Avatar: The Way of Water director James Cameron has shared that one of the biggest differences between the first Avatar and the sequel is that Zoe and Sam are parents and are changed by having kids. According to Cameron, their love is in (Tony) stark contrast with the MCU and DCEU as those heroes "act like they're in college" when it comes to relationships.

Cameron was speaking to The New York Times and was asked about this difference, and he elaborated that becoming a parent means you view the world in an entirely new way and must think much harder about your actions as you are now living for more than yourself.

"Zoe and Sam now play parents, 15 years later," Cameron said. "In the first movie, Sam’s character leaps off his flying creature and essentially changes the course of history as a result of this crazy, almost suicidal leap of faith. And Zoe’s character leaps off a limb and assumes there’s going to be some nice big leaves down there that can cushion her fall. But when you’re a parent, you don’t think that way. So for me, as a parent of five kids, I’m saying, 'What happens when those characters mature and realize that they have a responsibility outside their own survival?'"

As Cameron mentions, this story, in a sense, mirrors his own life as he took a lot of risks when he was younger that he "wouldn't take now" because he wants to be there for his kids for a very long time. However, this isn't the only reason, as he also wants to explore relationships in a way that isn't being done by other big budget films.

"When I look at these big, spectacular films — I’m looking at you, Marvel and DC — it doesn’t matter how old the characters are, they all act like they’re in college," Cameron said. "They have relationships, but they really don’t. They never hang up their spurs because of their kids. The things that really ground us and give us power, love, and a purpose? Those characters don’t experience it, and I think that’s not the way to make movies."

Cameron also believes that this focus on parenthood and children will resonate with not only the actors, but the younger audience that he hopes will come see his sequel.

"I knew as I was writing it that Sam and Zoe were new parents and that this stuff would resonate for them, but if you’re speaking to a young audience, let them feel validated that kids on another planet, 200 years from now, are going through the same crap they’re going through right now," Cameron said.

Avatar: The Way of Water will be released in theaters on December 16, 2022. For more, check out Cameron's thoughts on why 3D TVs for homes failed and why he said that Avatar haters shut up when they rewatch the first film.

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.

Avatar: The Way of Water director James Cameron has shared that one of the biggest differences between the first Avatar and the sequel is that Zoe and Sam are parents and are changed by having kids. According to Cameron, their love is in (Tony) stark contrast with the MCU and DCEU as those heroes "act like they're in college" when it comes to relationships.

Cameron was speaking to The New York Times and was asked about this difference, and he elaborated that becoming a parent means you view the world in an entirely new way and must think much harder about your actions as you are now living for more than yourself.

"Zoe and Sam now play parents, 15 years later," Cameron said. "In the first movie, Sam’s character leaps off his flying creature and essentially changes the course of history as a result of this crazy, almost suicidal leap of faith. And Zoe’s character leaps off a limb and assumes there’s going to be some nice big leaves down there that can cushion her fall. But when you’re a parent, you don’t think that way. So for me, as a parent of five kids, I’m saying, 'What happens when those characters mature and realize that they have a responsibility outside their own survival?'"

As Cameron mentions, this story, in a sense, mirrors his own life as he took a lot of risks when he was younger that he "wouldn't take now" because he wants to be there for his kids for a very long time. However, this isn't the only reason, as he also wants to explore relationships in a way that isn't being done by other big budget films.

"When I look at these big, spectacular films — I’m looking at you, Marvel and DC — it doesn’t matter how old the characters are, they all act like they’re in college," Cameron said. "They have relationships, but they really don’t. They never hang up their spurs because of their kids. The things that really ground us and give us power, love, and a purpose? Those characters don’t experience it, and I think that’s not the way to make movies."

Cameron also believes that this focus on parenthood and children will resonate with not only the actors, but the younger audience that he hopes will come see his sequel.

"I knew as I was writing it that Sam and Zoe were new parents and that this stuff would resonate for them, but if you’re speaking to a young audience, let them feel validated that kids on another planet, 200 years from now, are going through the same crap they’re going through right now," Cameron said.

Avatar: The Way of Water will be released in theaters on December 16, 2022. For more, check out Cameron's thoughts on why 3D TVs for homes failed and why he said that Avatar haters shut up when they rewatch the first film.

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.

Microsoft plans to add features from Android 13 to Windows 11 as part of its future roadmap — part of a move to add more more elements from Android overall to the operating system.

The features were listed as part of an update intended for Windows 11 developers, in which Microsoft also promised improvements to file transfer, shortcuts, picture-in-picture, and local network access by default. It follows a recent update that included enhancements for File Explore among other improvements.

Android 13 is the latest operating system publicly available to Pixel phone users. According to PC Magazine, it's an iterative update that builds upon Android 12's foundation, featuring "much more elaborate Material You design, convenient multitasking tools, and cross-compatibility with Chromebook and Google tablets" among other features.

Released earlier this month, Android 13's compatibility is currently limited to Google's Pixel series phone. The operating system should be available through other handsets later this year.

Compatibility with Android apps was among the features touted for Windows 11 when it was first revealed last year, though they weren't available at launch. They are able to run thanks to an "Intel Bridge" compiler that helps them to run on x86 systems. The addition of Android 13 features should deepen this integration even further.

Windows 11 is the latest in Microsoft's line of operating systems, bringing with it features such as Auto HDR, a new design, snap layouts, a tablet mode, and more.

Ultimately, we were cool on Windows 11, writing in our review, "Windows 11 looks fantastic, but that's where the excitement stops. There aren't any immediately apparent gaming improvements, and it's not clear exactly when we'll see them. Combine the nearly identical performance, and the fact that some features like the refreshed Microsoft Store are making their way to Windows 10 soon, and there's very little incentive to rush out and upgrade right now."

Windows 11 is available now.

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.

Microsoft plans to add features from Android 13 to Windows 11 as part of its future roadmap — part of a move to add more more elements from Android overall to the operating system.

The features were listed as part of an update intended for Windows 11 developers, in which Microsoft also promised improvements to file transfer, shortcuts, picture-in-picture, and local network access by default. It follows a recent update that included enhancements for File Explore among other improvements.

Android 13 is the latest operating system publicly available to Pixel phone users. According to PC Magazine, it's an iterative update that builds upon Android 12's foundation, featuring "much more elaborate Material You design, convenient multitasking tools, and cross-compatibility with Chromebook and Google tablets" among other features.

Released earlier this month, Android 13's compatibility is currently limited to Google's Pixel series phone. The operating system should be available through other handsets later this year.

Compatibility with Android apps was among the features touted for Windows 11 when it was first revealed last year, though they weren't available at launch. They are able to run thanks to an "Intel Bridge" compiler that helps them to run on x86 systems. The addition of Android 13 features should deepen this integration even further.

Windows 11 is the latest in Microsoft's line of operating systems, bringing with it features such as Auto HDR, a new design, snap layouts, a tablet mode, and more.

Ultimately, we were cool on Windows 11, writing in our review, "Windows 11 looks fantastic, but that's where the excitement stops. There aren't any immediately apparent gaming improvements, and it's not clear exactly when we'll see them. Combine the nearly identical performance, and the fact that some features like the refreshed Microsoft Store are making their way to Windows 10 soon, and there's very little incentive to rush out and upgrade right now."

Windows 11 is available now.

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.

HBO's series about Arkham Asylum has a brand-new showrunner, adding to its carousel of creatives as the new show set in The Batman universe tries to find its footing.

Variety reports that Antonio Campos will serve as a showrunner and executive producer on the series, as well as its new writer. This is reportedly contingent on Campos' version of the show going forward.

Campos' credits include The Staircase, which also appeared on HBO Max, as well as a stint with Netflix's The Punisher.

Arkham Aylsum's writing room has been something of a revolving door since first being announced back in 2023. Initially conceived as a story centered around the Gotham PD, it was later reimagined as a story about Batman's famous asylum. Multiple writers have come and gone since then, with Terance Winter and Joe Barton among those who have exited the project.

"The GCDP thing, that story has story has kind of evolved. We’ve actually now [moved] more into the realm of exactly what would happen in the world of Arkham as it relates coming off of our movie, and some of the characters, again in their origins [...] It’s like a horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham," Matt Reeves said back in March.

Reeves is said to be interested in producing multiple shows focusing on Batman's rogues gallery as multiple creators contest the DC landscape. No doubt James Gunn and Peter Safran will have something to say about these shows as well as Arkham Asylum, as they are set to take over as co-CEOs of DC Studios, where they will oversee DC's film, TV, and animation projects.

Meanwhile, Colin Farrell's show featuring The Penguin is moving ahead, with Farrell recently describing how the show will open. Arkham Asylum does not yet have a release window.

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.

HBO's series about Arkham Asylum has a brand-new showrunner, adding to its carousel of creatives as the new show set in The Batman universe tries to find its footing.

Variety reports that Antonio Campos will serve as a showrunner and executive producer on the series, as well as its new writer. This is reportedly contingent on Campos' version of the show going forward.

Campos' credits include The Staircase, which also appeared on HBO Max, as well as a stint with Netflix's The Punisher.

Arkham Aylsum's writing room has been something of a revolving door since first being announced back in 2023. Initially conceived as a story centered around the Gotham PD, it was later reimagined as a story about Batman's famous asylum. Multiple writers have come and gone since then, with Terance Winter and Joe Barton among those who have exited the project.

"The GCDP thing, that story has story has kind of evolved. We’ve actually now [moved] more into the realm of exactly what would happen in the world of Arkham as it relates coming off of our movie, and some of the characters, again in their origins [...] It’s like a horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham," Matt Reeves said back in March.

Reeves is said to be interested in producing multiple shows focusing on Batman's rogues gallery as multiple creators contest the DC landscape. No doubt James Gunn and Peter Safran will have something to say about these shows as well as Arkham Asylum, as they are set to take over as co-CEOs of DC Studios, where they will oversee DC's film, TV, and animation projects.

Meanwhile, Colin Farrell's show featuring The Penguin is moving ahead, with Farrell recently describing how the show will open. Arkham Asylum does not yet have a release window.

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.

Sony's PS5 isn't the only console benefitting from improved supply chains this year. Xbox console sales are also on the way up, according to the company's first-quarter earnings report.

Microsoft doesn't usually give hard numbers, but the company reported that hardware sales were up 13% for the period between July and September compared to the same period last year. For some context, that same period last year (2021) saw an increase of a whopping 166% over the period before that (2020), which was when the Xbox One was on its last legs and the Xbox Series S and X hadn't been released yet.

To put it more simply, Microsoft sold a bunch of Xboxes in its first Q1 after its new hardware launch and now, a year later, it's selling even more than that.

For some further comparison, Microsoft reported that hardware sales last quarter were down 11% from the prior year — so the 13% rise is indicative of something different this quarter. It's not likely connected to a big software launch, since Xbox didn't really have any needle movers during that period, and its first and third party content sales were down. In fact, its overall content services revenue was down 3%, with declines in content and engagement hours offset by an increase in Game Pass subscriptions.

What's much more likely here is that supply chains are loosening up after a multi-year period of struggle with getting necessary microchips for graphics cards and other technological products. We've already seen how this has impacted Sony's PS5, and it's not surprising that Xbox's hardware would be selling better also.

In total, Xbox reported $3.61 billion in revenue for the gaming segment this past quarter, which is just ever-so-slightly up from last year, making this a record first quarter for the segment. Overall, Microsoft revenue totaled $50.1 billion, up 11% year-over-year.

Update 2:48pm PT: On today's earnings call, CEO Satya Nadella revealed that PC Game Pass subscriptions specifically are up 159% from the same time last year - the service for PC launched in the summer of 2019. He also stated that over 20 million people have used Xbox cloud gaming services to date.

Update 3:07pm PT: Microsoft announced its projections for next quarter for the gaming segment, expecting revenue to decline in the low to mid teens due to being put up against a bunch of first-party releases during the same period last year. This is expected to be offset by Xbox Game Pass subscriber growth. And content and services revenue is expected to decline in the low to mid-teens. The company did not offer any hardware guidance.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Sony's PS5 isn't the only console benefitting from improved supply chains this year. Xbox console sales are also on the way up, according to the company's first-quarter earnings report.

Microsoft doesn't usually give hard numbers, but the company reported that hardware sales were up 13% for the period between July and September compared to the same period last year. For some context, that same period last year (2021) saw an increase of a whopping 166% over the period before that (2020), which was when the Xbox One was on its last legs and the Xbox Series S and X hadn't been released yet.

To put it more simply, Microsoft sold a bunch of Xboxes in its first Q1 after its new hardware launch and now, a year later, it's selling even more than that.

For some further comparison, Microsoft reported that hardware sales last quarter were down 11% from the prior year — so the 13% rise is indicative of something different this quarter. It's not likely connected to a big software launch, since Xbox didn't really have any needle movers during that period, and its first and third party content sales were down. In fact, its overall content services revenue was down 3%, with declines in content and engagement hours offset by an increase in Game Pass subscriptions.

What's much more likely here is that supply chains are loosening up after a multi-year period of struggle with getting necessary microchips for graphics cards and other technological products. We've already seen how this has impacted Sony's PS5, and it's not surprising that Xbox's hardware would be selling better also.

In total, Xbox reported $3.61 billion in revenue for the gaming segment this past quarter, which is just ever-so-slightly up from last year, making this a record first quarter for the segment. Overall, Microsoft revenue totaled $50.1 billion, up 11% year-over-year.

Update 2:48pm PT: On today's earnings call, CEO Satya Nadella revealed that PC Game Pass subscriptions specifically are up 159% from the same time last year - the service for PC launched in the summer of 2019. He also stated that over 20 million people have used Xbox cloud gaming services to date.

Update 3:07pm PT: Microsoft announced its projections for next quarter for the gaming segment, expecting revenue to decline in the low to mid teens due to being put up against a bunch of first-party releases during the same period last year. This is expected to be offset by Xbox Game Pass subscriber growth. And content and services revenue is expected to decline in the low to mid-teens. The company did not offer any hardware guidance.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

An international team of scientists has set a new data record, by transferring 1.8 petabits in a single second — the equivalent to twice the world’s global internet traffic for that period — using a cutting-edge optical chip paired with a single infrared laser.

Our modern-day civilization runs on torrents of data that are encoded into pulses of light from the binary computer language of ones and zeroes, and — where possible — transmitted around the world through a global network of fiber-optic cables.

In a new study published in the journal Nature Photonics, a team of researchers from the Technical University of Denmark has broken the record for the largest amount of data transferred in a single second. The researchers made use of a custom optical computer chip that was capable of using a single infrared laser to create hundreds of light frequencies, each of which can be imprinted with data.

These light frequencies are separated by a fixed, identical distance, like the teeth of a comb. This is the reason that this type of device is known as a frequency comb.

The researchers sent the data encoded on the light down a 7.9 km-long optical fiber and measured the amount of data transferred. It was discovered that the chip with its single infrared laser was able to transmit data at an astonishing rate of 1.84 petabits per second.

For context, 1 petabit is the equivalent of 1 million gigabits. According to a press release from the Technical University of Denmark, the 1.8 petabit per second transfer rate achieved by the team is the equivalent of sending the entire internet traffic usually sent in that period globally, *twice*.

Using the state of the art commercial chip technology in use today, the researchers estimate that it would take 1,000 lasers working in concert to transfer the same amount of data in the one second time frame, rather than the single laser used by the team. Furthermore, the newly produced chip wasn’t even optimized for the purposes of the study.

“In fact, some of the characteristic parameters were achieved by coincidence and not by design,” comments professor Victor Torres Company from the Chalmers University of Technology, head of the research group that created the new chip. “However, with efforts in my team, we are now capable to reverse engineer the process and achieve with high reproducibility microcombs for target applications in telecommunications.”

The new chip could also make the infrastructure of the internet more energy efficient.

“In other words, our solution provides a potential for replacing hundreds of thousands of the lasers located at Internet hubs and data centers, all of which guzzle power and generate heat,” explains Professor Leif Katsuo Oxenløwe from the Technical University of Denmark. “We have an opportunity to contribute to achieving an Internet that leaves a smaller climate footprint.”

A theoretical study was also conducted by the team, which suggested that a single chip of the new design could be scaled up to transmit as much as 100 petabits of data per second.

Further development of the technology will be needed before the chip can be used in a practical way. However, the scientists behind the study hope that their research will significantly influence how future communications systems are designed in the coming decades, in which time data use is expected to rise at a dramatic rate.

Anthony Wood is a freelance science writer for IGN

Image credit: NicoElNino, Shutterstock

Over two decades after its initial release, Age of Empires 2 is finally headed to consoles, alongside the significantly more recent Age of Empires 4.

Announced today during the Age of Empires 25th Anniversary Broadcast, we learned that Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition will launch on Xbox consoles on January 31, 2023, while Age of Empires 4 will follow later in the same year.

We're also getting Age of Mythology Retold, a definitive edition of the original 2002 Age of Mythology. The game is currently in development with "updated graphics, features and more" but we have no further details on when we might finally see it.

Other announcements during the presentation included a teaser for Age of Empires on mobile, and the launch of Age of Empires 4: Anniversary Edition out today alongside an anniversary update with new civilizations, challenges, achievements, and features.

It will definitely be interesting to see how well the classic RTS series translates to consoles, both in its more retro (albeit spiffed up) format and the more modern Age of Empires 4. We thought Age of Empires 4 played it a bit too safe at times, but really excelled "when it wanders outside of its comfort zone" in our review last year.

Age of Mythology, meanwhile, we called a "real ornament for the genre and a benchmark that won't soon be surpassed," giving us all high hopes for Retold.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.