, as USA Today reports, the EU's new ruling may force Apple to replace it.

"We cannot allow the consumer electronics industry to prioritize proprietary and inevitably obsolete charging technology over consumer protection and environmental health," reads an excerpt from the letter.

Time will tell if the Department of Commerce will take action on behalf of the senators' request and if Apple will adhere to the EU's rulling and do away with their Lightning port.

"[The EU’s] policy has the potential to significantly reduce e-waste and help consumers who are tired of having to rummage through junk drawers full of tangled chargers to find a compatible one, or buy a new one," the senators wrote. "The EU has wisely acted in the public interest by taking on powerful technology companies over this consumer and environmental issue. The United States should do the same."

Diego Ramos Bechara is a Freelance Writer for IGN, and he's a fan of all things Star Wars, Rockstar, Naughty Dog and Batman.

You can follow him on Twitter @DRamosBechara.

Disney has released the first trailer for its upcoming superhero animated series, Hamster and Gretel, which will debut on the Disney Channel on Friday, August 12, 2022.

Here's how Disney describes the upcoming series: "Hamster and Gretel introduces Kevin and his younger sister, Gretel, who are about to be bestowed superpowers by space aliens. But something goes awry, and it's Gretel and her pet hamster (named Hamster) who suddenly have new abilities. Now, protective older brother Kevin must figure out how to work with both Gretel and her pet, Hamster, to protect their city from mysterious dangers."

IGN can exclusively debut the trailer for Hamster and Gretel in the video below or at the top of the page:

Created by Emmy-nominee Dan Povenmire (Phineas and Ferb), Hamster and Gretel features an impressive ensemble of voice actors, including newcomer Meli Povenmire as Gretel; Michael Cimino (Love, Victor) as Gretel's older brother, Kevin; Beck Bennett (SNL) as Gretel's pet hamster, Hamster; Joey King (Kissing Booth) as her tech-savvy cousin, Fred; Matt Jones (Bob Hearts Abishola) as the siblings' easygoing father, Dave; and Carolina Ravassa (Maya and the Three) as their charismatic mother, Carolina.

We can also exclusively announce an exciting group of recurring characters joining the main cast:

Priah Ferguson (Stranger Things) as Gretel’s best friend, Bailey; Liza Koshy (Liza on Demand) as news reporter Veronica Hill; Alyson Stoner (Phineas and Ferb) and Brock Powell "Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe) as the evil sibling duo Lauren and Lyle a.k.a The Destructress and FistPuncher, respectively; and viral rap sensation Akintoye as Kevin’s confident buddy, Anthony.

Guest stars are Jenny Lorenzo (Victor and Valentino) as Carolina’s mother, Abuelita; legendary Latin pop star Karina La Voz as the tear-jerking La Cebolla; YouTube star Thomas Sanders (Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe) as frat guy horse-man Neighslayer; TikTok star Casey Hamilton (@MrHamilton) as Gretel’s mild-mannered substitute teacher, Mr. Chabner; and Adam Rose (Merry Happy Whatever) as evil jingle writer The Earworm.

According to Disney, Hamster and Gretel is inspired by Povenmire's relationship with his younger sister. What did you think of the trailer? Let us know in the comments.

And for more Disney, be sure to check out our full review of Thor: Love and Thunder, everything new to Disney+ in July, and our review of Ms. Marvel episode 5.

David Griffin is the Senior Editor, Features and Content Partnerships for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.

The Gayming Awards will have a new home when it returns in 2023. The industry awards show dedicated to LGBT and transgender representation will be moving to New York City as it seeks new audiences in new timezones.

As an awards show hosted by Gayming Magazine, a UK-based online LGBTQ+ site, the Gayming Awards was previously held in London. In moving to New York, the show hopes to continue to grow its international audience, which rose from 150,000 viewers in 2021 to 320,000 in 2022.

"What better way for us to continue building on our Gayming successes than with a debut on Broadway?" Gayming Magazine co-founder Robin Gray said in a statement. "We've had an amazing time in our home in the U.K. but it had always been our plan to bring the Awards over to the U.S. to ensure our fans and the industry here get their time to shine too. 2023 will be our first time broadcasting on a U.S. time zone so we're expecting a significant lift in audience in addition to other exciting plans we've got cooking up. This Broadway show will be one not to miss!"

Like previous events, the Gayming Awards will seek to honor the best games that also promote LGBTQ diversity and inclusion. Last year's winner was Life is Strange: True Colors, which was selected over Boyfriend Dungeon, Pyschonauts 2, and Unpacking. The Gayming Awards 2023 will be the show's third year, with the previous two events being virtual and hybrid events respectively.

The Gayming Awards has not yet announced the venue for the 2023 event, but as always, you can watch the stream right here on IGN.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Daniel Mullins, creator of Inscryption, has announced that his creepy deckbuilding roguelite that featured on many game of the year lists last year is coming to PlayStation.

Announced on the PlaySation Blog as part of today’s PlayStation Indies reveals, Mullins explained that the PS version of the game will make use of the RGB lights and speaker on the controller. Stoat, the game’s talking card, will have its audio played out of the controller, and the atmospheric lighting of the cabin Inscryption is set in will be reflected by the light of the DualShock/DualSense.

“If you’re playing in the dark you’ll be one step closer to feeling like you’re inside Leshy’s cabin,” Mullins said of the lighting.

Otherwise, Inscryption on PlayStation is identical to the PC version. It’s part card game, party escape room, part horror. Starting out as a creepy roguelite card battler, the story soon twists its own rules as you gradually get closer to the truth.

Publisher Devolver will release the game on both PS4 and PS5, although no release date has yet to be announced. It’s worth holding on for that announcement though, and our 9/10 Inscryption review explains exactly why you should be interested. Unsurprisingly, we awarded it our best strategy game of 2021 award.

For more announcements, check out our run down of everything revealed during today's PlayStation Indies.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.

Sony has held another PlayStation Indies day over on the PlayStation Blog, revealing seven new updates for a variety of indie games headed to PS4 and PS5 over the next few months. Curious as to what smaller games are ones to watch out for? Here’s all seven of today’s reveals, all in one place.

Sea of Stars Coming to PS4 and PS5

First up, retro-inspired RPG Sea of Stars has been confirmed for release on PS4 and PS5. Alongside that confirmation, developer Sabotage Studio also offered a closer look at Sea of Stars’ turn-based battle system. Despite its obvious JRPG inspirations, Sea of Stars does not have random encounter battles, and is a ‘pure’ turn-based system, with no time bars. MP regens though fights to allow for regular magic casting, and enemy special abilities can be weakened or even eliminated entirely by breaking ‘locks’ with specific damage types. Party members can also attack together for combos, and characters can be hot swapped in and out of battle to rearrange your team for maximum efficiency.

Schim Will Release on PlayStation Consoles

Developer Extra Nice has announced that its recently-revealed game about a traveling shadow, Schim, will be released on PS4 and PS5. Playing as the shadow creature Schim, you’ll need to explore different Dutch-inspired locations as part of a hunt to find the human whose shadow you live in. Each location is a puzzle, as Schim can only move to other shadows, and so must carefully move from dark spot to dark spot across a map.

Cult of the Lamb Will Launch This August

Cult of the Lamb, a roguelike about anthropomorphic animals who engage in religious zealotry, will be released on PS4 and PS5 on August 11. The game is as cute and as wacky as the title suggests, and the PS Blog post written by developer Massive Monster is dedicated to… poop. Apparently poop management is a key part of the game, as your cult den must be cleaned up to ensure followers do not get sick and die. Thankfully poop can be picked up and used to fertilize crops.

Signalis Coming to PS4 This October

PS1-style retro sci-fi game Signalis will be coming to PS4 on October 27. This ‘psychological sci-fi survival horror’ has visuals similar to the early days of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, with top-down cameras and close-up puzzle segments, as well as a chunky inventory with spinning item models. Playing as Elster, you’ll need to make your way through a seemingly abandoned re-education and mining facility that’s plagued by distorted figures.

The Tomorrow Children: Phoenix Edition Launches This September

Q-Games has announced that The Tomorrow Children: Phoenix Edition will launch on September 6. This re-release of the lost 2016 PS4 game is not just a new way to play an old game, but will also arrive with lots of new features.

Phoenix Edition adds many new islands to the world of The Void, and Monolith structures reveal new paths and secrets across previously existing islands. To travel across these new locations, a grappling hook has been added. Most important of the editions, though, is the fact that The Tomorrow Children has removed all reliance on external servers, and so it can’t be lost like the original version was. This means it can also be played offline with ‘Comrade AI’ to control other characters.

Cursed to Golf Releases In August

A new trailer for Cursed to Golf has revealed that the game is coming to both PS4 and PS5 on August 18. Set in 'golf purgatory', you play a recently deceased would-be golf champion who must work their way through an ever-changing 18 hole course in an attempt to resurrect themselves.

Inscryption Announced for PS4 and PS5

The beloved creepy deckbuilder, first released on PC last year, is finally coming to console. Inscryption has been announced for PS4 and PS5, although no release date has been revealed so far. The PlayStation version will make special use of the DualShock/DualSense controller, with RGB lights mimicking the on-screen lighting, and talking card Stoat's voice being projected out of the controller speaker.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.

LEGO has officially unveiled a massive Mighty Bowser set that has interactivity with the LEGO Mario series.

Bowser stands at over 32cm tall and 41cm wide and will be released on October 1. It will cost $269.99 and includes 2,807 pieces, as revealed on the LEGO Store.

Set number 71411 will include a brand new LEGO piece to authentically recreate Bowser's spikes. It also features a fireball launcher and a poseable head, neck, arms, and fingers.

Though his hefty base and background pillars look pretty good by themselves (and also feature a hidden POW Block), they're also designed to work with the interactive Mario, Luigi, and Peach sets that LEGO has been releasing over the last couple of years.

The Mighty Bowser set is officially the biggest Mario set to be released so far, eclipsing the Bowser's Airship set that previously took the cake at $99.99 and 1,152 pieces. Not part of the official line but still very much a Mario LEGO set, a Super Mario 64 set was also released that was sold for $169.99.

Mighty Bowser is LEGO's latest foray into the gaming world, having previously released sets based on Sonic the Hedgehog (with the Green Hill Zone) and Horizon: Forbidden West (with the Tallneck). Preorders are not live yet, but you can follow @IGNDeals on Twitter for updates.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

E3 organizer, the ESA, has announced that it will partner with ReedPop to produce E3 2023. ReedPop is best known for running the PAX, Star Wars Celebration and New York Comic-Con events.

The show will return in the second week of June, 2023 – and will take place in its now-traditional home at the Los Angeles Convention Center. We had already heard that E3 will return next year as an online and physical event, but involving ReedPop marks a new approach for the show.

No specific changes to the usual make-up of the the event have been revealed, but ReedPop Global VP of Gaming, Kyle Marsden-Kish promised in a press release that E3 2023 would be "recognizably epic—a return to form that honors what’s always worked—while reshaping what didn’t".

“It is a tremendous honor and privilege for ReedPop to take on the responsibility of bringing E3 back in 2023," said ReedPop president Lance Fensterman. “With the support and endorsement of the ESA, we're going to build a world class event to serve the global gaming industry in new and broader ways than we already do at ReedPop through our portfolio of world leading events and web sites.”

In recent years, the ESA has been criticized for some of its organization of E3, from leaking personal details of attendees to the wholesale cancellation of this year's event. In recent years, ReedPop has organized multiple hybrid events, and will no doubt be looking to bring that expertise to gaming's traditional biggest stage.

“We are thrilled to bring back E3 as an in-person event with ReedPop, a global leader in producing pop culture events.” said ESA president Stanley Pierre-Louis. “The past three years have confirmed that E3 convenes our industry like no other event. ReedPop brings world-class talent and a keen understanding of the video game industry, which will serve to enhance the E3 experience for years to come.”

The ESA says confirmed exhibitors will be announced in the months to come. In recent years, many companies have begun to hold their own digital showcases – PlayStation has not been a part of E3 for several years, while Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest has sought to offer a multi-platform summer showcase. It will be fascinating to see how these newer shows interact with E3 2023, if they do at all.

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.

Grand Theft Auto 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, and the Mafia trilogy publisher Take-Two Interactive has ordered a popular virtual reality modder to take down his adaptations of the games.

As reported by PC Gamer, Luke Ross said on his Patreon that Take-Two is ordering that he removes "all their copyrighted works" from his Patreon page.

While his GTA 5 mod is available to download separately, the Red Dead Redemption 2 and Mafia ones are still works in progress and are therefore only available on his Patreon, where Ross reportedly earns more than $20,000 a month.

That being said, Ross noted that the takedown was "filed as a copyright issue and not a licensing issue, so the motivation for the request does not appear to be related to the fact that there is money involved."

It did come as a surprise however, Ross said, as "none of my modifications are built using software belonging to Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc, and the modifications are not intended to replace their games, nor are they a means of exploiting Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc's proprietary IP or assets."

Ross is hoping to gain further clarification on what exactly he did wrong, but warned fans that if he can't, he will need to take down all of his Take-Two related content.

"I refuse to believe that is what Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. wants, because that would be an extremely anti-customer and anti-gamer move on their part," he said. "But I am not getting in a legal battle with them. If what they want is to assert their corporate dominance with gamers' interests as collateral damage, I have no power to stop them."

Ross is a well-known modder and has added VR support for plenty of other games including Elden Ring and Cybperunk 2077. As you'd expect, his mods let players use virtual reality headsets on PC to play the games from a first person perspective.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Ever since Final Fantasy 7 Remake concluded with its shocking reveal, fans have been speculating on the possibility of a Crisis Core remaster. The moment was certainly ripe for an updated release of the prequel starring Zack Fair, the warrior with a suspicious resemblance to Cloud Strife. Aside from its connections to Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s story, Crisis Core has been difficult to find in recent years, forcing fans to resort to emulators and other measures.

That made Square Enix’s announcement of a Crisis Core remaster, which coincided with last month’s reveal of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, all the more welcome. It’s not any mere port, either. Square Enix is overhauling the graphics, the interface, and somewhat controversially, the voice cast.

“Various improvements have been made to nearly all other scenes and battles, to a point where it could be said that the work we are doing is akin to creating a ‘remake,’” producer Mariko Sato says. “However, as the core elements such as the story are grounded in the original work, we call it a ‘remaster.’”

A Faithful Retelling

Speaking with IGN in a brand-new interview, Sato discussed Square Enix’s intentions for the remaster, outlining the differences between the various platforms and whether or not it will ultimately connect with Rebirth. Veteran producer Yoshinori Kitase was also on hand to shed some light on how the project managed to be greenlit in the first place.

According to Kitase, Crisis Core was not conceived in response to Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s infamous reveal. Rather, Kitase says Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s successful development led Square Enix to realize that other stories from the universe could be updated as well.

“[T]here isn't really an exact date that I can point to at the moment, but I do recall that it was towards the end of the Final Fantasy VII Remake development that we realized that with the quality we were able to bring to Final Fantasy VII Remake, we might be able to create something for the stories that are actually surrounding Final Fantasy VII. And it is an actual possibility that we can develop Crisis Core. So that's the timing at which we decided that yes, this remake can actually happen,” Kitase says.

Crisis Core’s history stretches back to the days of the PSP, when fans were pining for a Final Fantasy 7 remake on PS3. Sony’s humble handheld couldn’t come close to matching its HD sibling, but Crisis Core still felt like a technical achievement at the time, reimagining the original game’s locations in far greater detail than the original PlayStation could imagine.

“Issues aside, Crisis Core is a great PSP game -- no question. It honors Final Fantasy VII's legacy,” our review said at the time.

It has remained popular with fans in the years since, who laud its excellent finale as being among the best moments in the series. Crisis Core also made Zack, who mainly existed on the periphery of the original game, one of the most popular characters in the series. Until now, though, Crisis Core has been largely locked to the PSP.

When Reunion was finally announced last month, fan reaction was largely positive, with plenty noting what seemed like significantly enhanced visuals. But there were also questions. Just how deep would this remaster (or remake) go? And what about the voice cast led by Rick Gomez, who did so much to bring Zack to life in the first place?

On the first point, it’s apparent that Crisis Core will be a substantial update indeed. In addition to overhauled graphics, Crisis Core will be fully voiced while also featuring a newly-arranged soundtrack. The gameplay is also getting an update, with Zack’s attack combos now being linkable and Limit Breaks being accessible at any time, not just when they pop up in the in-game slot machine, known as the Digital Mind Wave system or DMW. The DMW for its part will remain largely the same, meaning that elements such as leveling will remain random as ever.

In the meantime, all of the original’s assets are being replaced, with the updated versions utilizing Unreal Engine 4, the intention being to be “visually aligned and up to the standards of Final Fantasy 7 Remake,” according to Sato. To that end, the PC version will target an impressive 120fps while the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions will be 60fps (Sato didn’t elaborate on the Switch version but did say that there would be “differences” in the resolution and FPS).

“Our main purpose with this title is that we wanted a really wide range of players to be able to play on whatever platform that they desired,” Kitase says. “So we're looking forward to seeing which platform that players go for because the gaming experience will be solid and the same great experience on all platforms.”

Square Enix’s attempt to align with Final Fantasy 7 Remake is impacting not just the visual but the voice acting as well, to the consternation of some of the more dedicated fans of the series. In the wake of the announcement, many of the most upvoted comments lamented the loss of Gomez and other members of the original team.

Kitase describes the decision in terms of renewal.

“[S]ince Final Fantasy VII was a title that have been beloved for 20 years, we wanted to ensure that with this renewed project, the Final Fantasy VII Remake project, that it would be loved for another 20 years to come. And so that's when we invited a whole new cast of voice actors into the title,” Kitase explains.

Gomez was replaced by Caleb Pierce back in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, so the change is expected. Nevertheless, at least some fans miss Gomez, with one going so far as to edit the original voice actor into Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Take heart though: Crisis Core Reunion will also feature the return of Briana White, who so wonderfully brought Aerith to life in Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

In other areas, meanwhile, Crisis Core Reunion will remain faithful to the original game. According to Sato and Kitase, fans shouldn’t expect new story content in the update, which explains why Square Enix is referring to it as a remaster despite the substantial improvements being made across the board

“With the FF VII Remake, it was a new starting point for a Final Fantasy VII, and so we decided to expand the story. But with the Crisis Core Reunion, it is a remaster and it's still positioned as a story that expands on the original Final Fantasy VII story. And so we didn't want to stray too far from that,” Kitase says.

Sato adds that there are “no plans” to include any new elements in the story, meaning new side quests and other storylines are most likely out the window. But that doesn’t necessarily preclude, say, a post-credits teaser that sets the stage for Rebirth.

The Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 Reborn

When Crisis Core Reunion is released later this year, it will in some ways be the culmination of the Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 project that began way back in the early 2000s. Like the PSP game before it, it will be intimately connected to the main game, providing crucial context while telling an entertaining story of its own.

Square Enix’s recent history with remakes and remasters has been checkered, to put it kindly, with classics like Secret of Mana marred by poor graphics and strange design choices. Kitase and Sato don’t acknowledge any particular lessons learned from earlier projects, but do say that Square Enix has been “listening to feedback” from fans. That much is evident in the work being put into Crisis Core Reunion, which is shaping up to be a major improvement on the slapdash ports of the past.

More importantly, it reflects a degree of faith in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake project. Whatever happens, it seems as if Square Enix wants to make sure this is done right.

“I've been watching a lot of reaction videos of people just reacting to the announcements and it really gives me the sense that a lot of people are out there waiting for these games and seeing their reaction is in a sense, very satisfying,” Kitase says. “Yes, we are able to provide these things to the fans, so it's been great.”

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion does not yet have a release date, but Square Enix is aiming for Winter 2022.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi didn’t want to please Thor fans with his second film about the Asgardian god. In fact, he wanted to make a film they wouldn’t want.

During an interview with Associated Press, the 46-year-old filmmaker explained that he wanted to make the Thor sequel into a love story.

“I wanted to show him in a light that most Thor fans wouldn’t really want if you were to tell them,” said Waititi. “If you were to say them: ‘Yeah, I’m going to make Thor in love,’ it’s probably the last thing that a Thor fan really wants to hear.”

Thor: Love and Thunder sees the return of Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman – Thor’s love interest from the first movie, who has been absent since her appearance in Thor: The Dark World back in 2013.

Now she’s back, and Mjolnir has turned her into the Mighty Thor, imbuing her with its powers. Where does that leave Thor? Well, he’s not exactly his usual, mighty self…

“For me, it’s good to give the fans something they don’t know that they want,” said Waititi. “With Ragnarok especially, when I signed on, a lot of fans were freaked out by that. They were like, ‘Who is this guy? He’s going to take our precious Thor and ruin it.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah. Exactly. That’s exactly my intention. And I’m going to make it better, you just don’t know it yet.’”

IGN’s own review said that Thor: Love and Thunder is “the MCU’s first romantic comedy, and it plays with those tropes in delightful ways.”

With the addition of new gods and a wider cosmic pantheon than we’ve seen before, it looks as though Thor: Love and Thunder will broaden the MCU like never before. But will Thor become the Thor fans want to see by the end of the movie? You’ll have to watch to find out.

Thor: Love and Thunder stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, and Russel Crowe. Taika Waititi directed the film based on a script he co-wrote with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.