I played the first handful of levels from Unpacking, a game about unpacking a character's household items after a series of moves over the course of their life, while my own life sat wrapped in cardboard boxes in stacks behind me.

Now, as I write this weeks later, I'm unpacked in real life half a continent away. After days and days of wearing down box cutters, shoving furniture around, and dragging empty cardboard to a growing monstrous pile in the garage, I'm full of appreciation for what Unpacking the game does to unpacking the activity. Developers Wren Brier and Tim Dawson have managed to filter out the most aggravating, tedious, and difficult bits of moving from Unpacking, leaving only the soothing bits where you put items in the exact right place, fold the empty box away, and move on.

Unpacking is something like an organizational sim, where you visit a series of moments in a life and unpack their items, setting each in a sensible spot in a room, apartment, or house, and move on until all boxes are done. You'll recognize some items from move to move, as sentimental childhood toys or favorite decorations travel with the protagonist from place to place. And there's a lot of clever storytelling to be found in Unpacking's wordless narrative, as you examine the things someone felt important enough to bring with them from move to move, or make tough decisions about whose things to put where as two people move in together.

Appropriately, Unpacking was inspired by Dawson and Brier's own experiences doing exactly that. The two met at a game developer event years back, got together at a later game developer event, and a year and a half later Dawson moved in with Brier — inadvertently sparking the project they'd be working on together for the next several years.

"We were just unpacking Tim's stuff and I realized that there was something kind of game-like about this experience," Brier says. "First of all, you can learn a lot about someone from the things that they own. So here's a storytelling mechanism through a sort of environmental storytelling. Then whenever you finish unpacking everything in a box and empty it, you unlock the box underneath it.

"We were completing sets between boxes. Tim and I both have a bunch of collectibles and stuff, so you take out some toys and then in another box, you'll find the rest of the collection. So, you complete a set. Unlocking things, completing sets, that all felt game-like.

"Also, I do enjoy organizing things. I do feel like there's something very satisfying about it, and also something game-like about just creating order out of chaos. I feel like that's what you do in a lot of games. Except this is taking it very literally."

Dawson adds: "I feel like I contributed a crucial part in that. I didn't really label any of my boxes, so everything was surprising when it came out of the box. It's like, 'What's in this box?' As I open it up, okay. I didn't guess that."

At the time, Dawson was working with Witch Beam on Assault Android Cactus, and Brier was taking a break from regular gigs to focus on freelance work. They used their first prototype of Unpacking to apply to non-profit gaming accelerator program Stugan, which supports indie developers to go work on their games out in the woods in Sweden for two months alongside others also working on their games with the advice and support of more experienced developers. When they finished the program and returned to Brisbane, a rapidfire confluence of local events, funding opportunities, and their game's soothing unpacking gifs going viral on Twitter suddenly gave their game unexpected support, both financially and from an interested audience. By 2019, they were both working full-time on Unpacking with Witch Beam's support.

What was it about Unpacking that caught people's attention so? Brier suspects part of it had something to do with removing the tedious parts of the act of unpacking boxes. There's no tape to rip up, nothing heavy to lift. Every item slots neatly into place, and the game offers multiple sensible, acceptable options for each object's placement. Most satisfyingly to me, when a box is empty, clicking on it once folds it up automatically and it vanishes in a pleasant animation.

"I think packing is really stressful and moving is really stressful," Brier says. "Unpacking, I think is not as bad. There are obviously elements of it that are tedious and at some point you just want to be done and want to just unwind and watch some TV or something. But the nice part of unpacking is you get to rediscover all your stuff, everything that matters to you.

"If you did a good job packing, then you hopefully got rid of a lot of things that don't spark joy. A lot of things that you don't need, or don't feel very strongly about anymore. So, anything that comes out of the box is important and precious and you get to re-contextualize all of these items in your life now in this new environment, and you get to make this new environment your own, and there's something really powerful and really cozy to me about that. That's the kind of feeling we wanted to convey through the game."

Dawson adds that he believes the storytelling element of Unpacking helps support this. Not only do the items you unpack tell a story, but because the items belong to a specific character, there's no way to throw any away. Everything has a place somewhere — it's just a matter of finding it and putting it there.

"That's kind of an ideal way of moving, right? Where everything that comes out of the box is an item that you want to keep and you definitely want to put away somewhere…I think that automatically makes it more interesting and more puzzle-like than actually having to try to shove everything into a closet."

Brier and Dawson have both gained an appreciation for the process of unpacking and organizing through the making of Unpacking, an appreciation they hope its players will gain as well. Brier adds that she also wants Unpacking to encourage thought and understanding of the ways in which a person's belongings can tell their story.

"My grandmother passed away not long before we started working on the game," Brier says. "And a little while before that she and I went through this box of old things that actually belonged to her mother. It was photos and old certificates and an old gold pocket watch. So, that was a family heirloom. It's like this stuff tells me the story of the lives of people that I've never met or barely know anything about, but it's all I have from them. So, I think it's kind of nice to look at the items around us and see them as these mementos of yourself."

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

When Bethesda Softworks published the online multiplayer RPG Fallout 76 in Japan on November 15, 2018, it marked an exciting first for the long-running post-apocalyptic series.

Because of the need to remove and alter content for the Japanese market, Bethesda had previously released Fallout games in Japan a month or two after their global launch. But the publisher decided to buck this trend with Fallout 76, debuting it day and date with the rest of the world. The simultaneous release didn’t prevent Japanese players from criticizing Fallout 76 for many of the same reasons others did. But, as Fallout 76 gradually improved, the Japanese player base quickly distinguished itself as one of the most surprising and creative communities to come out of the game’s changing fortune.

This is something that both Bethesda staff and members of the global community have acknowledged in the past. But how did Fallout 76 gain such a foothold among Japanese players? And what has inspired them to take to the game’s creation tools in this way? IGN spoke to Japanese players and creators about their passion for this unique Fallout experience, and how they’ve gone from battling ghouls and super mutants to fostering a haven of customizable creativity as they rebuild Appalachia. One doughnut store or roadside diner at a time.

Wasteland Roleplay

Speaking to these players, many of them argue that Fallout 76’s CAMP mechanics and customization options are integral to its success in the country. Historically, western first-person-shooters have struggled to gain a foothold in the region, with some exceptions like the Call of Duty series and battle royales like Apex Legends. The inclusion of the CAMP mechanics, which let players create their own bases and furniture out of the scrap they find, has, according to them, broadened Fallout 76’s appeal, attracting roleplayers and people who like to craft in games.

These features are particularly desirable qualities in Japan, according to those we spoke to, as historically many of the most popular games have been role-playing games with a high level of customisation, such as Animal Crossing, Pokémon, Monster Hunter, Minecraft, and Final Fantasy.

 ”Sandbox games are extremely popular in Japan,” said Reina Bolanos, a communications specialist working for ZeniMax Asia and Bethesda Softworks in Japan. “The aspect of being able to roleplay as your ideal character and build your own world as well as finding a play style that suits your interests is what we’ve seen to be the most appealing aspect of Fallout 76.”

Fallout 76 offers a unique, and perhaps unexpected, into the realm of customization, and it’s something players in Japan have gravitated toward. One of those players is Shack, also known as @canizares1116. He is a Fallout 76 roleplayer living in Osaka, Japan. Every day he logs into Fallout 76, dons an Easter Bunny Helmet in-game, and sells doughnuts from his CAMP styled after an in-universe Slocum Joes’ diner. He’s been playing the Fallout games ever since Fallout 3, which is what initially sparked his love for the wasteland setting.

“I was looking for an open world game and found Fallout,” Shack told me over Twitter. “My favourite elements of the Fallout series have always been the world, the exploration, and the gun combat. Though right now, my main character in Fallout 76 is a doughnut shop owner. I originally just made some sweet rolls and served them to friends, but I quickly switched to doughnuts because they don't go bad. After the vending machine to sell items was implemented, that’s when I finally decided to open the store. To be honest, I don't usually sell many doughnuts. However, it is always interesting when I make a sales pitch in voice chat and see the customers who come by.”

Shack attributes Fallout 76’s growth in Japan primarily to word of mouth and social media. Players are constantly sharing their adventures and creations online on sites like Twitter, and this exposure has helped people see some of 76’s unique offerings beyond the main quest line and daily challenges. Fallout 76 gives players multiple ways of tailoring their experience: you can create your own vault dweller, style your character, and craft unique CAMPs. You can also get into cooking, brewing, or distilling, uncovering recipes for more crafting options across the wasteland. All of these options have drawn more players in the country to it, by broadening the opportunities players may expect a first-person shooter could deliver, and giving them a way to express that online, where would-be players can discover elements of a game like Fallout 76 they may not have known existed from a viral tweet or widely shared screenshot.

“Within the past year, the games that were most talked about in Japan were games that had some form of social aspect, which often ended up being Western games by their nature,” Bolanos said. “With foreign games now gaining traction in Japan, this also influenced many fans to try out Fallout 76. Namely, all the foreign games that are popular with the general public are games that are geared towards people who want to play with friends, as such, the multiplayer aspect of Fallout 76 has been fairly popular here.”

Beside Shack, I found plenty of other players who run their own roleplay stores in Appalachia, such as Mikan, who owns a stuffed animal shop, and Raxa, who has an auto parts store. While some of these CAMPs are functional, selling weapons and ammo, others are more about creating fun and unusual experiences for others. Both Shack and Mikan, for instance, receive lots of visitors to their CAMP, from Japan and overseas, with it often acting as a conversation starter to get around any potential awkwardness or language barriers.

Appalachian Architects

But it’s not just roleplaying that has inspired Japanese players to build their own CAMPs. Fallout 76 has also attracted a ton of people who just want to see how far they can push the building tools and get creative. Motsu219 is a player from Tokyo who spends most of his time on Fallout 76 creating and exploring the limits of CAMPs. He’s been playing Fallout ever since falling in love with the Fallout 4’s Settlement mechanics, where players could renovate areas of the wasteland with scrap found while exploring.

“I really like building and constructing CAMPs, but I'm also really fond of Fallout 4's settlement system,” Motsu219 said. “That's one of things that really got me hooked on the series. I think other fans have loved the Fallout series for a while, but there are also probably a lot of people who gained interest in it through games like Skyrim and Oblivion, like I did. I believe that’s why the community has grown.”

Motsu219 currently has four CAMPs in Fallout 76 he’s shared online: a roadside diner, a lighthouse, a swamp shack, and a modern lakeside manor. He told me he sources most of his ideas from Pinterest, with the fun coming from taking 76’s modular pieces and combining them to recreate real-life buildings and unexpected structures. The variety of his creations is only possible due to an update from earlier this year that allowed Fallout 76 players to own multiple CAMPs, as well as the frequent addition of time-limited items such as glass walls and themed bundles within the Atomic Shop. In the beginning, a red barn wall and a few posters were considered luxuries, but now players can build with an expanded library of items.

“More than anything, [Japanese Fallout 76 players] love showing off their interests to the world and will spend hours upon hours perfecting their camp to share their love with the community,” Bolanos told me. “Those who play the game together also often give one another advice and hands-on help in-game to help improve each other’s already amazing creations! Even if you start playing the game alone, the warmth and generosity as well as the willingness to share knowledge with one another is the key factor for why so many CAMPS are well-built.”

That interest in pushing the boundaries of Fallout 76’s mechanics is a sentiment shared by many players in Japan. There are a wealth of talented creators in the community, including a 12-person strong group called the CAMP Builder’s Union who host an annual small CAMP competition. And the variety of creations extends further, from flying trains to Japanese folk houses, festival shrines, island CAMPs, and Howl’s Moving Castle. Motsu219 is constantly stunned and trying to work out how people have pulled off some of the features inside their Camps, as is Red Bee, the lead representative for the CBU.

“I personally like this game because of the architecture and vendor features that I have been waiting for since Ultima Online,” Red Bee said. “I’m always marvelling at other people’s ideas. There’s some ideas I’d have never even thought of. And I also want to raise the level of architecture by learning and sharing ideas too.”

Given all the creativity on offer, it was only a matter of time before Bethesda developers took notice of this growing community. And the reaction so far has been entirely positive.

“Meticulous CAMPs”

Bethesda employees have repeatedly acknowledged the Japanese Fallout 76 community on Twitter, with former Fallout 76 project lead Jeff Gardiner commenting that it was “amazing” to have them in the playerbase and the senior community manager for Australia and New Zealand Jonny Roses called players “ridiculously talented”. Bethesda’s Japanese Twitter account, meanwhile, has been holding annual CAMP competitions, to reward these creators with prizes for their dedication. Speaking to IGN, Don Etgeton, the lead UX/UI Designer on Fallout 76, remembers clearly when he first heard other members of the team discussing the Japanese community and their creations.

“Early on, I remember talking to the producer about adding the ability for Japanese players to purchase things in the Atomic shop, which they didn’t actually have at launch, and [the producer said] ‘Have you noticed the Japanese players seem to make very meticulous CAMPs?’” Etgeton said. “That’s the first time I ever remember someone saying something about it. And yeah, they are very meticulous. They have their own kind of very detail-oriented [CAMPs].”

“For me, it has been pretty remarkable seeing what a lot of the specific Japanese players have built,” Mark Tucker, design director on Fallout 76, added. “It’s just eye-opening. It’s interesting just in terms of seeing what they do, how they take these basic pieces and turn them into something really special. We have so many communities across the world and they’re all just doing really fun, interesting stuff.”

Even though Etgeton and Tucker are acutely aware of the CAMP system’s capabilities as both designers on the game and players of Fallout 76 themselves, they admit that some of the creations that the global community produces have stumped them. Often they’ll find themselves looking at an image of a CAMP and trying to work out how players have taken these familiar assets and recontextualized them into a different theme. And the freedom players have found within and expressed about Fallout 76 is a large reason why the developers think 76 has connected with so many players.

“One of the great things about 76 is it’s really many games in one,” Etgeton explained. “It’s been really interesting because if you want to focus on story and building over FPS combat, you can. And it’s great to see different regions embrace different elements of the game, and I think for them in that particular area that is the game. If you want to play it your particular way, perfectly fine. If you want to ignore the entire quest line, you can.”

Fallout 76 is still somewhat of an acquired taste. But it’s difficult not to be impressed with some of the creations that are being built in-game. The Japanese community are constantly surprising people with what’s possible, coming up with new ways to roleplay and designing some of the most innovative and unexpected CAMPs. Given the series’s history in the country, it’s hard to imagine the retro-futuristic setting taking off quite as much as it has. But Japanese players have been hard at work reconstructing the wasteland with a wild mix of creations.

“Ultimately, I think a huge contributor to the popularity lies in the community itself,” Bolanos told IGN. “In the rest of the world, there’s sometimes this perception that cynicism or negativity has become a bit more prevalent within the industry at large. In Japan, we’re still at the stage of people simply connecting with one another and enjoying themselves, and that is super obvious in the way the community interacts with one another.

“A great example of this is … someone had used the #FO76 hashtag to announce that they had started playing. Now, this wasn’t a huge account or an influencer with many followers or anything, but immediately the post blew up with fellow Japanese players welcoming them, encouraging them, and generally being warm and friendly. When you have that level of positivity as the base standard for how a community operates, it’s little wonder people want to stick around.”

Jack Yarwood is a freelance feature writer who writes primarily about the video game industry. He has written for Fanbyte, Wireframe Magazine, and The Washington Post, among others. You can follow him on Twitter @JackGYarwood.

If you're a fan of the Fallout franchise and big statement pieces, Dark Horse Direct has just the collectible for you. The company's latest video game-inspired piece is a pair of bookends based on Fallout 4's Liberty Prime Nuke Bomb.

If the thought of propping up your books with two halves of a post-apocalyptic weapon of mass destruction makes you smile, then check out the slideshow gallery below for an exclusive look at this unusual collectible:

Officially dubbed the Mark 28, these deadly warheads are one of the primary offensive weapons of the towering Liberty Prime robot. These bookends measure roughly 7" by 7" by 6.5" and are made of polyresin. This piece was sculpted
by BigShot Toyworks and painted by J.W. Productions. The set also includes a 3" enamel pin featuring a Liberty Prime design.

The Liberty Prime Nuke Bomb bookend set is limited to 1000 pieces and will be sold exclusively through Dark Horse Direct website. You can preorder the set now for $179.99, with an estimated release window of July-September 2022.

Despite originally being released in 2015, Fallout 4 has been getting a big push from Bethesda in 2021. It was among a number of Bethesda titles added to Game Pass in March, and the game also received an FPS Boost upgrade.

A Fallout TV series is also in the works at Amazon, and we have some ideas for what classic Fallout stories should be adapted.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Note: this article originally ran in March 2021 and has now been updated to reflect the news that Christensen is also appearing in Star Wars: Ahsoka.

The ensemble cast for Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi is a healthy mix of familiar faces and returning favorites, but one name stands out above all others. Hayden Christensen is making an unexpected return to the franchise, reprising the role of Darth Vader 15 years after Revenge of the Sith and serving as a major antagonist in the Disney+ series. Not only that, but Christensen is also reportedly appearing in the Mandalorian spinoff series Star Wars: Ahsoka.

Christensen's performance as Anakin Skywalker has always been divisive at best. However, this should only be seen as great news for anyone eager to learn about this lost period in Obi-Wan and Anakin's lives. Not only is this a second chance for Christensen to make Darth Vader his own, it may very well solve a decades-old Star Wars mystery. How can the series tie up a major loose end from Return of the Jedi? Read on to find out.

Solving a Major Star Wars Plot Hole

Disney has gotten a surprising amount of mileage out of using new Star Wars projects to address old plot holes and unanswered questions about the movies. Marvel's current volume of Star Wars alone has done everything from canon-izing Luke's yellow lightsaber to revealing how Luke managed to recover his X-Wing from Cloud City. The Obi-Wan Kenobi series has the potential to address a much bigger and more crucial loose end from Return of the Jedi.

As writer Nick Arkis points out, there's something very odd about Vader's conversation with a newly captured Luke on Endor. Luke insists some trace of Anakin Skywalker still remains, to which Vader responds, "Obi-Wan once thought as you do."

How does Vader actually know Obi-Wan felt that way? When we last see the two together in Revenge of the Sith, a despondent Obi-Wan leaves his fallen friend to slowly burn to death. When they meet again in A New Hope, Obi-Wan gives no indication he thinks Vader is capable, or deserving, of redemption. To Vader, Obi-Wan is simply an enemy to be vanquished and one more tether to his old life to be severed. So why in Return of the Jedi does Vader suddenly have this newfound insight into Obi-Wan's motivations?

The answer, it would seem, is that the two had another fateful encounter in between the two trilogies. Having had years to meditate and reflect, Obi-Wan probably has far more perspective on his pupil's tragic downfall. He understands how Anakin became corrupted and knows the Emperor can't have entirely eradicated the goodness within Darth Vader. When they do finally reunite in the new series – whether that occurs in person or through some sort of Rey/Kylo Ren-style Force communion – we may see Obi-Wan try to reason with Vader and reawaken Anakin Skywalker. Obviously, he's not going to be successful, but we may come to realize the events of the series mark the first step in Anakin Skywalker's long journey back toward the light. While Obi-Wan's appeals will fall on deaf ears in this series, they'll resonate enough with the Dark Lord of the Sith that he relays them to Luke years later.

If Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi is nothing more or less than the story behind Vader's cryptic words to Luke in Return of the Jedi, it's a story well worth telling. And it's one that can only be told by bringing Hayden Christensen back to the fold and showcasing the frail, wounded man beneath the armor.

Reuniting Obi-Wan and Anakin

Christensen's casting is certainly an intriguing development. It implies we're going to see an awful lot of Darth Vader in the series, likely both in and out of his ebony armor. After all, why bother bringing Christensen back if we're not going to see Anakin's face? It's not as if he was recruited to play Vader in Rogue One. We may even see the series borrow a page from Marvel's Darth Vader comics and show Anakin's mental self-image as he meditates.

That does raise a lot of questions about how the series is supposed to fit into the larger Star Wars mythos. As far as the movies would have us believe, Anakin and Obi-Wan don't have another encounter in between their duel on Mustafar and their rematch aboard the Death Star. Why would they? Obi-Wan's one mission during this entire 19-year period is to keep a low profile and guard young Luke. The last thing he wants is to put himself on Vader's radar again.

That all being said, it's not as though there's anything in the movies explicitly ruling out the possibility of another meeting between Anakin and Obi-Wan. When Vader first detects Obi-Wan's presence aboard the Death Star, he muses, "I sense something, a presence I've not felt since…" Conveniently, he stops short of naming the place and time. Since the release of Episode III, fans have naturally assumed Vader was reflecting on the Mustafar duel. But apparently we were wrong.

If there's one thing past Star Wars TV projects have excelled at, it's dancing between the raindrops of the movies to tell new stories. The Clone Wars gave us a revived Darth Maul and Anakin's Padawan Ahsoka Tano without violating anything that happens in Episode III. A lost Obi-Wan vs. Darth Vader story set between Episodes III and IV is hardly out of the question.

If anything, the emphasis on Darth Vader should be taken as a good sign for the series. Previous Obi-Wan stories set in this era (most notably John Jackson Miller's 2013 novel Star Wars: Kenobi) have taken a fairly small-scale approach. They're basically space Westerns set on Tatooine. But with Vader in the picture, we can expect a much bigger conflict with a more tangible impact on the Star Wars timeline. Something is going to compel Obi-Wan to leave the safety of his new home and venture back out into the galaxy, even if it means risking the notice of his former Padawan. Unfinished business from the Clone Wars? The emergence of other new Jedi? Whatever it is, it's going to capture Vader's notice.

Hayden Christensen in the Ahsoka Series

Now we know the Kenobi series is just one of at least two new Star Wars projects to feature Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. Christensen is also appearing in Star Wars: Ahsoka. There's a very Star Wars-y symmetry to the fact that both shows will feature pivotal reunions between a Jedi and their former apprentice.

This casting news raises questions of its own. The Ahsoka series is set after the events of The Mandalorian: Season 2, meaning it takes place roughly five years after Anakin's death in Return of the Jedi. So how exactly does the character fit into this story?

The obvious answer is Anakin will appear as a Force Ghost. We know he's among the few Jedi capable of manifesting himself after death, and Lucas even went to the trouble of replacing Sebastian Shaw's Force ghost Anakin with new footage of Christensen's Anakin in the RotJ Special Edition. There's also a precedent for Anakin's ghost manifesting in the classic Legends timeline, as he appeared to Leia in the 1993 novel Star Wars: Truce at Bakura (not that she was particularly happy to see him).

Despite having redeemed himself by destroying the Emperor, Anakin may feel he has unfinished business to attend to before truly becoming one with the Force. That may well include communing with Ahsoka and trying to end their relationship on better terms. Don't forget that the two last encountered each other in the Season 2 finale of Star Wars Rebels, where Ahsoka saw firsthand just how far her former master had fallen.

Force ghosts tend to appear when living Jedi most need their help. Anakin may take it upon himself to guide Ahsoka just as the spectral Obi-Wan did for Luke in the original trilogy. Anakin may help guide Ahsoka in her hunt for Grand Admiral Thrawn. He may be aware that the threat of Emperor Palpatine is far from over. He could even be the key to steering Ahsoka toward his son Luke. If it turns out that Ahsoka played a role in helping Luke build his Jedi academy, we may well have the late Anakin Skywalker to thank.

As with the Kenobi series, it's entirely possible the Ahsoka series could also feature Christensen's Anakin via Clone Wars-era flashbacks. After years of seeing the Anakin/Ahsoka dynamic play out in animated and comic book form, it would be a nice change to see their adventures in live-action for once.

A Chance at Star Wars Redemption

There's been a massive cultural shift when it comes to the Star Wars prequels in recent years, with many fans reevaluating these critically divisive films and their place in the larger Star Wars canon. There are all sorts of reasons behind that trend. For some, they've simply improved with age and the nostalgia factor. For others less than thrilled with Disney's execution of the sequel trilogy, the prequels might seem less offensive by comparison. And for those younger fans who were children when the prequels were coming out (in other words, George Lucas' actual target audience), they may not understand what all the outrage was about in the first place.

Though perhaps more than anything else, it's thanks to projects like Star Wars: The Clone Wars that fans are now able to see the prequels in the best possible light. As we've argued before, The Clone Wars has effectively redeemed the prequels, adding in all the depth and nuance that was absent in the films themselves. They may be fundamentally flawed in a number of ways, but these movies have their place in the larger Star Wars saga.

The same holds true for Christensen's performance as Anakin. While every bit as flawed as the movies themselves, there are moments in Episodes II and III where Christensen does perfectly embody the torment and temptation of a promising young Jedi courted by darkness. And in Christensen's defense, there were any number of external factors working against him during production. We doubt anyone could have made the wooden romantic dialogue between Anakin and Padmé seem truly genuine. And it's hard to bring your A-game to a project where the "sets" are often little more than empty blue backgrounds waiting to be filled in with CG environments and characters. Is it any wonder Christensen's Anakin and Natalie Portman's Padmé often seem so stiff and awkward around each other?

Putting side the simple pleasure of seeing McGregor back in Obi-Wan's dusty boots, this series is a chance for Christensen to hit the reset button and try again at bringing this iconic, tragic character to life. This time, his performance won't be constrained by impossible fan expectations or Lucas' idiosyncratic storytelling choices. With the pressure gone and a new director behind the camera, Christensen may just surprise us all.

For more on the Star Wars franchise, see what to expect from the long-awaited Knights of the Old Republic remake and check out our picks for the best Star Wars movie moments.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Oculus has released a new update that future-proofs the Oculus Go headset. It now allows full root access for owners of the headset, providing them the ability to repurpose the hardware for other uses as well as use the headset without the need for a Facebook account.

Oculus also has a guide available for download that describes how to use the software on the Oculus Go device and gain low-level access. However, opening up the headset is irreversible and owners will no longer receive over-the-air updates. Additionally, the process described in the guide cannot be used on any other Oculus device or operating system.

As explained by Ars Technica, an unlocked Oculus Go headset will no longer check for a Facebook signature at the kernel level. This means that developers can create custom versions of low-level features like the app launcher.

Oculus CTO John Carmack announced last month that this update would be coming, hoping that even 20 years into the future, a randomly found brand new Oculus Go headset would still be able to update the final software version after the over-the-air servers inevitably shut down.

The Oculus Go headset was released back in May 2018. In IGN's Oculus Go review, Matt Elliot said, "Comfortable, convenient, wireless, and affordable, the standalone Oculus Go represents a big step forward in consumer VR."

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @yinyangfooey.