EA has announced EA Sports PGA Tour, a new “next-gen” golf game, is currently in development. The game will be the first created as part of a new, long-term deal signed with PGA Tour, and will be built on EA’s established Frostbite engine. EA Sports PGA Tour will allow players to build virtual careers and visit many of the most famous golf courses around the world. Also featured will be some of the most famous golf players in the professional world, who players will be able to test their skills against. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2015/07/15/rory-mcilroy-pga-tour-video-review"] “Our team of passionate golf fans is meticulously recreating the world’s top courses such as Pebble Beach, and we can’t wait to give fans the opportunity to compete on some of the most iconic PGA TOUR courses and win the FedExCup,” said Cam Webber, EA Sports executive vice president and general manager. EA promise that further details about EA Sports PGA Tour will be revealed in the coming weeks, and that within the coming months a release date will be announced. While PGA Tour will feature famous pro golfers, Tiger Woods will not be one of them; 2K recently signed a multi-year exclusivity deal with Woods. The golfer was previously the face of EA’s long-running Tiger Woods’ PGA Tour series, but the contract between him and EA concluded in 2013. The series then became Rory McIlroy PGA Tour in 2015, and EA Sports PGA Tour will be the new incarnation of this long-running series. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

The scientists that revealed the very first photograph of a black hole have added polarized light to the image, offering a more detailed look at its magnetic fields. According to New Scientist, the group of astronomers working on the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project have released a polarized-based image of the black hole that they first captured in 2019. The new photo offers a much sharper view of the black hole, particularly the swirling magnetic fields surrounding the edge of the cosmic body, which may reveal more about the jet process in space. The group's most recent study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, presents new findings of how the supermassive black hole, located at the center of the M87 galaxy, 55 million light-years away, launches powerful jets of matter from its core. The formation of these jets has long been a mystery to researchers, but the newly-illuminated magnetic fields may provide some important clues. [caption id="attachment_2492972" align="alignnone" width="720"] Image credit: Event Horizon Telescope[/caption] "The polarised light has these curved swoops like a spiral," said Sara Issaoun, an EHT team member at Radboud University in the Netherlands. "This tells us that the magnetic field around the black hole is ordered, and this is really important because only an ordered magnetic field can launch jets – a scrambled magnetic field cannot do that." The Event Horizon Telescope itself is actually made up of eight telescopes that are linked together to create one giant radio telescope that orbits the Earth and uses the planet's rotation to aid in capturing incredible images that can be examined back on the ground. In this case, the EHT team measured the polarised light near the black hole to determine the strength of its magnetic field. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/04/10/scientists-have-revealed-the-first-photo-of-a-black-hole"] As noted by the report, the reading of the black hole's magnetic field came out somewhere between 1 and 30 gauss (units of magnetic induction), which is "up to about 50 times the strength of Earth's magnetic field as measured at the planet's poles, where it is strongest." This measurement helped researchers to gain a better understanding of how the black hole and its jets may work. "This jet process is totally amazing – something the size of our solar system can shoot out a jet that pierces through entire galaxies and even galaxy neighborhoods," Issaoun explained. "Now we're really seeing the magnetic field close to the black hole for the first time, and that's connecting it to the jet, which is the most powerful process in the universe." Moving forward, the scientists collaborating on this program plan to expand their research by adding a few more telescopes to the EHT network in order to gather more information about the black hole and its jet production. Specifically, they hope to learn about the process of the astrophysical jets created by the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=nasa-black-hole-gallery&captions=true"] Towards the end of 2019, NASA released a black hole simulation that showed how gravity warps light within a black hole, and then, a couple of months later, at the beginning of 2020, scientists detected the biggest explosion in the galaxy, which was believed to be from a supermassive black hole. For more on black holes, read about how one appeared to break the law of physics itself. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

The scientists that revealed the very first photograph of a black hole have added polarized light to the image, offering a more detailed look at its magnetic fields. According to New Scientist, the group of astronomers working on the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project have released a polarized-based image of the black hole that they first captured in 2019. The new photo offers a much sharper view of the black hole, particularly the swirling magnetic fields surrounding the edge of the cosmic body, which may reveal more about the jet process in space. The group's most recent study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, presents new findings of how the supermassive black hole, located at the center of the M87 galaxy, 55 million light-years away, launches powerful jets of matter from its core. The formation of these jets has long been a mystery to researchers, but the newly-illuminated magnetic fields may provide some important clues. [caption id="attachment_2492972" align="alignnone" width="720"] Image credit: Event Horizon Telescope[/caption] "The polarised light has these curved swoops like a spiral," said Sara Issaoun, an EHT team member at Radboud University in the Netherlands. "This tells us that the magnetic field around the black hole is ordered, and this is really important because only an ordered magnetic field can launch jets – a scrambled magnetic field cannot do that." The Event Horizon Telescope itself is actually made up of eight telescopes that are linked together to create one giant radio telescope that orbits the Earth and uses the planet's rotation to aid in capturing incredible images that can be examined back on the ground. In this case, the EHT team measured the polarised light near the black hole to determine the strength of its magnetic field. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/04/10/scientists-have-revealed-the-first-photo-of-a-black-hole"] As noted by the report, the reading of the black hole's magnetic field came out somewhere between 1 and 30 gauss (units of magnetic induction), which is "up to about 50 times the strength of Earth's magnetic field as measured at the planet's poles, where it is strongest." This measurement helped researchers to gain a better understanding of how the black hole and its jets may work. "This jet process is totally amazing – something the size of our solar system can shoot out a jet that pierces through entire galaxies and even galaxy neighborhoods," Issaoun explained. "Now we're really seeing the magnetic field close to the black hole for the first time, and that's connecting it to the jet, which is the most powerful process in the universe." Moving forward, the scientists collaborating on this program plan to expand their research by adding a few more telescopes to the EHT network in order to gather more information about the black hole and its jet production. Specifically, they hope to learn about the process of the astrophysical jets created by the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=nasa-black-hole-gallery&captions=true"] Towards the end of 2019, NASA released a black hole simulation that showed how gravity warps light within a black hole, and then, a couple of months later, at the beginning of 2020, scientists detected the biggest explosion in the galaxy, which was believed to be from a supermassive black hole. For more on black holes, read about how one appeared to break the law of physics itself. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

The official Battlefield Twitter account has responded to a list of rumoured features for the next Battlefield game with its own list that describes the features of spaghetti. Using the hashtag #spaghetti (mimicking the #Battlefield used for the original rumours post), the Battlefield tweet goes on to describe the many flagship features of the popular Italian foodstuff. The seven-point list covers such confirmed and objective facts as “good with garlic bread”, and is accompanied by an image of the world “spaghetti” in the Battlefield font.

#Spaghetti

- noodley - slippy - good with sauce - good with garlic bread - is spaghetti - can be used as decoration - always available *also available as pasta https://t.co/bOVsdO1Unw pic.twitter.com/hUfZRsrYnZ — Battlefield (@Battlefield) March 26, 2021

For all this to make a lick of sense, you’ll need to look at the original post from Twitter user Roberto Serrano, who posted the Battlefield logo with a set of nine rumours about the next game in the series. According to these rumours, the next Battlefield is set to return to the modern time period of Battlefield 2/3/4 and feature matches with up to 128 players. Serrano claims that the game will release Fall 2021 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X, with a free-to-play battle royale coming in early 2022. DICE’s only official response to these claims is the mock post, which quote tweets Serrano’s original post and copies its entire format, but the whole thing is about spaghetti. It’s certainly an original way of commenting on the rumour mill. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/04/04/battlefield-v-firestorm-review"] It is, of course, important to note that Serrano’s post provides no evidence at all for these claims, and so should not be considered as anything more than speculation. Features such as “soldiers, weapons, vehicle customization” and “large-scale and close quarters battles” are such a part of the fabric of Battlefield since the first game in the series, though, that you can reasonably brace yourself to expect those. Earlier this year EA did say that Battlefield will take full advantage of next-gen consoles. The publisher is expected to officially reveal the next game in the spring. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

The official Battlefield Twitter account has responded to a list of rumoured features for the next Battlefield game with its own list that describes the features of spaghetti. Using the hashtag #spaghetti (mimicking the #Battlefield used for the original rumours post), the Battlefield tweet goes on to describe the many flagship features of the popular Italian foodstuff. The seven-point list covers such confirmed and objective facts as “good with garlic bread”, and is accompanied by an image of the world “spaghetti” in the Battlefield font.

#Spaghetti

- noodley - slippy - good with sauce - good with garlic bread - is spaghetti - can be used as decoration - always available *also available as pasta https://t.co/bOVsdO1Unw pic.twitter.com/hUfZRsrYnZ — Battlefield (@Battlefield) March 26, 2021

For all this to make a lick of sense, you’ll need to look at the original post from Twitter user Roberto Serrano, who posted the Battlefield logo with a set of nine rumours about the next game in the series. According to these rumours, the next Battlefield is set to return to the modern time period of Battlefield 2/3/4 and feature matches with up to 128 players. Serrano claims that the game will release Fall 2021 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X, with a free-to-play battle royale coming in early 2022. DICE’s only official response to these claims is the mock post, which quote tweets Serrano’s original post and copies its entire format, but the whole thing is about spaghetti. It’s certainly an original way of commenting on the rumour mill. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/04/04/battlefield-v-firestorm-review"] It is, of course, important to note that Serrano’s post provides no evidence at all for these claims, and so should not be considered as anything more than speculation. Features such as “soldiers, weapons, vehicle customization” and “large-scale and close quarters battles” are such a part of the fabric of Battlefield since the first game in the series, though, that you can reasonably brace yourself to expect those. Earlier this year EA did say that Battlefield will take full advantage of next-gen consoles. The publisher is expected to officially reveal the next game in the spring. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Sony has closed a browser version of the PlayStation Store that allowed players to buy PS3, PSP, and PlayStation Vita games – stoking rumours that Sony will close Stores for those older platforms this Summer. Spotted by ResetEra member Raoh (as reported by Eurogamer), a still-accessible version of the PS Store that allowed customers to buy PS3, PSP and Vita games online, has been pulled down without warning this weekend. Sony updated its main web store in October of last year, which sold only PS4 and PS5 games. However, region-specific links still allowed players to access the previous version of the store, with live purchases of older games. Those links now lead to an error page. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/24/why-ps3-psp-and-vita-stores-closing-would-be-such-a-big-deal-beyond-episode-693"] For now, players can still access the PS Store on PS3, PSP, and Vita and make purchases. However, rumours suggest that may not be the case for long, with The Gamer reporting that all three consoles' stores will be permanently closed in July. Sony has not commented on that issue, and has not replied to IGN's requests for comment on multiple occasions. Our own Podcast Beyond! has talked about why those closures would be such a big deal, and fans are similarly concerned by the closure of the web store, and what it could mean for the future of legacy PlayStation games. On ResetEra FinalArcadia wrote, "The store links not working [...] makes the rumor of the PS3 store shutting down as a whole seem a lot likelier, unfortunately." The Turbanator pointed to the potential knock-on effects of such a decision: "I know the PS3 has entered [end of service] but man, what better way to incentivize piracy and emulation (from people that don't own consoles) than removing the ability to legitimately attain content and pay developers." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/why-ps5-series-x-games-have-yet-to-blow-us-away-next-gen-console-watch"] Scallywag was more hopeful: "The fact that they haven't announced the closure yet hopefully means they have some sort of other solution incoming." That solution could potentially come from on-console or cloud emulation of those older games. Sony has previously patented the ability to stream PS1, PS2, and PS3 games, as well as the tech to add PlayStation Trophies to games that never had them. While patents don't necessarily point to upcoming announcements, they do indicate that Sony has been toying with ideas for its legacy games. Sony may be closing off its past, but it's clearly making big plans for the future too. We've seen the company buy EVO, the world's largest fighting game tournament, as well as reveal a follow-up to PSVR, which includes some very different controllers. [poilib element="accentDivider"] 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.

Sony has closed a browser version of the PlayStation Store that allowed players to buy PS3, PSP, and PlayStation Vita games – stoking rumours that Sony will close Stores for those older platforms this Summer. Spotted by ResetEra member Raoh (as reported by Eurogamer), a still-accessible version of the PS Store that allowed customers to buy PS3, PSP and Vita games online, has been pulled down without warning this weekend. Sony updated its main web store in October of last year, which sold only PS4 and PS5 games. However, region-specific links still allowed players to access the previous version of the store, with live purchases of older games. Those links now lead to an error page. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/24/why-ps3-psp-and-vita-stores-closing-would-be-such-a-big-deal-beyond-episode-693"] For now, players can still access the PS Store on PS3, PSP, and Vita and make purchases. However, rumours suggest that may not be the case for long, with The Gamer reporting that all three consoles' stores will be permanently closed in July. Sony has not commented on that issue, and has not replied to IGN's requests for comment on multiple occasions. Our own Podcast Beyond! has talked about why those closures would be such a big deal, and fans are similarly concerned by the closure of the web store, and what it could mean for the future of legacy PlayStation games. On ResetEra FinalArcadia wrote, "The store links not working [...] makes the rumor of the PS3 store shutting down as a whole seem a lot likelier, unfortunately." The Turbanator pointed to the potential knock-on effects of such a decision: "I know the PS3 has entered [end of service] but man, what better way to incentivize piracy and emulation (from people that don't own consoles) than removing the ability to legitimately attain content and pay developers." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/why-ps5-series-x-games-have-yet-to-blow-us-away-next-gen-console-watch"] Scallywag was more hopeful: "The fact that they haven't announced the closure yet hopefully means they have some sort of other solution incoming." That solution could potentially come from on-console or cloud emulation of those older games. Sony has previously patented the ability to stream PS1, PS2, and PS3 games, as well as the tech to add PlayStation Trophies to games that never had them. While patents don't necessarily point to upcoming announcements, they do indicate that Sony has been toying with ideas for its legacy games. Sony may be closing off its past, but it's clearly making big plans for the future too. We've seen the company buy EVO, the world's largest fighting game tournament, as well as reveal a follow-up to PSVR, which includes some very different controllers. [poilib element="accentDivider"] 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.

Nicolas Cage suspects that James Franco's Spring Breakers character might be an imitation of the villain from his Green Hornet pitch. IndieWire notes that Seth Rogen recently participated in an interview with GQ, in which he was quizzed about the validity of certain Hollywood stories that have been bandied around over recent years. One such story revolved around Cage's pitch for playing The Green Hornet villain as a "white Bahamian," and later believing that James Franco may have used the idea for his Spring Breakers' character, Alien. According to the story published by GQ, Cage had been in early talks to play Benjamin Chudnofsky in The Green Hornet, however, Cage had his own ideas about how he wanted to play the character. He apparently wanted him to be "a bald man, with hair tattooed on, large prosthetic lips and a voice like Edward G Robinson," pitching the character as "a 'white Bahamian,' with a thick Caribbean accent." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2011/01/11/the-green-hornet-clip-i-like-your-suit"] Despite apparently acting out a scene in which that character would be seen "dumping pigs' blood on Rogen's Green Hornet in a 'creepy voodoo ritual,'" Cage wasn't successful in getting the part. He is said to have later requested a meeting to ask "Rogen if he'd told James Franco about his idea, as he suspected Franco had nicked the character for Spring Breakers." Speaking on this anecdote during the interview, Rogen appeared to confirm that the story wasn't fictitious as he told GQ that the latter part of the story actually happened quite recently. "The second part actually just happened before the [COVID-19] pandemic," he said. "I mean, he already doesn't like me, is the point. So he'll continue not to like me!" The role of Benjamin Chudnofsky ultimately went to Christoph Waltz, who played the character in an entirely different manner to the villain that Cage had proposed to the studio during the project's very long gestation in development hell, going through numerous studios, filmmakers, and actors before Michel Gondry brought it to the screen as an action-comedy. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=stars-who-were-almost-superheroes&captions=true"] In our review of Gondry's The Green Hornet, we rated the movie a 7, saying that, "while it may not ultimately prove memorable enough to launch a new film franchise, The Green Hornet is still a fun action-comedy and clever superhero satire that's about as close to a cool summer movie as you're going to get in the dead of winter." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Nicolas Cage suspects that James Franco's Spring Breakers character might be an imitation of the villain from his Green Hornet pitch. IndieWire notes that Seth Rogen recently participated in an interview with GQ, in which he was quizzed about the validity of certain Hollywood stories that have been bandied around over recent years. One such story revolved around Cage's pitch for playing The Green Hornet villain as a "white Bahamian," and later believing that James Franco may have used the idea for his Spring Breakers' character, Alien. According to the story published by GQ, Cage had been in early talks to play Benjamin Chudnofsky in The Green Hornet, however, Cage had his own ideas about how he wanted to play the character. He apparently wanted him to be "a bald man, with hair tattooed on, large prosthetic lips and a voice like Edward G Robinson," pitching the character as "a 'white Bahamian,' with a thick Caribbean accent." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2011/01/11/the-green-hornet-clip-i-like-your-suit"] Despite apparently acting out a scene in which that character would be seen "dumping pigs' blood on Rogen's Green Hornet in a 'creepy voodoo ritual,'" Cage wasn't successful in getting the part. He is said to have later requested a meeting to ask "Rogen if he'd told James Franco about his idea, as he suspected Franco had nicked the character for Spring Breakers." Speaking on this anecdote during the interview, Rogen appeared to confirm that the story wasn't fictitious as he told GQ that the latter part of the story actually happened quite recently. "The second part actually just happened before the [COVID-19] pandemic," he said. "I mean, he already doesn't like me, is the point. So he'll continue not to like me!" The role of Benjamin Chudnofsky ultimately went to Christoph Waltz, who played the character in an entirely different manner to the villain that Cage had proposed to the studio during the project's very long gestation in development hell, going through numerous studios, filmmakers, and actors before Michel Gondry brought it to the screen as an action-comedy. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=stars-who-were-almost-superheroes&captions=true"] In our review of Gondry's The Green Hornet, we rated the movie a 7, saying that, "while it may not ultimately prove memorable enough to launch a new film franchise, The Green Hornet is still a fun action-comedy and clever superhero satire that's about as close to a cool summer movie as you're going to get in the dead of winter." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Marvel’s MODOK, the upcoming Hulu adult animation about the titular giant floating killer head, has cast Jon Hamm as Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man. In a panel hosted by WonderCon@Home, co-creators Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt revealed that Jon Hamm will be taking on the role of Marvel’s most popular wealthy crime fighter. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/25/marvels-modok-official-teaser-trailer-2021-patton-oswalt-ben-schwartz"] He’ll be joined by Whoopie Goldberg, who will play Marian Pouncy, better known as Poundcakes; a member of The Grapplers (a superhuman group of women wrestlers). Bill Hader will lend his voice to two characters: The Leader and Angar the Screamer. Finally, the panel announced that Nathan Fillion will reprise his role as Wonder Man, a character he played in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but in scenes that were cut from the final version of the film. These new cast members will join Patton Oswalt, who plays MODOK, and other main cast Melissa Fumero, Aimee Garcia, Ben Schwartz, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Beck Bennett, Jon Daly, and Sam Richardson. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvels-modok-gallery&captions=true"] For more on Marvel’s TV ventures, see what we think of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and WandaVision. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.