Pharmacists told ProPublica that they are seeing unusual and fraudulent prescribing activity.
LIVEBLOG: Read The Latest Updates On The Outbreak
Stay up to date as we cover the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its effects across the world.
Cross-Play: Games You Can Play With Friends Across PS4, Xbox One, Switch, And PC
For many, the deciding factor when buying a game is whether they can play it with their friends. There’s certainly a lot of fun to be had when diving into a thriving online community, where you can jump into matches against opponents or go on fun quests with allies, and more games have begun to place a larger focus on making online play engaging and fun to invest time in. However, a common hindrance to enjoying these online-centric games can be boiled down to whether or not you’re playing on the right platform. Whether it’s low player populations, or if your friends are all on a different system, these things can put a divide between periods of frustration and having a good time.
In recent years, cross-play has become more common with online games, allowing people to play with or against others on different platforms. The inclusion of cross-platform play has not only given fading games a second chance, but it’s also unified online communities, removing the barriers placed by platform ecosystems. Microsoft has been leading the way with cross-play for Windows 10 and Xbox One, while Sony has steadily loosened up its attitudes on cross-play due to the success of games like Fortnite and PUBG.
So with that, we’ve compiled a list of the most interesting and exciting games that offer cross-play between platforms. Games with crossplay can be a great way to keep up with friends on different platforms and stay social during our present times, even while you’re engaging in fast-paced fights or having some ridiculous fun in an open world. In addition to cross-play trailblazers games like Rocket League and Hearthstone, we’ve also included more recent picks such as Borderlands 3, which brought together player bases from Steam and the Epic Games Store. For more on new games that will have cross-play, along with next-gen updates for PS5 and Xbox Series X, be sure to check back with GameSpot.
YouTube Will Default Videos to Standard Quality Worldwide
YouTube will default videos to standard definition starting today, Google confirmed to IGN in a statement. The effort is meant to help governments and networks minimize stress on their systems as more and more people are social distancing at home.
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Last week, Google announced that it would be temporarily defaulting all videos on YouTube to standard definition in the EU. Today, that decision has been expanded worldwide.
“We continue to work closely with governments and network operators around the globe to do our part to minimize stress on the system during this unprecedented situation,” a Google spokesperson told IGN.
“Last week, we announced that we were temporarily defaulting all videos on YouTube to standard definition in the EU. Given the global nature of this crisis, we will expand that change globally starting today.”
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According to YouTube, the SD default change will last approximately 30 days and users can still manually adjust the video quality.
YouTube isn’t the only company trying to decrease the strain on internet networks. PlayStation announced that it will slow game downloads in Europe to decrease bandwidth strain according to a new company blog post.
Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook also made similar promises to comply with governments requesting reduced bitrates for videos as more countries put citizens in quarantine from the coronavirus.
For recommendations on how to stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic, read our resource guide.
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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.
The Samurai Jack Series Is Completely Free To Stream Right Now
Not many animated series have captured the hearts of their fans like Samurai Jack has, and now, Adult Swim has made it available to stream completely free on its website and app. That includes the fifth season, which marked the return of the popular show in 2017. Unfortunately, the series is only available to stream in the US.
Samurai Jack follows a prince who’s gifted a sword from the gods that can be used to defeat the shape-shifting Master of Darkness, Aku. In a battle with the demon, the prince is sent into the future, a time when Aku rules the Earth. People call the prince Jack, which he takes on as his name while working toward getting back to his own time to defeat the evil Aku.
The Cartoon Network series kicked off all the way back in 2001 and was finally concluded after a 13-year break on Adult Swim. Samurai Jack stars Phil LaMarr as the titular character. LaMarr is known for his extensive voice work on shows like Futurama and Justice League as well as video games such as the Mortal Kombat and Metal Gear Solid series.
Netflix’s Kingdom Season 2 Review – A Zombie Show That’s Actually Worth Watching
It feels like zombies have become scarier over time, especially since, through the decades, the idea of the undead rising to attack the living has evolved from people literally rising from the grave, to a highly contagious virus infecting people and turning them into mindless monsters. When it comes to TV, there’s no better show that combines the gore and thrills of a zombie movie with the political plotting and intrigue of Game of Thrones than Netflix’s Kingdom, which just returned with a second season.
Picking up right where we left off last season, Kingdom Season 2 throws us into the middle of an epic battle as the Crown Prince of the Joseon Kingdom, Lee Chang (Ji-Hoon Ju), his chief guard Muyeong (Sang-ho Kim), physician Seo-bi (Doona Bae), Chang’s former mentor Lord Ahn Hyeon (Jun-ho Heo), and vengeful tiger hunter Yeong-shin (Kim Sung-kyu) find themselves facing down a zombie horde right outside the Sangju Citadel. And while the disease threatens to ravage the land, those with political power only try to keep themselves safe while shutting out those who actually need help, leaving them to suffer. (Of course, any parallels to reality are merely coincidental.)
In many ways, Kingdom resembles HBO’s Game of Thrones, both thematically and structurally. Kingdom spent its 6-episode first season cutting back and forth between the Crown Prince fighting to take back his throne and unravel the horrible things the Haewon Cho clan have done, and Seo-bi slowly discovering the truth behind the zombie outbreak. A big part of the series that carries over to Season 2 is the idea that corruption and official incompetence can lead to catastrophe. In the first season we saw how officials and ministers allowed the disease to spread because they focused on saving themselves rather than helping everyone, and Season 2 pulls back the curtain to show how there are always those who profit off tragedy.
How Better Call Saul Subverts Breaking Bad’s Most Important Trope
The second golden age of TV is considered to have begun in the late ’90s with prestige dramas like The Sopranos, and continued with shows like The Shield, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and even Boardwalk Empire. These shows have certain things in common, including a morally ambiguous main character that the audience finds sympathetic despite their many acts of cruelty and evil. These antiheroes often hold relatively respectable positions–a teacher, a cop, a politician–but hide darker tendencies that come to the surface over the course of the show.
Now that these shows aren’t dominating the TV landscape, we’re seeing shows that challenge the idea of the TV antihero. And few do that as well as Better Call Saul, AMC’s Breaking Bad prequel series, which, currently in the middle of airing its fifth and final season, has now officially run as long as Breaking Bad did in the first place.
When we first met Saul Goodman in Season 2 of Breaking Bad, Jesse Pinkman described him as “a criminal lawyer.” Throughout that show we saw Goodman act as a complete scumbag, a man willing to sell out his grandma if it meant getting a few seconds’ head start. That said, he was also a comic relief character who served as a funny counterpart to Walter White’s increasingly grim transformation into Heisenberg.
The Walking Dead Season 10 Finale Delayed
While Season 10 of the AMC series The Walking Dead is winding down, the finale will not be able to air as the COVID-19 (coronavius) pandemic has affected post-production on the show.
With Episode 16 of the current season originally set to air on April 12, AMC has revealed that they don’t be able to hit that deadline, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Current events have unfortunately made it impossible to complete post-production of The Walking Dead Season 10 finale, so the current season will end with its 15th episode on April 5. The planned finale will appear as a special episode later in the year,” AMC said in a statement.
At the time of this writing, there is no indication of when it will return. Season 11 of the series was to begin filming in May, but that too has been postponed.
Half-Life: Alyx – Things I Wish I Knew Before Playing
Here’s how to dodge Headcrabs, kill Combine with Gravity Gloves, solve puzzles, and survive in Half-Life: Alyx.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Update Delayed, New Map And Operator Coming Soon
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare‘s latest update has been pushed back. The substantial patch was scheduled to go live today and introduces a new Operator, map, and more, but it will now release “in the coming days.”
Tonight’s scheduled title update is being delayed and is set to release in the coming days. This update includes our new Operator, Talon, new free modes, and our next free multiplayer map, Khandor Hideout. Please stay tuned for more details and updates on release timing!
— Infinity Ward (@InfinityWard) March 24, 2020
When it finally launches, the Modern Warfare patch comes with Talon, a brand-new Operator that’s playable in both the game’s traditional multiplayer and standalone battle royale experience Warzone. He brings with him a dog companion named Indiana, an item in Talon’s toolkit that gives him access to spicy finishing moves.