Kurt Zimmerman brought Star Wars from a galaxy far, far away to Michigan. Kurt makes his droids out of wood, but they're filled and painted to look like metal. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. The wood exploded into a million pieces, covering the workshop floor. As he stood there looking at the mess he just made, Kurt Zimmerman was at a crossroads moment.

My background came from God of War … I've never worked on a shooter, and you need a different team to do that. You might as well be asking me to make a racing game. And eventually over time, we built that trust to the point where we ended up calling [the franchise] Jedi." The much contested Jedi eventually became Cal Kestis, first introduced in Jedi: Fallen Order. His original reveal saw a slew of criticism for being, well, a little bland, but four years on, it's hard to deny that Cal has won over both gamers and Star Wars fans alike. Case in point: in a recent Disney poll, asking fans to vote on which lightsaber from the Star Wars universe they'd like produced for retail, Cal beat out legendary characters such as Anakin Skywalker and Qui-Gon Jinn. Of course, making the main character a Jedi isn't just a play to Star Wars fans – it's also a clever game design move, given that the well-documented journey of a Jedi developing their skills perfectly mirrors that of a player progressing through a video game, something Asmussen describes as "one-to-one storytelling". "I was hoping that we could come up with a character that the player could go along on the ride with," he expands. "So, he starts off kind of raw.

It's almost 10 years since the release of the last single-player Star Wars game, Force Unleashed II, which feels a long time ago and a galaxy far, far away from EA's controversial Battlefront series. While those games offered some exhilarating moments of first-person blasting action, Star Wars fans have been longing for another epic adventure, something with the role-playing complexity of Knights of the Old Republic or the Force powers of Unleashed. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order promises to meet at least some of these criteria. Developed by Respawn Entertainment – the team behind sci-fi shooter series Titanfall and battle royale hit Apex Legends – Fallen Order introduces Cal Kestis, a Jedi padawan and one of the last of his kind. The game follows on from Revenge of the Sith, with the Jedi Order in ruin after being destroyed from within by Darth Vader.

Star Wars Battlefront II, a new game from Electronic Arts set in the Star Wars universe, is scheduled to be released on Friday. Star Wars Battlefront II, a new game from Electronic Arts set in the Star Wars universe, is scheduled to be released on Friday. The release of a new entry into the Star Wars universe -- be it film, TV series book or video game -- is usually a time of celebration for fans of the decades-old franchise. That hasn't been the case for Star Wars Battlefront II, a video game published by Electronic Arts that's set to be released worldwide on Friday. Electronic Arts, a $4 billion behemoth of the gaming industry, is most well known for its hugely successful sports games like the Madden and FIFA franchises.

It's hard to talk about EA's multiplayer Star Wars shooter without accidentally stumbling over your words and mentioning the company's other large-scale war series: Battlefield. Long before Disney gave Electronic Arts the exclusive rights to create Star Wars video games, the Battlefront series was taking notes from DICE's own shooter -- draping science fiction trappings over the WWII game's vehicle combat, large battlefields and even its name. When EA took over the franchise its own game inspired, however, the resulting game was accused of being gorgeous, but shallow. Fortunately, the company seems to have heard player complaints. According to Star Wars Battlefront II executive producer Matt Webster, the next game in the series could play like a more accessible, but still sufficiently deep Battlefield title. Hints of this were all over the game's E3 reveal: a revamped multiplayer mode with character classes, a point-based progression system and, perhaps most importantly, the promise that all online DLC would be free.

More than just a movie series, George Lucas's creation has spawned a universe of books, video games, and knick-knacks galore. If you're looking for something to get as a gift for your favorite Star Wars fan--or just for yourself--it's easy to get lost in the sea of products filling the retail galaxy. As a Star Wars fanatic myself, I let the Force guide me across the internet to track down some ideas that I think are pretty amazing, and should fit a variety of budgets and personal tastes. Even Jedi knights and Sith lords can agree: You'll find something here to bring that galaxy far, far away just a little bit closer to home. Ever wanted your own droid buddy rolling around the house with you?

You know what movie is seriously pretty fun? You no doubt saw it last year--probably multiple times--and your initial reaction was likely either "OH MAN, BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME, FINN HEART POE 4-EVA" or "Enh, it's totally fine, too many New Hope nods, Rey is cool tho." Those were the prevailing online attitudes about the movie throughout its winter-long, record-disintegrating box-office run, and they made perfect sense: This was the first Star Wars movie in a decade, and it needed to not only restore what had become a robotic-feeling franchise to greatness, but to also re-energize the base of (admittedly somewhat older) Star Wars devotees who felt the series had already peaked decades ago. The Force Awakens had to be a million different things to a gazillion different fans, including myself, and that may be why, on first viewing, I wasn't overjoyed or underwhelmed. But after a bunch of re-viewings, and a few scene-specific replays upon last week's home-video release, it became clear that, when removed from the suffocating context of huge expectations and attention, The Force Awakens is all it needs to be: Namely, a really good Star Wars movie, with zippy dog-fighting sequences and sly Solo one-liners and some really dope menswear.