Final Fantasy 16’s Development Delayed by ‘Almost a Half Year,’ Big Reveal Will Take Place in Spring 2022
Square Enix has confirmed that, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Final Fantasy 16's development has been delayed by "almost a half year" and the next big reveal will not take place until Spring 2022.
Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida shared the news on Twitter and took the time to apologize that he and the team would not be able to keep their promise to show more of the much-anticipated next entry in the Final Fantasy series in 2021.
A message from Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida. #FF16 #FFXVI pic.twitter.com/qtfJUUp6LA
— FINAL FANTASY XVI (@finalfantasyxvi) December 27, 2021
Developing...
The Batman: HBO Max Streaming Date Reconfirmed by WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar
WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar has reconfirmed that The Batman will arrive on HBO Max for all subscribers on April 19, 2022 - 46 days after it arrives exclusively in theaters.
As reported by ComicBook.com, Kilar was speaking on Vox's Recode podcast and discussed how, even though it may be disappointing for those who don't wish to go to the theater to see The Batman beginning on March 4, 2022, this window is much better than it was in the past.
"Think about when movies would show up on HBO, which is eight to nine months after theatrical premiere. The Batman is going to show up on day 46 on HBO Max," Kilar said. "That is a huge change from where things were in 2018, 2017, 2016."
Kilar previously shared the news that WarnerMedia's biggest tentpole films would be headed exclusively to theaters for at least 45 days before moving to a service "like HBO Max," and the company would no longer be debuting them day-and-date as it did for its 2021 films, including The Matrix Resurrections, The Suicide Squad, Godzilla vs. Kong, and Space Jam: A New Legacy.
This strategy will also extend to Warner Media's other 2022 films like Black Adam, The Flash, and Elvis.
"I feel really, really good knowing that The Batman, and Black Adam, and The Flash, and Elvis, and a whole host of other movies, are literally going to be showing up on day 46 on HBO Max in a variety of territories all over the world," Kilar said. "That is a very, very big change that I don't think people appreciate, and I feel really good about it."
For more, check out our preview of all the big DC movies and TV shows in 2022, The Batman's secret website that pits fans against the Riddler, and how Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne is inspired by the late Kurt Cobain.
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.
The Batman: HBO Max Streaming Date Reconfirmed by WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar
WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar has reconfirmed that The Batman will arrive on HBO Max for all subscribers on April 19, 2022 - 46 days after it arrives exclusively in theaters.
As reported by ComicBook.com, Kilar was speaking on Vox's Recode podcast and discussed how, even though it may be disappointing for those who don't wish to go to the theater to see The Batman beginning on March 4, 2022, this window is much better than it was in the past.
"Think about when movies would show up on HBO, which is eight to nine months after theatrical premiere. The Batman is going to show up on day 46 on HBO Max," Kilar said. "That is a huge change from where things were in 2018, 2017, 2016."
Kilar previously shared the news that WarnerMedia's biggest tentpole films would be headed exclusively to theaters for at least 45 days before moving to a service "like HBO Max," and the company would no longer be debuting them day-and-date as it did for its 2021 films, including The Matrix Resurrections, The Suicide Squad, Godzilla vs. Kong, and Space Jam: A New Legacy.
This strategy will also extend to Warner Media's other 2022 films like Black Adam, The Flash, and Elvis.
"I feel really, really good knowing that The Batman, and Black Adam, and The Flash, and Elvis, and a whole host of other movies, are literally going to be showing up on day 46 on HBO Max in a variety of territories all over the world," Kilar said. "That is a very, very big change that I don't think people appreciate, and I feel really good about it."
For more, check out our preview of all the big DC movies and TV shows in 2022, The Batman's secret website that pits fans against the Riddler, and how Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne is inspired by the late Kurt Cobain.
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.
Scientists Baffled By a Galaxy’s ‘Missing’ Dark Matter
A team of astronomers have studied a distant galaxy and found evidence that it contains little, if any, dark matter, according to a paper published this month in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The confusion is that scientists didn't previously think that would be possible.
The galaxy, AGC 114905, is about 250 million light-years away and around the size of the Milky Way. It’s also much more diffuse than the Milky Way, containing about a thousand times fewer stars. According to theoretical models, gas-rich ultra-diffuse galaxies like AGC 114905 should be held together by dark matter, an unseen type of matter that’s thought to make up most of the universe.
Pavel Mancera Piña and his co-authors previously observed AGC 114905 and five other ultra-diffuse galaxies, finding little indication of dark matter among them. After those findings were published, Mancera Piña’s team then took measurements of AGC 114905, the most extreme of the six galaxies, for 40 hours with the Very Large Array, an observatory that allows for higher resolution data. They found that the movement of the galaxy’s gasses can be explained by regular matter, without the need for dark matter.
"This is, of course, what we thought and hoped for because it confirms our previous measurements," said Mancera Piña in a statement. "But now the problem remains that the theory predicts that there must be dark matter in AGC 114905, but our observations say there isn't. In fact, the difference between theory and observation is only getting bigger."
There’s been some debate in recent years about the existence of other ultra-diffuse galaxies that seem to have little or no dark matter. Other researchers have also studied galaxies that are apparently dark matter deficient, but AGC 114905 is much more isolated, and Mancera Piña’s team say their techniques and measurements are more robust. The team says errors that would disrupt their findings, like miscalculating the angle of the galaxy, are unlikely.
Astronomers aren’t sure yet how dark matter-free galaxies could form, but further study of galaxies like AGC 114905 might help them understand more about the nature of dark matter.
Kait Sanchez is a freelance writer for IGN. Find them on Twitter @crisp_red.
Scientists Baffled By a Galaxy’s ‘Missing’ Dark Matter
A team of astronomers have studied a distant galaxy and found evidence that it contains little, if any, dark matter, according to a paper published this month in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The confusion is that scientists didn't previously think that would be possible.
The galaxy, AGC 114905, is about 250 million light-years away and around the size of the Milky Way. It’s also much more diffuse than the Milky Way, containing about a thousand times fewer stars. According to theoretical models, gas-rich ultra-diffuse galaxies like AGC 114905 should be held together by dark matter, an unseen type of matter that’s thought to make up most of the universe.
Pavel Mancera Piña and his co-authors previously observed AGC 114905 and five other ultra-diffuse galaxies, finding little indication of dark matter among them. After those findings were published, Mancera Piña’s team then took measurements of AGC 114905, the most extreme of the six galaxies, for 40 hours with the Very Large Array, an observatory that allows for higher resolution data. They found that the movement of the galaxy’s gasses can be explained by regular matter, without the need for dark matter.
"This is, of course, what we thought and hoped for because it confirms our previous measurements," said Mancera Piña in a statement. "But now the problem remains that the theory predicts that there must be dark matter in AGC 114905, but our observations say there isn't. In fact, the difference between theory and observation is only getting bigger."
There’s been some debate in recent years about the existence of other ultra-diffuse galaxies that seem to have little or no dark matter. Other researchers have also studied galaxies that are apparently dark matter deficient, but AGC 114905 is much more isolated, and Mancera Piña’s team say their techniques and measurements are more robust. The team says errors that would disrupt their findings, like miscalculating the angle of the galaxy, are unlikely.
Astronomers aren’t sure yet how dark matter-free galaxies could form, but further study of galaxies like AGC 114905 might help them understand more about the nature of dark matter.
Kait Sanchez is a freelance writer for IGN. Find them on Twitter @crisp_red.
Spider-Man: No Way Home Has Officially Earned $1 Billion at the Global Box Office
Spider-Man: No Way Home has officially earned over $1 billion at the global box office and has become the top-grossing film of 2021.
Tom Holland's latest adventure as Spidey reached the impressive milestone over the Christmas weekend by earning another $81.5 million domestically and $121.4 million internationally.
These numbers - which brought the domestic total of the film to $467.3 million and the international total to $587.1 million - were enough to help it secure the third-highest Christmas Day gross, 10-day gross, and Super Hero film gross of all time.
Furthermore, No Way Home has earned enough to become the second-highest grossing film of any year's December.
Alongside seeing a drop of only 57% from its opening weekend gross of $253 million, No Way Home is also tracking of ahead of Spider-Man: Far From Home by 51% and Spider-Man: Homecoming by 99% for "the same group of markets at current exchange rates."
Spider-Man: No Way Home is just the 49th film to cross $1 billion at the global box office and currently ranks at #38 just above 2019's Aladdin and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
According to Box Office Mojo, Sing 2 placed a distant second at the domestic weekend box office, bringing in $23.7 million and outperforming The Matrix Resurrections' $12 million. The fourth mainline Matrix film had the weakest domestic weekend box office opening of the franchise and fell behind The Matrix's $27.7 million, The Matrix Reloaded's $91.7 million, and The Matrix Revolutions' $48.4 million.
It's important to remember that The Matrix Resurrections is also available on HBO Max at no extra cost, while Spider-Man: No Way Home and Sing 2 are currently only playing in theaters.
Rounding out the top five this holiday weekend are The King's Man at $6.3 million and American Underdog at $6.2 million.
For more, check out our review of Spider-Man: No Way Home, our explainer of its ending and post-credits scenes, our 10 biggest WTF questions after leaving the theater, and what No Way Home means for the future of Venom.
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.
Spider-Man: No Way Home Has Officially Earned $1 Billion at the Global Box Office
Spider-Man: No Way Home has officially earned over $1 billion at the global box office and has become the top-grossing film of 2021.
Tom Holland's latest adventure as Spidey reached the impressive milestone over the Christmas weekend by earning another $81.5 million domestically and $121.4 million internationally.
These numbers - which brought the domestic total of the film to $467.3 million and the international total to $587.1 million - were enough to help it secure the third-highest Christmas Day gross, 10-day gross, and Super Hero film gross of all time.
Furthermore, No Way Home has earned enough to become the second-highest grossing film of any year's December.
Alongside seeing a drop of only 57% from its opening weekend gross of $253 million, No Way Home is also tracking of ahead of Spider-Man: Far From Home by 51% and Spider-Man: Homecoming by 99% for "the same group of markets at current exchange rates."
Spider-Man: No Way Home is just the 49th film to cross $1 billion at the global box office and currently ranks at #38 just above 2019's Aladdin and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
According to Box Office Mojo, Sing 2 placed a distant second at the domestic weekend box office, bringing in $23.7 million and outperforming The Matrix Resurrections' $12 million. The fourth mainline Matrix film had the weakest domestic weekend box office opening of the franchise and fell behind The Matrix's $27.7 million, The Matrix Reloaded's $91.7 million, and The Matrix Revolutions' $48.4 million.
It's important to remember that The Matrix Resurrections is also available on HBO Max at no extra cost, while Spider-Man: No Way Home and Sing 2 are currently only playing in theaters.
Rounding out the top five this holiday weekend are The King's Man at $6.3 million and American Underdog at $6.2 million.
For more, check out our review of Spider-Man: No Way Home, our explainer of its ending and post-credits scenes, our 10 biggest WTF questions after leaving the theater, and what No Way Home means for the future of Venom.
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.
There’s a Weird Cube on the Moon
China’s Yutu-2 rover recently sent home a photo of a mysterious cubic object on the lunar horizon, according to logs published by Our Space.
Dubbed the “Moon Cube” by delighted onlookers across the internet, the object sparked speculation about alien houses and a lunar McDonald’s. In reality, it’s almost definitely a boulder (or perhaps multiple boulders). Nevertheless, it intrigued the rover’s drivers enough that they’re steering the rover toward it to investigate.
Unfortunately for Moon Cube enthusiasts, it will take a while for Yutu-2 to reach the object. While it has a top speed of 200 meters per hour, it’s only traveled about 900 meters since it landed in January 2019. The rover takes pretty frequent naps, going dormant during the long, cold lunar nights and during lunar noons when temperatures rise. It also often stops to collect data with its various instruments, including a near-infrared imaging spectrometer and ground-penetrating radar.
A lot of meticulous planning goes into moving Yutu-2 only a few meters. Drivers on Earth study various images of the lunar surface, make 3D models, and carefully plot the path of the rover to avoid perilous craters and slopes. It will take about 2 to 3 lunar days, roughly 2 to 3 Earth months, to reach the cube.
Yutu-2 is the first rover to explore the far side of the moon. China also has a rover on Mars that landed in May 2021, joining NASA’s Perseverance rover. Perseverance landed in February 2021, bringing with it the Ingenuity copter that completed the first powered, controlled flight on Mars.
Kait Sanchez is a freelance writer for IGN. Find them on Twitter @crisp_red.
There’s a Weird Cube on the Moon
China’s Yutu-2 rover recently sent home a photo of a mysterious cubic object on the lunar horizon, according to logs published by Our Space.
Dubbed the “Moon Cube” by delighted onlookers across the internet, the object sparked speculation about alien houses and a lunar McDonald’s. In reality, it’s almost definitely a boulder (or perhaps multiple boulders). Nevertheless, it intrigued the rover’s drivers enough that they’re steering the rover toward it to investigate.
Unfortunately for Moon Cube enthusiasts, it will take a while for Yutu-2 to reach the object. While it has a top speed of 200 meters per hour, it’s only traveled about 900 meters since it landed in January 2019. The rover takes pretty frequent naps, going dormant during the long, cold lunar nights and during lunar noons when temperatures rise. It also often stops to collect data with its various instruments, including a near-infrared imaging spectrometer and ground-penetrating radar.
A lot of meticulous planning goes into moving Yutu-2 only a few meters. Drivers on Earth study various images of the lunar surface, make 3D models, and carefully plot the path of the rover to avoid perilous craters and slopes. It will take about 2 to 3 lunar days, roughly 2 to 3 Earth months, to reach the cube.
Yutu-2 is the first rover to explore the far side of the moon. China also has a rover on Mars that landed in May 2021, joining NASA’s Perseverance rover. Perseverance landed in February 2021, bringing with it the Ingenuity copter that completed the first powered, controlled flight on Mars.
Kait Sanchez is a freelance writer for IGN. Find them on Twitter @crisp_red.
Nintendo Switch eShop Is Down for Some Players on Christmas Day 2021
While it may be the most wonderful time of the year for some, the servers at Nintendo are having some troubles as Christmas Day has, once again, brought with it a wave of new and old Switch consoles trying to purchase new games and play online.
Some of those who have unwrapped a brand-new Switch for the Holidays are being greeted by an error message from Nintendo when trying to purchase a game, browse the eShop, or even redeem a gift card.
"We are currently experiencing difficulties with our network services," Nintendo's Network Maintenance Information / Operational Status page says. "Please try again later. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."
This outage appears to not only be impacting those using a Nintendo Switch, but also those still playing Wii U or 3DS.
Earlier this week, Nintendo warned that it was expecting its servers to be overloaded over the Christmas weekend, and encouraged those who were purchasing a Switch for a loved one to set it up in advance - which is always good advice for any new console.
However, Nintendo's warning only mentioned Nintendo Account creation and didn't mention purchasing games or otherwise. This issue is not a new one, as a similar outage affected many around the world during last year's Christmas weekend.
Hopefully these issues are resolved shortly and all the new Switch owners can soon enjoy their new system to its fullest potential. We will keep this article updated with the latest news and let our readers know when services are fully restored.
While you wait, be sure to check out our list of the Top 10 Nintendo Switch Exclusives, the best overall Nintendo Switch games, and our Nintendo Holiday Gift Guide for some last-minute ideas.
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.
