Author: Trafficblast

Comedian Fred Willard Passes Away

The lovable comic actor Fred Willard, whose on-screen career spanned 50 years, passed away on Friday.

The scene-stealing star of moves like Best in Show and The Mighty Wind, along with TV shows like Modern Family and Netflix’s upcoming Space Force, was 86-years-old.

Willard’s daughter, Hope, tweeted out the news this afternoon, remarking that her father had died peacefully on Friday evening.

Willard worked steadily in comedic roles for decades before finding notoriety as part of writer/director Christoper Guest’s company of impish improv actors, starring in acclaimed mockumentaries This is Spinal Tap!, Waiting for Guffman, The Mighty Wind, and Best in Show. In a career that ranged from Mad About You to Community to Pixar’s Wall-E to recurring as Phil’s dad, Frank, on Modern Family, Willard always provided hilarious moments and memorable laughs.

Willard was nominated for four Emmy Awards – three for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Hank MacDougall in Everybody Loves Raymond, and one in the same category for Modern Family.

Here’s our own interview with Willard from 2008 for Wall-E…

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2008/06/26/wall8226e-movie-interview-fred-willard”]

Christopher Guest’s wife, Jaime Lee Curtis, posted the following to her Twitter account…

With over 300 credits to his name, what was your favorite Fred Willard role?

Some of Fred Willard’s work can even be found here, in our Top 25 Comedies of All Time…
[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=the-25-best-comedies&captions=true”]

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

Daily Deals: Huge Savings on Gaming PCs, Fast SSD Storage, Digital Games and More

There’s sweeping deals across a ton of retailers this weekend, making it a great time to be a gamer. Alienware has some discounted gaming PCs, as does HP. The Epic Game Store is having a huge sale as well, where you can not only get GTA V for free, but get $10 coupons anytime you spend more than $15. To top it off, you can score huge savings on SSDs, which you’ll need after buying all those digital games.

Alienware Aurora R8 Intel Core i7-9700 RTX 2080 SUPER PC with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD for $1458

Use code “LCS10OFF” (RTX 2070 and RTX 2080 Ti Options Available)

This gaming PC boasts a 9th gen Intel Core i7 processor and the newest RTX 2080 SUPER video card. It’s about 10% more powerful than the non-SUPER model and considerably more powerful than the GTX 1080 Ti.  For those of you who would rather have a PC preinstalled with all the RAM and storage you’ll ever need, this model has 16GB RAM and fast SSD storage.

Alienware Aurora R8 Intel Core i7-9700 RTX 2080 SUPER PC for $1322.99

Use code “LCS10OFF” (RTX 2070 and RTX 2080 Ti Options Available)

Save some money by upgrading your RAM and hard drive on your own. The Alienware R8 features toolless entry for easy DIY upgrades and it doesn’t void your warranty.

How To Get $10 Off Every Game Purchase of $15 or More at Epic Games Store

Get GTA V for Free, Witcher 3 GOTY for $5, and RDR2 for $38

rdr2First get Grand Theft Auto V, it’s free. You’ll automatically get a voucher for $10 off your next $15 game. From then on, every game you purchase, even with the voucher applied, you’ll get yet another voucher for $10 off $15 on your next game. This daisy chaining will continue until you stop buying games!

Increase Your Storage, Save Some Money on This WD Black NVMe SSD

nvme

So you just bought a bunch of games, but now you need room to store them. How about this lightning fast, 1TB NVMe SSD. They are on the cutting edge for speed and performance, although do make sure your PC supports them, as some older machines will not have the appropriate connectors.

Discounted Samsung SSDs Available at Amazon

ssd

If an NVMe drive isn’t up your alley, then how about a more traditional SSD. Useful in Desktops, Laptops and even some consoles, SSDs are a surefire way to increase performance and storage, at a minimal cost.

Save Money During the GameStop Graduation Sale

gradsale

If PC gaming isn’t your thing, then you should take a look at what GameStop has on offer. Their having sweeping sales across games, merch, gifts and more. It’s called a Graduation sale, but thankfully these savings are open to everyone!

Paper Mario: The Origami King RPG for Nintendo Switch Is up for Preorder on Amazon

papermarioA brand new Paper Mario (NOT a remake) is hitting shelves in July for the Nintendo Switch console. Preorder it on Amazon and you won’t be charged until the game actually ships out. Better yet, if the price drops before the release date, your order will automatically be readjusted to the lower price. Win-win situation if you plan on picking this game up no matter what.

HP OMEN Obelisk Intel Core i5-9600K RTX 2080 Ti Gaming PC for $1682.99

I’ve never seen a prebuilt gaming PC with an RTX 2080 Ti (the fastest video card out right now) for this price. This PC is customizable on HP’s website, but buying the base config has its merits. In terms of gaming, upgrading from an Intel Core i5-9600K to an Intel Core i7 is a waste… performance-wise they are identical. Also, by upgrading the RAM and storage on your own, you can save alot of money and pick your own, better parts at the same time.

  • Click Here
  • Select Graphics Card – NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (+$450)
  • At cart, apply code “10GAMERSPRING“
  • Price should show up as $1682.99

New Alienware Aurora R9 AMD Ryzen 7 3700X AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Gaming Desktop PC for $1079.99

Use code “LCS10OFF”

For those of you who haven’t been keeping up with the Intel vs AMD CPU war, AMD has been giving Intel a run for its money with its flagship processors. The new AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-core processor is comparable to the Intel Core i7-9700, both in terms of gaming and workstation performance. It’s paired with an RX 5700 XT video card, which is on par with the RTX 2070. If you want to upgrade the RAM or hard drive, I’d suggest doing it on your own. You’ll save money, and the Aurora R9 allows for toolless access without voiding your warranty.

Alienware AW2518H 25″ 1080p 1ms 240Hz GSYNC Gaming Monitor for $399.99

alienwareaw2518hfThe Alienware AW2518H 25″ 1080p Monitor is all about a stutter and tear-free gaming experience.. Besides having a blazing fast 1ms response time, this is one of the very few monitors that can support a 240Hz refresh rate and support NVIDIA’s GSYNC technology. It retails at $710, but you can get it today for almost $300 less.

HP OMEN X 2S 15″ 1080p 144Hz Intel Core i7-9750H RTX 2070 Gaming Laptop with Second 6″ 1080p Touchscreen Display for $1620

We reviewed this laptop and highly recommend it. It’s one of the very few gaming laptops with a second 6″ 1080p touchscreen display as a companion to the main 15″ 1080p 144Hz IPS display. It’s still suprisingly lightweight for a gaming laptop at only 5.25 pounds, and it has a very good active cooling system so your gameplay experience isn’t wind turbine noisy.

HP OMEN 15″ 1080p Intel Core i7-9750H Gaming Laptop with RTX 2060 for $1234.99

The HP OMEN laptop has excellent build quality… one of the best in its price range. This is a well equipped laptop that even includes 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD drive. The highlight, though, is the RTX 2060 video card which performs better than the GTX 1070. At this price, it’s a no brainer, unless you want something massively overpowered like the deal below.

  • Click Here
  • Proceed to shopping cart
  • At cart, apply code “HOLIDAYGAMER“
  • Price should show up as $1234.99

HP OMEN 15″ 4K 3840×2160 Intel Core i9-9880H Gaming Laptop with RTX 2080 for $1881

Get it with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD Upgrades for Only $108 More

You won’t find another laptop with beastly specs like this for under $2K. Not only are you equipped with an RTX 2080 Max-Q video card, the most powerful mobile GPU available, you’re also getting an Intel Core i9-9880H 8-core processor and a gorgeous 4K IPS display. Upgrading your RAM and HDD will push it just over $2K although you could probably do that on your own and save some money.

  • Click Here
  • Select Processor and Graphics – i9-9880H + RTX 2080 (+$980)
  • Select Display – 15.6″ 4K IPS (+$150)
  • Proceed to shopping cart
  • At cart, apply code “10GAMERSPRING“
  • Price should show up as $1880.99

HP OMEN 17″ 1080p 144Hz Intel Core i9-9880H Gaming Laptop with RTX 2080 for $1935

Get it with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD Upgrades for Only $72 More

The 17″ model doesn’t have any option to upgrade to 4K, but one could argue that 4K is overkill for a laptop. You still get a 1080p display with 144Hz refresh rate.

  • Click Here
  • Select Processor and Graphics – i9-9880H + RTX 2080 (+$1080)
  • Select Display – 17.3″ 144Hz 1080p IPS (+$100)
  • Proceed to shopping cart
  • At cart, apply code “10GAMERSPRING“
  • Price should show up as $1934.99

40% Off 1 Year of PS Plus Membership, Now $36.99

Use code “DSPLYMBR”

PS Plus membership discounts only happen a few times a year so grab this deal when you can. This membership lets you play games online (absolutely necessary for games like NBA 2K20, Madden NFL 20, FIFA 20, Overwatch, Rocket League, and more). You’ll also get PS Plus exclusive discounts at the PlayStation Store as well as new free games every month. Best of all, it’s email delivery so you’ll get your code within 24 hours.

Get XCOM 2, Jurassic World: Evolution and More for Only $15 With This Month’s Humble Choice

You’ll also be able to get Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for $26.39

This month’s Humble Choice includes Jurassic World: Evolution, XCOM 2, and several other titles. If you want only XCOM 2 and Jurassic World, pay $14.99 for the “Choice Basic” plan and you can select three titles, in addition to access to the Humble Trove (digital game library) and 10% off Humble purchases. You can also pay $19.99 for the “Choice Premium” plan and you can select nine titles, access to the Humble Trove, and 20% off Humble purchases.

TIDAL 4-Month HiFi Music Streaming Plan for $4

Pay $1/month for four months (the normal cost of the HiFi plan is $19.99/mo). TIDAL is a music streaming service that offers 60+ million tracks and 250,000+ videos with premium quality audio. The HiFi plan upgrades the audio to lossless high-fidelity.

ComiXology Free Trial Extended to 60 Days

The ComiXology trial period is normally 30 days.  ComiXology is Amazon’s digital comic platform and is the largest digital retailer of American comics. The site hosts 20,000 digital comics, graphic novels, and manga from DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, and more. Here’s your chance to access all of it, totally free, for 30 60 days. If you’re an avid comic reader, you might want to consider continuing on afterwards, since it’s only $5.99/month. You can even sign in with your Amazon account.

Online Learning Courses from Stack Social

Want to be more productive at home? Stack Social has plenty of practical courses that can kick start your career. For under $40 per bundle you get dozens of hours of online instruction in programming, game creation, video production, ethical hacking, and more… all from the safety of your home.

The 39 Best Songs In Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA MegaMix Ranked

Hatsune Miku and her fellow Vocaloid friends made their Nintendo Switch debut this week with the western launch of Project DIVA MegaMix. Our beloved blue-haired virtual pop idol has voiced so many hits over the years alongside Luka, Rin, Len, Meiko, and Kaito (who have their fair share of banging tunes). And since MegaMix includes a total of 101 songs in the base game, you might be a bit overwhelmed as to where to start, especially if you’re new to the Vocaloid world.

For the uninitiated, Project DIVA is a rhythm game series that adopts the music made by artists who use Vocaloid software to provide a singing voice in their songs. The game’s note charts are made up of face buttons, directional inputs, and left/right bumpers that sync to each song’s rhythm, and you need to keep up. Wonderfully drawn or animated music videos play in the background of each track, too. These games have been an absolute joy to play because it lets us take part in music we love and even discover new favorites. So, after putting 12+ hours into MegaMix myself (and countless more in previous series entries), I’ve decided to recommend my personal favorites that are playable in MegaMix.

“Alien Alien” is one of the cutest and catchiest songs in MegaMix.

If you’re thinking about giving this new Switch entry a try or wondering what the big deal is with Hatsune Miku rhythm games, be sure to read my full review of Project DIVA MegaMix. For those ready to dance and jam out to some infectious Vocaloid tunes, let this be your guide. In recognition of the game’s Japanese name (Mega39s) and the associated wordplay (39 being read as mi-ku), here is my ranked list for the 39 best songs to play in Project DIVA MegaMix.

  1. Senbonzakura
  2. World’s End Dancehall
  3. Teo
  4. Rolling Girl
  5. Two-Faced Lovers
  6. Secret Police
  7. Unhappy Refrain
  8. Hibikase
  9. Alien Alien
  10. Jigsaw Puzzle
  11. Akatsuki Arrival
  12. Tokyo Teddy Bear
  13. Roki
  14. Catch The Wave
  15. Gaikotsu Gakudan to Riria
  16. Luka Luka Night Fever
  17. Dreamin’ Chuchu
  18. 2D Dream Fever
  19. Ghost Rule
  20. Pinky Swear
  21. Remote Controller
  22. Tengaku
  23. Black Gold
  24. Jitterbug
  25. Suna no Wakusei
  26. Nice to Meet Your, Mr. Earthling
  27. Po Pi Po
  28. Blackjack
  29. Cat Food
  30. Electric Angel
  31. Amatsu Kitsune
  32. Hello Worker
  33. Hibana
  34. Sweet Devil
  35. MMORPG Addicts Anthem
  36. 1925
  37. Doubleganger
  38. Black Rock Shooter
  39. Colorful X Melody

Of course, this is not a definitive collection, but rather a ranking of my favorites, ranging from songs that’ve been personally meaningful to ones that are just straight up fun to play through. Over time, I may even warm up to other songs or grow fond of ones I may have overlooked, so there could be updates in the future. Granted that we all have different tastes in music, I’d suggest giving all the songs a try at some point.

It’s also worth noting that DLC packs for extra songs are available for MegaMix, but were not included in this list. If you have some Vocaloid favorites that either didn’t make this list or aren’t in the MegaMix soundtrack, let us know in the comments.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

We Revere Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Because It Helped Form Our Identity

I probably speak for many of us in our mid/late-20s or early-30s when I say that the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games were a cultural phenomenon that permeated our real lives at a young, impressionable age. We were smart enough to realize that dreams of launching off ramps to land a Kickflip Mctwist or grinding on a 50-foot handrail doing a Casper Slide were well out of reach, yet that didn’t stop us from asking our moms for a cheap deck and a few bucks to buy our new favorite punk band’s album on CD. But while many impulses or fads throughout the years have come and gone, the ones born out of THPS have been ever-lasting.

Seeing the reveal of THPS 1 and 2 remastered was yet another reminder that the storied video game series has, in many ways, significantly helped in forming our identities. I vividly remember watching Tony Hawk himself landing the first 900 at the 1999 X-Games and realizing it was sports history in the making, yet it wasn’t quite the motivation to seek out skating for myself. Participating in the act virtually in THPS bridged that gap and packaged a chunk of skate culture in a form that I did have expertise in: video games. And through the THPS games, I then looked at skating more like, “this shit is cool.”

Growing up in an urban part of southern California, it was common to see older kids violate penal codes by loitering outside taco shops and liquor stores, incessantly trying to land kickflips and grind sidewalk curbs. Skating hit my neighborhood to the point where the city government led a campaign to install steel notches on railing, benches, and any other surface you could grind on. While others may have found skating as a form of rebellion in a relatively quiet suburban community, folks in my neighborhood saw it as a way of assimilation.

THPS 1 and 2 were my gateway: the motivation for an uncoordinated nerdy kid, afraid of falling on solid concrete, to at least give skateboarding a try. Even if I’d be called a poser, I was kind of “doing the thing from the video game.” I’d never get like Rodney Mullen or Eric Koston in their skate tapes, but I was in on it. I knew about the big skaters, their signature tricks, and which brands were more prestigious based on sponsorships. Honestly, I never got any good–I could ollie somewhat consistently, went off a little ramp a few times, rode around the neighborhood and down hills, and ultimately busted my knee caps before giving it up at 14 years old.

Oddly enough, skateboarding itself isn’t necessarily the thing that has stuck with me the most. Maybe that does make me a poser, which I’m willing to accept–it’s fine. More than anything, it was the music. Goldfinger’s “Superman” became iconic and will forever be associated with THPS 1, and it was the first time I heard brass instrumentation fit so perfectly alongside distorted guitars, exposing me to ska-punk and getting me to pick it up. I already had an affinity for punk tunes through the likes of The Offspring and old Green Day, but discovering Bad Religion in THPS 2 opened my eyes and ears to the scene like nothing before.

No Caption Provided

Bad Religion’s song “You” delivered catchy, moody, hard-hitting rhythm guitars against fast-beating percussion while the vocals harmonized to create a layered sound that I never knew existed in punk music. I’d feel the hype whenever the song started up a two-minute run in the graffitied Venice Beach skatepark or through Marseille’s vert pipes, and I knew I was going to give it my best. I had no idea what the song’s message was at the time, yet thought, “man, this sounds deep,” which I say in jest, but over the years I’ve embraced understanding songwriting as a way of truly loving it. On my 11th birthday, I picked up Bad Religion CDs and discovered a band that has critically shaped my worldview and become my favorite, all because I was landing gnarly combos to one of their songs in THPS 2.

(Look, I understand that this isn’t some piece of activism in and of itself. I’m fully cognizant of the irony in watching the THPS remaster trailer while a Dead Kennedys song plays and thinking “hell yeah, I can’t wait to give Activision my money.”)

The inherent brash, progressive messaging behind bands like Rage Against The Machine and Dead Kennedys sounded badass to the unsuspecting kid who was just spending summers and weekends skating virtually a whole lot more than for real. Bad Religion’s deep discography is ripe with science-laden, philosophical lyricism to the backdrop of melodic-punk instrumentals, instilling curiosity and educational aspirations that continue to empower me. THPS soundtracks through years have pointed me toward certain bands that’ve sowed the seeds for the values I embrace to this day.

The love for the music, all the silly fashion trends, and the association with skate culture–among many other factors–are all things that affected my social life in middle and high school. We’d spent so much time with the games, but we’d also recognize band shirts of other kids, exchange CDs, and form bonds over the music, too.

So, why am I going through this long chain of personal events? Because when I play a THPS game today, those are the things that run through my mind, and the reasons why many of us hold these games so dear. Skating, music, fashion, and video games all intersected at THPS, giving kids like me an identity that influenced their formative years, and in some cases, our values. So, when the trailer for the THPS 1 and 2 remaster dropped, all those thoughts and feelings closely associated with the games came flooding back.

Looking back, the craze for extreme-sports games existed in a fairly small window. If you missed it, I can understand being left to wonder what the big deal is. Regardless of whether or not players internalized skate culture, THPS games nailed the sport’s representation and cranked up the wildest aspects of what professional skateboarding looked like. It consistently delivered the thrill of chaining ridiculous combos of tricks and racking up high scores, and each subsequent entry introduced new game-changing mechanics. For as impactful as it was on the outside, THPS was a marvel of a video game series itself.

Over the years, I’ve played several tremendous games that I would rank higher than any THPS on a personal favorites-of-all-time list, but very few have come close to the level of personal significance and influence of THPS. Remastering THPS 1 and 2 is a clear play at nostalgia, but I don’t really mind. We can only wish for the game to play as close to the originals as possible, given the disaster THPS 5 turned out to be. And if it nails it, seeing those old skaters and skateparks recreated using today’s technology with the classic soundtracks will be a trip, and hopefully, rejuvenate the memories of the series we’ve relegated to the past.

Now Playing: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 – Official Reveal Trailer

Dear Microsoft, Xbox Series X Is Your Chance To Fix Achievements

Dear Microsoft,

We need to talk about Xbox Series X–specifically, we need to discuss how to use this console generation change to fix how Xbox Achievements work. And yes, this direct confrontation is necessary because, if the Xbox One is any indication, you haven’t yet recognized how annoyingly flawed the Achievement system has been since the days of the Xbox 360.

So I’m here to politely (but firmly) tell you what’s up. For the sake of the Series X, I reach out to you now and beg that you fix the numeric system for Xbox Achievements going into the next console generation.

It’s not like the entire Xbox Achievement system is flawed–we can salvage most of it! It actually is a great system for the most part. I love that each Achievement tracks its unlock percentage, rewarding players with a special ping when they manage to earn one that has less than a 10% completion rate. It’s also a pretty cool way of seeing where exactly a majority of a player base falls off of a game. Did you know, for example, that of all the people who started Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice on Xbox One, only 79.99% actually played long enough to unlock the Shinobi prosthetic, and that number plummets to 39.17% for defeating the game’s first official boss (Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa)? It’s quite the fascinating look at how hard that game can be for some.

Anyway, to get back to the point of the matter, despite what it does well, the Xbox Achievement system is deeply flawed because of the numeric Gamerscore values you’ve attached to individual Achievements. And the thing is, I wouldn’t even hate the whole Gamerscore thing if you just didn’t allow developers and publishers to decide the individual numeric values for their games’ Achievements, because sometimes these companies take it upon themselves to be creative and associate said value to some greater meaning.

Sometimes, this is fine. It’s fine. And other times it’s very much not fine–namely, whenever someone thinks it would be “oh so clever” to make the numeric values for the Achievements in their game not be a multiple of five. So unless you fully complete a game and earn the traditional complete score of 1000 points, your overall Xbox Gamerscore is ultimately not going to be a nice round number.

This is a game-breaking issue for me and no I’m not exaggerating, stop looking at me like that. I’ve witnessed my Xbox Gamerscore become a number that is no longer divisible by five a few times now and each has been more physically painful than the last. Do you realize how hard and time-consuming it can be to fix this problem whenever it comes up? I sometimes have to force myself to keep playing games I don’t want to play or buy obscure indie titles with odd numbered numeric Achievements in order to offset a different game and even out my Gamerscore again.

Doom Eternal is the latest game to annoy me. Every Achievement in Doom Eternal is divisible by five except for two: “Darn It, They Keep BREAKING” and “It’s a Magic Number.” The former awards you 33 points for performing 33 unique Glory Kills in a single save slot while the latter nets you 67 for killing 666 demons.

Honestly, I don’t particularly like Doom Eternal. I don’t want to keep playing Doom Eternal. And yet, I am still playing Doom Eternal. Why? Because if I want those 33 points to be evened out, I have to keep going and kill at least 666 demons. And don’t tell me to download and play Threes again instead–I won’t do it! I don’t want to keep playing Threes!

So please Microsoft, fix this. Just enact a policy that all Xbox Achievements for Xbox Series X games need to be divisible by five. I don’t want to feel compelled to keep playing games that I’m done with just so that I don’t begin hyperventilating whenever I log on and see my Gamerscore is a prime number.

Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to even out my Gamerscore ahead of the Series X’s release–I’m sure plenty of other Xbox owners who care about this will do the same. Just help us by making it easier to keep it that way.

Cheers,

Jordan Ramée

P.S. It would also be pretty cool if you took some notes from Sony and PlayStation’s Trophies and separated the trackers for games and their DLC–it’s a little disheartening to see a game you 100% suddenly become incomplete when it gets expansions. Not as pressing an issue as ensuring all numeric values are divisible by five but still something you need to fix.

Now Playing: All The Xbox Series X Games Confirmed So Far

Unique Game Free On Steam For A Limited Time

Four Kings One War looks like chess at first glance, but it’s a much more complex game with a serious learning curve. If you’re interested in trying it out without having to pay a dime, the game is free to keep on Steam right now.

Supporting one and two players, Four Kings One War features four different armies on a single board, and you have control of two of them. This means you can make two moves rather than one in each turn, splitting up your armies and potentially attacking from a direction your opponent isn’t expecting. It means the normal strategies and tactics used in normal chess are no longer sound, forcing even experienced players to practice.

There are multiple environments to choose from, as well, and you’ll see spirits appears and do battle when you make moves. Every move counts, as you can quickly have your own pieces overwhelmed if you aren’t careful to protect them.

Four Kings One War is available for free on both PC and Mac, and with 8 GB of recommended RAM and very little storage space needed, chances are high that your system can run it. It will be free until May 19, and there is also a free demo available permanently against the AI if you decide to try it after that point.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Concept Art Shows Babu Frik as a Gross Bug

While Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker may have polarized the fanbase, leading many to seek out further explanation via the movie’s novelization, one thing moviegoers seemed to be unanimously enamored by was pint-sized droidsmith Babu Frik.

A member of Zorii Bliss’ Spice Runner crew, Babu Frik was, at first, instrumental in leading our heroes to the wreckage of the Death Star. Then he appeared near the end of the film, with Zorri, during the clash with the Sith Eternal fleet at the Battle of Exegol. And he was never not wholly adorable.

Star Wars concept designer and sculptor Luke Fisher posted a few pieces of early concept art for Babu Frik on his Instagram, showcasing a couple initial designs for the character.

The first image shows a large-eared goblin-style creature, which seems like it could have been a cute addition to the saga. The second picture is a bug-like being with giant fly eyes. Chances are fans wouldn’t have gone ga-ga for that one. You can see Fisher’s full “Early Babu Frik Explorations” post here.

Screen Shot 2020-05-16 at 8.53.34 AM
Screen Shot 2020-05-16 at 8.43.44 AM
Screen Shot 2020-05-16 at 8.43.47 AM

For more Star Wars news, check out our review of The Clone Wars’ series finale and all the casting news for The Mandalorian: Season 2 – including Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett, Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, and Justified’s Timothy Olyphant.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/13/katee-sackhoff-cast-as-bo-katan-in-the-mandalorian-ign-now”]

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.