Death Stranding can be confounding, even for those who have actually seen or played it. Game director Hideo Kojima says he knows at least one person who connected with its heady concepts instantly, though: film director George Miller. The director behind the Mad Max films is said to have immediately understood the idea, to the point that Kojima wishes he'd saved his reaction for posterity."There were some people [who understood right away]. Especially creators were quite quick to click," Kojima told Game Informer. "Like [director] George Miller, who is kind of my mentor--my god. In 2017, I went to Australia. I only had a trailer, and I also explained verbally to him. George Miller said, 'In all aspects, you are correct. Mathematically, psychologically, physically, philosophically.' He kind of started to draw a diagram, he has this theory, so he said, 'What you’re trying to do is correct.' I should have recorded that! I should have sent it to the staff! That was really a happy moment."Kojima didn't detail what was on Miller's diagram, but it must have shown a keen understanding for Kojima's ideas. Miller is best known for writing and directing the Mad Max series, particularly the recent and acclaimed Mad Max: Fury Road. Those films are similarly set in a bleak post-apocalypse.If you too would like to understand Death Stranding, check out the full hour-long gameplay presentation out of the Tokyo Game Show, and read about why the dark setting inspired the Likes system. Kojima also remarked that sequels might be necessary to keep his new genre alive. , in between taking silly photographs. Death Stranding is coming to PS4 on November 8.Info from Gamespot.com

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is gearing up for its second beta before the first-person shooter launches on October 25 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Developer Infinity Ward has outlined what you can expect when the Modern Warfare beta returns this Thursday.Posted on the Modern Warfare subreddit, the headlining feature of this second beta is cross-play on all platforms. Ground War, the game's massive 32v32 multiplayer mode, makes its first appearance with a new map called Karst River Quarry. Modern Warfare's second beta is open to those who pre-ordered on PC and Xbox One, and all PS4 owners (whether you pre-ordered or not). It will run from September 19-20, then immeditaly go into open access for all players from September 20-23.Cross-Play Beta Start TimesSeptember 19 (PS4 open beta; Xbox One/PC early access) 10 AM PT1 PM ET6 PM BST3 AM AET (September 20)September 20 (PS4, Xbox One, PC open beta) 6 PM PT9 PM ET2 AM BST (September 21)11 AM AET (September 21) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare News Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Beta Details - Start Dates, Cross-Play, And More Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Pre-Order Guide Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare's Campaign Is As Long As You'd Expect Infinity Ward also shared incoming bug fixes for Modern Warfare's second beta. Some of these fixes include addressing a "pull" players experience near doors, grenades getting stuck on doors, players getting stuck in parts of the map, and more. Additionally, Infinity Ward said it is investigating several other issues, including online server connectivity, weapon attachments not unlocking at the requisite level, and more.While Infinity Ward hinted at adding battle royale to Modern Warfare, the studio insists battle royale isn't coming. Though the studio "love[s] battle royale," studio narrative director Taylor Kurosaki explained Infinity Ward has its hands full with other elements. "Campaign, multiplayer, Spec Ops---[battle royale] won't fit in the box! How much do you want?" Kurosaki said.Info from Gamespot.com

At this point, we still know practically nothing about the sequel to 2018's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. It was previously announced that the film would release in 2021, with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard reprising their roles from the first two Jurassic World films. Other than that, though, everything is more or less a mystery. However, we have now gotten the first look at life after Fallen Kingdom thanks to a new short film and it's pretty exciting.For those that need a refresher, the second Jurassic World film ended with dinosaurs escaping captivity into the world, promising a third installment of the franchise where humans are forced to coexist--or run in terror from--the massive beasts. The new short film, from franchise producer and Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow, is set one year after the events of Fallen kingdom and show how the world has changed.Battle at Big Rock, which first premiered on FX, follows a family that is camping at Big Rock National Park. While not said outright, it's implied that the family and those in their group have taken to the location because it's free of dinosaurs--until now. During their dinner, the group encounters a triceratops family, and then an allosaurus shows up. A fight ensues between the two types of dinosaur that ends with the allosaurus attempting to eat the human family in their RV. You can take a look at the full short film above.What makes Battle at Little Rock so exciting is this is exactly the type of thing many were hoping the franchise would explore after Fallen Kingdom. With dinosaurs on the loose, and likely unstoppable, the new normal is simply trying to survive in a world where they reign. A series of scenes are shown over the end credits of the short, showing other instances where dinosaurs and humans come face-to-face, often with unfortunate conclusions--whether they're causing car accidents or ruining weddings.There's still quite a while before Jurassic World 3 arrives on June 11, 2021, but if Battle at Little Rock is any indication, it's going to be a wild ride.Info from Gamespot.com

Now that Monster Hunter World's Iceborne expansion is out for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Capcom has announced what's coming to the action-RPG, revealing a roadmap that leads all the way into next year.The official Monster Hunter Twitter account shared a sneak peek of a few updates headed to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. October will introduce a new monster, Rajang, and additional updates to your room. November brings a new PlayStation 4-exclusive Event Quest inspired by Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds. December comes with two more Frozen Wilds quests on PS4, as well as a new unannounced monster and a season event. 2020 marks Monster Hunter World's two-year anniversary, with "more title updates on the way."Hunters, here's a sneak peek of some of the free updates coming to Monster Hunter World: #Iceborne this year... Stay tuned! ❄️ pic.twitter.com/6wZp0V5H1v — Monster Hunter (@monsterhunter) September 14, 2019Capcom packaged the Iceborne expansion in a new edition of Monster Hunter World. The bundle, called Master Edition, features all existing content along with the Iceborne expansion and retails for $60 USD. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne hit a big milestone in its first week, shipping 2.5 million units. Despite currently being for PS4 and Xbox One, Iceborne is expected to launch on Steam sometime in January 2020. Monster Hunter World Iceborne News Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Review Monster Hunter World Iceborne Guide: Tips & Advice You Need To Get Started New To Monster Hunter World? 12 Tips To Help Get You To Iceborne Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Female Armor - Master Rank Sets Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Male Armor - Master Rank Sets In our Monster Hunter World: Iceborne review, we said, "There's no more fussing about with new systems or worrying about ruffling the feathers of hardcore fans with a direction change in the series; those teething problems have already come and gone. Iceborne is a confident step into the future of the franchise, and it's hard not to think about what might come next."Info from Gamespot.com

Borderlands 3 contains plenty of Easter eggs, some of which even extend to references to the game's predecessors. One such example is a callback to a fairly notable side mission in Borderlands 2, where the main antagonist Handsome Jack offers you money to leap off a cliff. It's a relatively simple quest to do--especially since you'll just be immediately revived afterward--but you'll have to live with the shame that you'll do anything for money. In Borderlands 3, main antagonist Tyreen offers you a similar deal and for an even more tempting reward.You can find the quest on Eden-6, and you'll most likely run into it while hunting down Clay's former team members during a story mission. You'll hear about the quest way before you see it, as Tyreen will call you when you're in the vicinity and offer to give you a reward if you let her kill you on stream. From there, she'll direct you toward a very loud, violent-looking machine and present you with a choice: throw away your pride and step into a massive crusher or shoot out the cameras and walk away with your self-respect intact. Borderlands 3 News Borderlands 3 Starter Guide: 17 Spoiler-Free Tips You Should Know Before Jumping In Borderlands 3 Review Borderlands 3 Review, Release Date, Preload, Unlock Times, PC Specs, And More Borderlands 3 Golden Chest Guide: How To Get Golden Keys And Shift Codes I agreed to Tyreen's terms so you don't have to give her the satisfaction. That said, you may still want to do it as you get a pretty good gun for doing what Tyreen tells you, and the weapon has a fairly funny effect too. For submitting to Tyreen's demands, you get nearly a full minute of her teasing you for your insatiable hunger for more loot as well as a legendary Maliwan pistol called the Hazardous Sellout. You can see the gun in action in the video embedded above.As a Maliwan gun, the Hazardous Sellout switches between two elemental ammo types--in this case incendiary and corrosive. Ironically, Tyreen gifts you with one of the best guns in the game for burning through the defenses used by the most powerful bandits within her group of followers, as all Children of Vault are weak to fire and some carry turrets that erode with poison. But that's not all the Hazardous Sellout does.The gun talks. Tyreen, the self-proclaimed God-Queen, will continue to speak with you through the gun for as long as you're holding it. Most of what she says is an insult, like calling you a sellout (or much worse) and teasingly referring to you as one of her followers who will do anything she asks. However, she'll also aid your opposition, calling out to enemies you might be trying to sneak past or informing her followers when they should push forward because you're reloading.If you're still on the fence about picking up Borderlands 3, check out GameSpot's Borderlands 3 review. Once you've picked the game up, we have a few guides that might be helpful for starting out.Borderlands 3 GuidesBeginners Guide: 17 Spoiler-Free Tips You Show Before Jumping In Eridium Chest Guide: How Do You Unlock Them?Amara Guide: Best Skills To UnlockZane Guide: Best Skills To UnlockMoze Guide: Best Skills To UnlockFL4K Guide: Best Skills To UnlockTyphon De Leon Guide: How To Open Locked Typhon TreasureInfo from Gamespot.com

The Borderlands series has always enjoyed making references or poking fun at other game franchises. Borderlands 3 is no exception, ranging from insulting Destiny's engrams to praising Doom's weapons. There's even a reference to one of the more notable missions from its predecessor, Borderlands 2. Some of these references are even tied to guns, like the Mario-themed Compressing Superball.A legendary Maliwan pistol, the Compressing Superball cannot switch elements like most of the guns made by the company--it solely fires incendiary bullets. Instead of the laserbeam, tri-shot, or rapid-fire bullets seen on other Maliwan guns, the Compressing Superball shoots a giant fireball that explodes on impact and deals splash damage.The description for the gun reads "Flower power," which is most likely in reference to the Super Mario Bros. series, where main protagonist Mario can gain the superpower to shoot fireballs out of his hands after consuming a fire flower. This isn't the first Super Mario Bros. reference seen in the Borderlands franchise. The very first game included an Achievement/Trophy called "My Brother is an Italian Plumber" that you earn by killing an enemy by inflicting damage on them by jumping on their head.Though the effect the Compressing Superball creates is cool-looking, the gun isn't actually all that good. After the initial area of Pandora, you begin encountering a lot more enemies that wear shields or armor--increasing the value of shock and corrosive weapons while decreasing the utility of incendiary. Also, as a Maliwan gun, the Compressing Superball's shot isn't all that strong, which doesn't pair very well with its slow fire rate. Borderlands 3 News Borderlands 3 Starter Guide: 17 Spoiler-Free Tips You Should Know Before Jumping In Borderlands 3 Review Borderlands 3 Review, Release Date, Preload, Unlock Times, PC Specs, And More Borderlands 3 Golden Chest Guide: How To Get Golden Keys And Shift Codes Info from Gamespot.com

Two things are truer than ever right now: Keanu Reeves is on fire and we're all breathtaking. It's also a well-known fact that Hideo Kojima is continually revealing new partnerships with Hollywood talent as Death Stranding nears its release date. A recent photo of him and John Wick's Keanu Reeves standing in the luminous entryway to Kojima Productions' Tokyo office sparked a flurry of what-ifs across social media--would he get scanned in Kojima's unusually well-known body scanning rig and wind up in the game? He is appearing in CD Project Red's upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 next year, so Reeves being in a video game isn't out of the question. Back in July, Kojima said Keanu wasn't in the game, but with that recent studio visit in mind, has that changed? We asked Kojima himself during TGS.Our Keanu visited Kojima Productions👍🌈😊 pic.twitter.com/wBM3cQ7taw — HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) September 7, 2019Rather than cut to the chase, Kojima explained that even though he wasn't able to work with Reeves on this project, there was a time when he seriously considered approaching the actor to take up the role that was originally designed for Mads Mikkelsen, a story he mentioned in the past, but went into more detail about during our chat."Keanu is a great guy," said Kojima. "I have a close friend, Nicolas Refn, he introduced me to Mads and I made an offer to Mads to be in the game. I went to Denmark and talked to Nicolas again before I gave the offer to Mads, and I said I met Mads a couple of times but I really wanted to reconfirm with Nicolas that I really should work with him. Nicolas said, 'He's great, but the best guy is Keanu,' and he was doing Neon Demon at that time. So he was trying to persuade me to use Keanu, and I thought maybe I will change from Mads to Keanu."Kojima also recounted a time when he asked for an outside opinion on the matter. "We were having this dinner, and there was this chef," Kojima recalled," and I told him that I'm thinking of using Mads, and asked what he thought. Even the chef said maybe Keanu is better, even though he liked Mads a lot. But I did write the character for Mads, imagining him, so I am very happy that I offered it to Mads in the end."Judging from the bits and pieces that Kojima has shown of Mads in Death Stranding, his menacing stare and calm demeanor seem like the perfect fit for the game's atmosphere. It's anyone's guess as to how Keanu would have fared, but one things for sure: Kojima won't give up on partnering with Keanu anytime soon. "So as I said, Keanu is a great guy, and in the future it would be great if we could work together. It could be a game, or maybe a movie or TV show I might work on, so maybe next time. But I want to say Mads is really great. When I met Keanu, I was shocked that he was so polite; a real good guy. Were are only one year apart in age, so the appreciation towards a lot of things are similar, I think. So in the future, I would like to offer something to Keanu."GameSpot was able to talk to Kojima about a number of topics during TGS, including whether or not he foresees a sequel to Death Stranding down the road. This interview came in the middle of Kojima's run of appearances on the TGS show floor, which gave him a chance to deliver presentations of the game to help clear the air and prepare for the upcoming launch. This includes a massive Death Stranding gameplay demo, and a second, more intimate look into the private life of Norman Reedus' character, Sam Porter Bridges. And before all of this, he revealed a new trailer, which primarily serves as a Death Stranding story briefing. Info from Gamespot.com

After reportedly shipping 100 million units worldwide, it's been revealed that the PlayStation 4 has shipped more than 30 million units in the United States.Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad tweeted the news, saying the US market accounts for "appxorimately 30 percent" of all PlayStation 4 sales. Other markets include Japan at eight million, Germany at seven million, and the UK at a little under seven million.PlayStation 4 sell through in the US has now surpassed 30 million, with the market accounting for approximately 30% of total PS4 sales. Other top markets include:Japan: 8.3m Germany: 7.2m UK: 6.8m pic.twitter.com/FfqxW9W96k — Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) September 15, 2019Sony has officially announced what we're calling the PlayStation 5. While no release date has been pinned down and a lot of questions remain unanswered, we've compiled a handy guide to help you sift through all the information we know about Sony's upcoming next-generation console. Further, Sony confirmed the PS5 will be backward compatible with PS4 games.For now, with the PS5 steadily on the horizon, we've listed out the best PS4 games available right now. These include looter-shooter Borderlands 3, action-pinball rogue-lite Creature in the Well, action-adventure game Control, 2D fighter Samurai Shodown, and more.Info from Gamespot.com

Gears 5 has set a record as Microsoft's biggest launch week for a first-party game this generation. The company announced that Gears 5 hit 3 million players on opening week. That gave it the highest first-week player count of any game since Halo 4 launched in 2012. Notably, that first-week figure included the four-day early access period that began on Friday, September 6, which only included Ultimate Edition purchasers and Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.The player count than doubled the prior game in the series, Gears of War 4. On PC the game was an even bigger improvement over its predecessor, tripling Gears 4's PC debut. It also marks Xbox Game Studios' biggest launch on Steam ever.That early access happened to coincide with a brief Xbox Live outage and some launch hiccups for the Coalition's latest game. The game has also been praised for its accessibility options, following Microsoft's push for increased accessibility with its adaptive controller."Gears 5 is very much a return of those best elements of Gears of War, but with a focus on making the game feel somewhat more adaptive to your particular ways of playing," Phil Hornshaw wrote in GameSpot's Gears 5 review. "Whether you want campaign or co-op, Competitive or Quickplay, there's an option for you in Gears 5, and plenty of stuff to reward you for time spent and skill gained. Gears 5 might suffer from some of the same storytelling missteps as its predecessors, and it might not venture far out of the past, but the new ideas it brings to the series are all good reasons for fans to return."Info from Gamespot.com

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will receive new content in advance of Modern Warfare's October launch on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Treyarch's latest entry in the Black Ops series adds a new Operation later this month on PS4.The official Call of Duty Twitter account announced that Black Ops 4's next DLC Operation, Dark Divide, arrives on PS4 this Monday, September 23. Operation Dark Divide has no release date on PC and Xbox One, but it has been confirmed the other platforms will see Dark Divide sometime later.Heroes will rise.Operation Dark Divide comes to #BlackOps4 September 23rd on PS4, with other platforms to follow. pic.twitter.com/U5d9DwiLTT — Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) September 16, 2019Operation Dark Divide's contents have yet to be revealed, but it's said to feature a new Zombies map and more multiplayer locations. Black Ops 4's last Operation, Grand Heist, introduced new characters, outfits, maps, and a whole lot more. Operation Spectre Rising, which launched in April, brought in a new Specialist called Spectre, who wields a sharp katana and can see the outlines of enemies through their smoke grenades.Blackout, Black Ops 4's battle royale mode, recently added Avenged Sevenfold singer M. Shadows as a playable character. Further, actor Danny Trejo is presumably a playable character in Blackout as well. Though previously hinted at by developer Infinity Ward, the studio confirmed that Modern Warfare won't feature a battle royale mode. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare News Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Beta Details - Start Dates, Cross-Play, And More Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Pre-Order Guide Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare's Campaign Is As Long As You'd Expect Info from Gamespot.com

It's been a couple of weeks since SNES games made their way to Nintendo Switch's online subscription service, and now Nintendo has released its official wireless SNES controller. You can now order the pad from its website as long as you're subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online.SNES Controller for Nintendo Switch$30See it at NintendoThe SNES controller features everything the original did, with the addition of small ZL and ZR buttons, as well as a USB-C port for charging. A USB cable is provided, but you'll also be able to charge the controller with your Nintendo Switch AC adapter.If you're looking for another option, 8Bitdo makes excellent controllers based on classic pads including the SNES. You can check them out, including its own version of the SNES controller, in our article on the best Nintendo Switch controllers we've tried so far.The SNES Online library is a bonus provided by Nintendo to Switch Online subscribers. There are currently 20 SNES games available to play, and while Nintendo previously released NES games monthly, the company's future retro additions "will not adhere to a regular schedule." You can see every SNES and NES game available to subscribers here.Info from Gamespot.com

Warning! This post is full of spoilers about the story of Control. Read on at your own risk!About midway through Control, I encountered a moment that completely upended my thinking about the game. It was after completing a sidequest in which I encountered the Former, a giant, black, worm-like creature with one massive eye and a murderous disposition.You battle the Former at the end of the quest. Afterward, you receive a message from the Board, the mysterious Astral Plane force that supports the Federal Bureau of Control and sanctions the Director. The message, a call on the supernatural telephone known as the Hotline, features the Board trying to dissuade you from listening to anything the Former may have tried to tell you. As with all communications from the Board, the message is full of statements where two words are included in the same place, allowing either to be used to interpret the sentence."You have heard Wrong/Fake News. The Board is A-OK/Intact. The Rebel Faction/Dissent is Former/Fired. The Crisis/Purge is over. This is not a Matter/Worry for you. You can hang up now, please."This isn't the first message from the Board that's strange or vaguely menacing, but it is fundamentally different from most or all of the others. In this one, Remedy uses some very particular language that's become familiar in the real world. The invocation of the phrase "fake news" has some specific cultural connotations. Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, it's not uncommon to hear "fake news" used by someone to discredit a fact they don't like. Unlike your other messages from the Board, this one feels like the entity or group is straight-up lying to you. And as in all its messages, the usage of replaceable words give a look into the Board's intentions you wouldn't otherwise get. And if the Board is unreliable, it throws a lot of other underlying premises in Control into question.The Board is far from the only thing about Control that's slippery and untrustworthy. There's Zachariah Trench, the former director of the Federal Bureau of Control, who speaks to Jesse from beyond the grave with the help of the Hotline. For most of the game, Trench comes off as a guide, imparting useful wisdom to Jesse as she takes on the role he just vacated. Once you hit the end of the game, however, you realize what really happened to Trench. During an expedition into another dimension with the use of the Slide Projector Object of Power, Trench was attacked and invaded by Control's otherworldly antagonist force, the Hiss. He wasn't just possessed outright, as the enemies throughout Control were; the Hiss worked on Trench's paranoia as a voice in his head for years.The Hiss finally convinced Trench to use the Slide Projector to open a portal to its dimension, allowing it to invade the Bureau and leading to the crisis that precipitates the events of the game. Once you know that, everything Trench says in his messages becomes suspect. Rewatching those messages, you realize that Trench's asides and offhand comments are the results of a malicious influence on his mind that ultimately drove him to madness. You have a pile of messages from Trench telling Jesse how to be a good Director and warning of a conspiracy brewing within the Bureau. Trench even suggests his head of research, Dr. Darling, is behind that conspiracy. But it's only after the fact that you realize that some or all of it might be tainted.But it's not just characters who aren’t exactly what they seem. Everything in Control builds on its shifting double-speak and altered perception. For one, there's the fact the Board may not have your best interests at heart. (In one message the Board refers to you as the weapon it wields against the Hiss; in another, it threatens to annihilate you if you trust the Former's lies, even though the Former hasn't communicated with you in any way.) Another is the suggestion that the Hiss might not be the true villain in Control. Yes, the Hiss attacks you at every turn, but at the same time, you're the Director, an instrument of the Hiss's enemies. The Former also attacks you on sight, possibly for the same reason.From Trench's point of view, the real enemies are not the Hiss, but the entity called Hedron that the Bureau brought back from Slidescape 36. And in the same way that the Hiss seems to influence Trench, Hedron seems to influence Dr. Darling, driving him to build the Hedron Resonance Amplifiers to protect against the Hiss. To Trench, those wearing HRAs are the ones who are no longer human and who are possessed by a malicious force.Jesse's brother Dylan, who has accepted the Hiss but retains at least some of his identity, also draws attention to the things Jesse doesn't know about the masters she serves and their agendas. For Dylan, Trench and Darling are the enemies, and the Hiss is a liberator. Dylan also tells Jesse that she's a puppet of both the Bureau and the Board--and even eam in which two of them are trapped in a game, one that Jesse can't stop playing. Are Dylan and the Hiss just messing with you or trying to tell you the truth?Jesse spends the entire game driven forward by yet another unknowable force: Polaris. Another entity from an alternate dimension, Control suggests Polaris is the reason Jesse has come to the Bureau in the first place--and not just to look for her brother. One recording explains that Polaris is pushing Jesse to arrive at the Bureau at a very specific moment. When Polaris sends Jesse to find Hedron, Control seems to suggest the two entities are actually one and the same (or at the very least, Polaris and Hedron are related or Polaris is a part of Hedron). And then Polaris tells Jesse to remove the HRA that protects the entity, allowing the Hiss to attack it. Hedron, seemingly, is destroyed in the next exchange--but Polaris's power becomes a permanent part of Jesse.Through it all, it's not clear what Hedron's or Polaris's agendas are, or why they would instruct you to open Hedron up to the Hiss's attack. All we know is, while Polaris knew that Jesse was searching for her brother, it was only when the Hiss threat reared up that Polaris finally revealed the Bureau's location to her.But even off-hand comments and lines of dialogue have hidden depths of interpretation. During a mission to protect the Bureau's power plant, Trench tells Jesse that the Director's most basic job is to keep the lights on, which sounds like an innocuous truism. But climb to the top of the NSC, the Bureau's power reactor, and you'll discover its true name is "Northmoore Sarcophagus Container." Northmoore was the Director before Trench, who Trench describes as being overwhelmed by his quest for power. It seems that notion was as literal as it was metaphorical, as Northmoore was apparently transformed into a human energy source. When Trench says the Director's job is to keep the lights on, he's speaking both literally and figuratively.The Bureau's very nature is to seek out and understand things of a double nature. The place is filled with Objects of Power and Altered Items--everyday things that look normal enough, but are imbued with life and powers of their own. And the Oldest House itself seems to be a living character with an agenda of its own. Documents describe how the building often shifts without warning, with doors, corridors, or whole rooms disappearing or being sealed off for indefinite lengths of time. You see this as you play; sometimes pathways you took to get to a place no longer exist when you return. The Oldest House isn't exactly working against you, but it is working at something.That idea is most wholly embodied by Ahti, the Bureau's janitor. Ahti is a supernatural figure of some kind, although the details of his nature are hazy throughout the game. He knows about the intricacies of the building and more than once allows you to access areas you couldn't otherwise reach without his help. Later in the game, there's a whole chapter devoted to Ahti's strange capabilities within the Oldest House. And unlike other characters, Ahti can hear Jesse's internal monologue. In her first meeting with the character, Ahti responds to a comment Jesse only thinks but doesn't say aloud. In the Executive sector, you can find a painting of Ahti with the inscription "Our Bureau at Work," and some players have interpreted this to mean that Ahti is a personification of the Oldest House itself.Sure, all of these elements help bolster Control's "New Weird" genre storytelling, but together they go further than that, to turn the game itself into a mystery. It'd be possible for Control's lack of concrete answers to become frustrating, since deciding what's happening in the game so often seems left up to your point of view. But instead, that subjectivity allows Control to transcend what we're used to in video game storytelling as it draws from its inspirations in the New Weird genre and the works of David Lynch. It doesn't just tell a story about a strange building set in a weird universe of interdimensional madness; Control embodies those ideas at every level.Remedy uses all these intricacies to turn its entire game into an Oldest House unto itself--something that shifts and changes depending on how you look at it, and when, and what you've learned along the way. The most fascinating and captivating thing about Control is how well Remedy has integrated its themes and ideas through every inch and element of the game. With DLC expansions on the way, it's clear we haven't seen everything that Remedy means to show us about the world of Control. Jesse riffs on Plato's Cave at the start of the game, explaining that most people's conception of reality is akin to sitting in a prison cell, staring at a poster on the wall and never realizing there's a whole world just beyond. Control makes it clear there's more behind the poster than what Remedy has already shown. Absolutely nothing is as it seems in Control--and that's what makes the game itself so remarkable. Info from Gamespot.com

Every time Hideo Kojima takes a moment to describe Death Stranding, the theme of connection comes into play. After watching a pair of gameplay demos at Tokyo Game Show last week, the mechanics involved seems fairly straightforward: you can leave items behind for other weary players to pick up, and build structures to make their journey a little less arduous. These concepts seem easy enough to understand, but it's not the sort of stuff that feels as impactful as Kojima makes Death Stranding out to be. Is there more to it?Chatting to Kojima last week, we got the sense that, more than the specific mechanics at play, the sentiment behind them is what he believes will resonate with players and inspire them to pay favors forward. Kojima's insight came after we asked for his opinion of the current state of interactions online. "I don't think it's real communication," he told us. Platforms like Twitter allow people to be simultaneously cruel and anonymous, and he wants to combat that by injecting Death Stranding with the spirit of "omoiyari," a Japanese word that loosely aligns with the concept of empathy.Looking back a century, Kojima pointed to letters sent from soldiers during wartime to help illustrate the concept. "There's a soldier in the war field back then who writes a letter to his wife. So he gives it to the military, it's sent by ship, it takes like four months, and then his wife opens the letter. This is what was written four months ago and maybe he's dead on the other side of the world [by then]. It's not real time, there's such a big lapse. The wife has to think about what the husband was thinking about four months ago, in this situation, and this is the omoiyari feeling--caring about others."Employing acts of generosity is one thing, but to truly understand what Kojima is aiming for, you'll also have to consider what it's like to receive acts of kindness as well. In a more direct nod to what you'll experience in Death Stranding, he points to Mt. Fuji--more specifically, a location that is purpose-built to provide assistance to weary travelers. "If you climb mount Fuji," he says "it's really rough. There's a cabin in between when you're climbing. Of course it's very easy if there's a path, but sometimes there's no path. And I always feel very thankful for the path and the cabin. I'm always grateful to the first person who makes it, and if I can drink coffee in that log cabin I am so happy about it. So I think if someone feels that way, they can then give that to other people as well. That's my hope for the game. It's not the main theme, but that's the hope."I don’t know how there’s a little wine bar on this mountain trail but there is and hikers are drinking! 🍷 The owner looks like this. I told him I like his roof plants. 🌱 pic.twitter.com/uKdJ0fPkSL — Dale North in 東京 (@DaleNorth) September 14, 2019The cabin pictured above isn't the one Kojima is specifically referring to, but it certainly gives off the same energy he's describing. Knowing that not everyone has the best intentions online, we asked Kojima if we suspects some players will try to hinder, rather than help, other players. In his experience, this is unlikely: "I pretty much feel that there won't be much intentional evil.""We do a lot of playtests in the office. So sometimes there's a bridge that crosses a deep river, and people feel grateful, but it only goes to the middle of the river. Of course you don't give that bridge a thumbs up, but it probably wasn't intentional. I pretty much feel that there won't be much intentional evil. I want people to think about that as well if they fall [off that bridge]…'I won't do that to someone.'"If Death Stranding can bring a renewed sense of community to the gaming space, we're all for it. Kojima's optimism is definitely infectious in person, but the history of multiplayer griefing--both in game and in the real world--is too consistent to ignore. Time will tell; everyone will get to put his new Social Strand System to the test when Death Stranding releases in just a few weeks, on Nov. 8.Info from Gamespot.com

After Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, a disappointing spin-off released in 2014, Borderlands 3 is a welcome return to form for the franchise. The game reunites fans with the core group of memorable main characters from the first two games and delivers the mayhem-heavy loot-shooter experience that the series is known for. Borderlands 3 carries forward many of the things that made the first two games special, but in doing so it also brings with it a few of the same stumbling blocks. There are noticeable improvements to the series formula, though, as Borderlands 3 provides additional freedom in how you want to play.Set seven years after the events of Borderlands 2, Borderlands 3 wraps up most of the narratives established in the earlier games, while also teasing additional threads that could be explored in the future. Despite these hints, there's a definite finality to Borderlands 3's campaign, which satisfyingly wraps up the arcs of characters that fans have been following for 10 years.As one of four fledgling Vault Hunters--Zane the operative, Amara the Siren, Moze the gunner, or FL4K the beastmaster--you are recruited into the Crimson Raiders, the militia that defends the only civilized pocket of society found on the bandit-filled wasteland planet of Pandora. Led by Lilith, a former Vault Hunter, the Crimson Raiders have gone to war with Tyreen Calypso and her twin brother Troy, who are using their influence as popular video streamers to convince their cult following to help them acquire the immense power found in secret vaults scattered throughout the universe. The story is a bit of a slow start, but it quickly picks up near the end of the first act and rarely slows down on its way to its grand finale. Looting and shooting are still the focus of Borderlands 3, but its campaign also delivers a fairly well-written story of sacrifice, the importance of family, and the responsibilities of heroes.Borderlands 3 provides more flexibility than ever before to create the type of character you want. For the first time in the series, the Vault Hunters all have an active skill tied to each of their three respective skill trees. Amara, for example, can equip Phaseslam to deal immense close range damage, Phasecast to tear through enemies from afar, or Phasegrasp to crowd control or focus her elemental abilities on one target. Using perks from all three skill trees, you can evolve each of these skills in meaningful ways. For instance, if you want to make Amara's area-of-effect Phaseslam ability into something more precise, you could change it with perks found in both the Brawl and Fist of the Elements skill trees so that the ability transforms Amara into a levitating spider-like creature that shoots a massive fire-based death ray before she careens to earth in a smaller slam. Phaseslam can evolve in other ways too, as can Phasecast and Phasegrasp--providing numerous options for how you want Amara to fight. The same can be said for Zane, Moze, and FL4K.As a result, it's pretty easy for both you and a friend to be playing as the same character but have completely different builds and roles on the battlefield. This added freedom also makes it far more feasible, and thus enjoyable, to play Borderlands 3's campaign entirely solo in comparison to previous games in the franchise, as you're not limited to established class restrictions based on your Vault Hunter choice. You obviously don't have to go it alone--and Borderlands 3 actually makes co-op more rewarding thanks to an option that removes the need to compete for loot--but it's nice knowing that if you want to, your experience will not be completely defined by the Vault Hunter you choose.The freedom to build your ideal loadout extends beyond your Vault Hunter's skill trees. Borderlands 3 makes clear-cut distinctions when it comes to the manufacturer of each gun. Before you even loot a new firearm, looking at which company made it will tell you most of what you need to know about what it can do. Maliwan guns are fairly weak but each one shoots elemental bullets, for instance, allowing you to more easily electrocute shields, melt armor, or burn through flesh, while a Hyperion firearm raises a forcefield in front of you while aiming down sights and becomes more accurate as you pull the trigger. They're minor changes to further differentiate each type of gun, but these new manufacturer effects make it a lot easier to build specialized loadouts that can augment the perks you choose.But, more than anything, the guns are just fun to shoot. It may come as little surprise given that distinctive firearms has been the bread and butter of the franchise since the beginning, but Borderlands 3 has quite a few unique guns that offer a wide variety of enjoyable effects. Some have actual gameplay-changing ramifications, like a sniper rifle that can transform into a shotgun. But Borderlands 3 also has guns that are just playfully quirky and weird--ones that insult and tease you for your performance or just shoot more guns, for example. And you acquire new firepower at a gratifying pace, with new loot regularly dropping from the tougher enemies in the groups you encounter and explosively erupting from bosses you defeat. Borderlands 3 never lets up on giving you new weapons to experiment with, progressively increasing the explosive potential and wacky effects of the weapons you find, which in turn serves as a satisfying visual representation of how much stronger you're getting beyond the higher damage numbers.Even without the loot, defeating enemies in combat is fulfilling. Shooting an unshielded enemy in the head rewards you with their cranium erupting in a satisfying blossom of blood and gore. When you don't land that final headshot, enemies mostly go out with a final battle cry--ranging from pitiful cries for salvation to humorous insults--and the game doesn't repeat lines often enough for them to grow stale. Combat is never dull as a result, with your chosen Vault Hunter shouting out funny or cool-sounding one-liners in the brief moments you're reloading and making your way to your next victim.As entertaining as Borderlands 3's combat is, the fun that is found in the freedom to fight however you want is occasionally interrupted by the structure of boss battles, a traditional problem for the franchise. Many of the bosses look cool and have incredible theme music, but they all amount to the same strategy: shoot the weak spots, run from or jump over attacks, and repeat. You can cheat some by hiding in an unreachable corner and slowly chipping away at the boss' weak spot, but that's not much fun either as pretty much every boss in the game has a large healthpool and many of the later ones are bullet-sponges.Borderlands 3's late-game bosses pack a wallop with every attack too, downing you in a few hits if you're not careful and thus demanding that you near-perfectly dodge for an extended period of time--which can drag on and feel boringly repetitive in the longest of these fights. So when you do encounter a boss in Borderlands 3, it typically grinds the mayhem-filled action to an abrupt halt as you're forced to respond to the boss' patterns by playing more slowly and carefully.The new climbing and sliding moves do allow you to better navigate environments and thus get out of the way of certain attacks, but both mechanics are better suited for weaving among the scattered firefights with normal enemies, not the concentrated bombardment of the bosses. Several boss battles are frustratingly difficult to tackle on your own as a result, to the point that they all seem like repeated suggestions that you should be playing Borderlands 3 with at least one other person. Two or more players allows you to take turns reviving each other, making it easier to last longer. But simply trying to outlast one strong enemy doesn't impart the same enjoyable impact of the mayhem-filled firefights from the rest of the game. You feel more like a badass running around and gunning down a vast assortment of different enemies than you do hiding behind cover and waiting for the boss to stop attacking you just so you can safely get a few shots off.Thankfully, boss battles only make up a small part of Borderlands 3's overall campaign. Most of the story sees you go up against the Calypsos' seemingly never-ending cult of bandits or the armies of the twins' corporate sponsors as you race to find the pieces of the keys to open up vaults across the universe. Your journey takes you far beyond the planet of Pandora, and it provides opportunities for new types of combat encounters in a series that has largely revolved around wide-open deserts full of bandits or factories full of robots. For example, the jungles of Eden-6 contain an assortment of dangerous wildlife that have different hunting grounds and patterns, and the low gravity of a Maliwan space station orbiting the planet of Promethea allows the elemental gunslinging corporate soldiers you're going up against to jump higher and more easily attack you from above. Certain weapons have greater utility in certain environments as well, such as an explosive mushroom-like grenade that becomes more powerful when thrown into water. That's easier to do more often in Eden-6's swamps than Pandora's sand dunes. Borderlands 3's campaign sees you bouncing back and forth between planets every few hours, which keeps each setting from growing stale while also encouraging you to keep adopting new playstyles, strategies, and weapons.Borderlands' heroes are nothing if not personable, and that trend continues in this latest installment--transforming the motley crew of outlaws into a family you feel a kinship with.Even if Borderlands 3 takes you far beyond the scope of Pandora and sees you meet brand-new allies and encounter never-before-seen threats, the original cast of characters that have defined the adventures from the beginning are still at the forefront, and the story is better for it. Whether you're a long-time fan or not, it's the connection to the Crimson Raiders that acts as your motivation for fighting through the campaign. Borderlands' heroes are nothing if not personable, and that trend continues in this latest installment--transforming the motley crew of outlaws into a family you feel a kinship with. Your connection to the Crimson Raiders continues to grow with every mission as well, as--thanks to the spaceship Sanctuary III--the entire group is with you throughout the course of your journey.Newcomer Tyreen is clearly a bad person, but the campaign's story never gives you a compelling reason as to why you would want to kill her so as to stop her for good. Lilith is fond of reminding you that Tyreen's plans would ultimately destroy Pandora, but Borderlands 3 introduces a bunch of planets that would make for more preferable homes. Tyreen, and thus Troy, never amounts to a credible threat that you feel like you need to stop as a result, so the Calypso twins instead feel like the primary source of much of Borderlands 3's comic relief, not villains that must be stopped.With most of the franchise's juvenile humor and ludicrous jokes coming from your planetside interactions with the Calypsos, it's on Sanctuary III with your crew that Borderlands 3's well-written story delves into its more heartfelt and emotional moments. The game wastes little time reintroducing you to mainstays Lilith and Patricia Tannis, a brilliant yet socially anxious scientist, and building the drama of its narrative around them as the two women grow into their new roles within the Crimson Raiders. Tannis' evolution is especially compelling as you see her make courageous strides to move beyond the self-imposed limitations she's set for herself on account of her autism and social anxiety. For two characters that were popular but little more than caricatures in the first game, it's rewarding to see the growth the two underwent in Borderlands 2 now culminate into two leaders that you're willing to follow to the end.That isn't to say the other fan-favorite characters have been left out. Pretty much everyone from the previous games returns to complete their respective arcs. Borderlands 3 weaves in plenty of memorable new characters as well--such as the coffee-obsessed Lorelei, artificial intelligence BALEX, and scoundrel turned rebel general Clay--but the game's story is very much the fulfilling conclusion that long-time fans have been looking forward to for the franchise's mainstays.And what a conclusion it is. Borderlands 3 has a few stumbling blocks when it comes to bosses, but these fights are overshadowed by the game's rewarding gunplay and over-the-top humor. The game's character-driven narrative acts as a satisfying finale for the loot-shooter franchise, and the new mechanics and features--especially the reworked skill trees and weapon manufacturer effects--give you plenty of agency in how you want to play through it. If you've never been a fan of the franchise, it's unlikely Borderlands 3 does enough things differently to change your mind, as the game best excels at continuing what the series has always done: deliver a humorous tall tale of misfits looting and shooting their way to heroism.Info from Gamespot.com

If you fancy yourself an expert at Mario Kart, you'll have a chance to put your skills to the test and earn some free Eshop credit later this week. Nintendo has announced it is hosting an online tournament in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe this Sunday, September 22, and the winners will take home $25 in My Nintendo Gold points.The Mario Kart North American Open runs from 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET to 8 PM PT / 11 PM ET. To participate in the competition, you'll first need to select Tournaments from the Online Play option in the game's main menu, then search for the following tournament code: 2093-5045-4827.Rev your engines, the #MarioKart North American Open will begin on 9/22! Get ready to race to the Gold Points & join by entering this tournament code into the game before the event begins: 2093-5045-4827. Who’s kart will take the crown? https://t.co/uPeyQp3FkQ pic.twitter.com/PLwb3raEHH — Nintendo Versus (@NintendoVS) September 16, 2019Each race will be 150cc, with normal items and Smart Steering disabled. Nintendo will crown a total of eight winners based on players' in-game scores during the competition. The winners will be notified via email on or around September 27 and will take home 2,500 My Nintendo Gold points, which can be put toward digital purchases on the Switch Eshop. You can read the full contest rules on Nintendo's website.Be aware that to participate in this online tournament, you'll need to have a subscription to the Nintendo Switch Online service. Memberships are available for US $4 / £3.49 / AU $6 for one month, US $8 / £7 / AU $12 for three months, and US $20 / £18 / AU $30 for 12 months. Nintendo also offers an annual Family Membership that runs for US $35 / £31.49 / AU $55 and covers up to eight Nintendo Accounts. You can read more about the service in our guide to Nintendo Switch Online.The NSO service offers a few other perks besides online play, such as access to a library of classic SNES and NES games. Nintendo is also selling a replica SNES controller for Switch exclusively for NSO subscribers. The controller is available to order now and costs $30 USD. NSO subscribers can also grab freebies for Super Kirby Clash and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate right now from the Eshop.Info from Gamespot.com