In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Death Stranding star Norman Reedus described Hideo Kojima as a “genius’ genius” while discussing the enigmatic game developer’s directorial style.

While discussing how Kojima directed Death Stranding’s cutscenes – with or without all the necessary actors in the same room at times – Reedus described how oftentimes it was just down to he and Kojima, leading to peculiar interactions.

“A lot of times it was just me and Hideo. He would have a plastic baby doll on the ground and want me to cradle it and act like it’s dead. Then act like it’s alive,” Reedus said, seemingly referencing Death Stranding’s first major teaser trailer. "Then freak out because there’s handprints everywhere. You stand up and he goes, imagine there’s a thousand dead whales in front of you, and you’re like, 'What?!' His mind is on another level. He’s a genius’ genius. He and I got into a shorthand where he would look at me and he would point and frown and make a face and I would just go, yep, I got it. We sort of transcended the language barrier after a while.”

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Nioh and Outlast 2 have been announced as the free PlayStation Plus games for November.

The PlayStation Blog revealed the games will be available from November 5 to December 3. They will replace The Last of Us Remastered and MLB: The Show 19.

Nioh was developed by Team Ninja, the team behind the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden franchises. IGN's Nioh review awarded the game a 9.6 out of 10 upon the game's release in February 2017. We said "Nioh is an epic, unforgettable adventure carried by a fierce combat system." A sequel was announced at Sony's E3 2018 conference with an open beta coming November 1 to November 10 on PlayStation 4.

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Translating the speed and precision of Call of Duty's multiplayer to a touch screen sounds like a no-brainer. You want the same high-octane action on the go, and now that most phones support Bluetooth controllers, the issue of virtual buttons and joysticks bogging down the experience is a moot point. It's both curious and surprising then that Call of Duty Mobile not only doesn't make use of more traditional controllers, but that it also doesn't feel like it needs to. Its smart control scheme is core to why this scaled-down version of one of the most popular shooters in the world doesn't make drastic compromises to get there.

Call of Duty Mobile is like a greatest hits tour of the best aspects of the series' console multiplayer. It features the most popular game modes and some of the best maps from Modern Warfare and the first two instalments of Black Ops, faithfully recreated to give you the same sight lines and choke points you're familiar with. It looks great, too. Playing on an iPhone 11, I was surprised at how much detail is packed into each map while the game sticks to a silky-smooth frame rate, only briefly dipping with large amounts of action on the screen or out in the more graphically challenging open environments of the included Battle Royale mode. Weapons feature their signature punchy animations and sound effects, killstreaks retain their destructive glamor, and a variety of cosmetic options keep things from drowning in boring military styles. There's no mistaking it: This is Call of Duty.

It does, however, leave out controller support, despite Android and iOS supporting it widely. Instead you have to use on-screen touch controls, with a handful of buttons and two virtual joysticks controlling the action. First-person games with this type of control scheme have been attempted numerous times, and they've hardly stuck. The inability to continue firing while both moving and adjusting your aim is the issue, typically requiring you to sacrifice one or the other to use a finger to hit the trigger. This is how both Fortnite and PUBG work on mobile, but Call of Duty Mobile gives you numerous options to tweak it for the better.

The default mode removes manual shooting altogether. Instead of tapping a button to fire, it's triggered automatically when you keep your reticle fixed on an enemy for a short amount of time, which is drastically reduced if you're also aiming down the sights. This lets you focus on keeping aim on an opponent at all times without having to temporarily stand still to hit fire, allowing the action in Call of Duty Mobile to remain fast and fluid. Additional options allow you to make minute changes to the controls, too. You can choose which type of weapons use automatic or manual firing (snipers, for example, benefit from more precise firing) and finely adjust how closely you need to be aiming at an enemy to trigger a shot. Its flexibility lets you experiment with what setup suits your playstyle best while keeping everyone using the same input method for balance, and it works really well.

A well-placed action bar at the bottom of the screen and contextual buttons for equipment, like grenades and killstreaks, keeps all your actions within reach, letting you tap them quickly enough to not seriously affect your ability to continue moving and shooting. Battle Royale also includes the same automatic pickup systems featured in Black Ops 4's Blackout, and feels far more suited for this constricted control scheme. Attachments and weapons that outrank those you currently have will automatically be picked up and equipped as you hover over them, while additional ammunition and healing items will be added in the same breath. There are instances where you'll have to dive into your item menu and make quick, small changes to suit your preferences, and navigating this on such a small screen is cumbersome. But for all the potential areas where Call of Duty Mobile might have had a problem with its interface, it approaches the majority of them with smart solutions that let you just focus on the action without worry.

Being free-to-play, Call of Duty Mobile does come with a recognizable suite of microtransactions and blind loot boxes for you to purchase, the majority of which only contain cosmetic items such as weapons and equipment skins. It's typical for the game to bombard you with messages when launched about new in-game currency offers, Battle Pass exclusives, seasonal events, and more, which is frustrating if you're just trying to log in for a quick game. Whenever you earn a loot box through natural progression, you'll be reminded of how much better its contained loot would be had you splurged on the Battle Pass, offering yet another pop-up to route you towards its purchase. Call of Duty Mobile is unrelenting in the way it tries to steer you towards options that require your credit card, but thankfully it has a miniscule impact on gameplay.

Traditional progression governs when you unlock new weapons and equipment, and there's no way to pay money to speed this process up. As you rank up, you'll unlock new custom class slots, tactical equipment, weapons across all classes, and special weapons that you can use in a similar fashion to the hero abilities in Black Ops 4. Where it deviates is with weapon attachments. Each weapon you use has an associated level. The more you use a weapon, the more attachments you unlock for it. Although you can't outright purchase new weapons, you can purchase weapon XP vouchers that can drastically speed up the process of unlocking attachments for them. With just a few you can take a brand-new weapon to its maximum level in a few seconds, circumventing the grinding you'd have to put in otherwise.

This can give you an advantage, as spending money could allow you to more quickly unlock a precise red dot sight to improve your aim or a foregrip to steady your shots. It is easy enough to earn these vouchers through regular play, which mitigates the gap between paying and non-paying players to an extent, but if you're not looking to spend anything you'll have to play a couple of games with a slight disadvantage once you've settled on a new weapon. But once you've reached the maximum level for your preferred weapon, the playing field is entirely even again.

Beyond its messy microtransaction menus and the slight time-saving purchases, there's not much else in Call of Duty Mobile that detracts from its faithful recreation of the exhilarating and fast-paced multiplayer action of the core series. It's flexible and easy-to-use control scheme mitigates the lack of controller support, and its celebration of the best modes and maps the Black Ops and Modern Warfare series have produced makes it a pleasure to line up game after game.

Translating the speed and precision of Call of Duty's multiplayer to a touch screen sounds like a no-brainer. You want the same high-octane action on the go, and now that most phones support Bluetooth controllers, the issue of virtual buttons and joysticks bogging down the experience is a moot point. It's both curious and surprising then that Call of Duty Mobile not only doesn't make use of more traditional controllers, but that it also doesn't feel like it needs to. Its smart control scheme is core to why this scaled-down version of one of the most popular shooters in the world doesn't make drastic compromises to get there.

Call of Duty Mobile is like a greatest hits tour of the best aspects of the series' console multiplayer. It features the most popular game modes and some of the best maps from Modern Warfare and the first two instalments of Black Ops, faithfully recreated to give you the same sight lines and choke points you're familiar with. It looks great, too. Playing on an iPhone 11, I was surprised at how much detail is packed into each map while the game sticks to a silky-smooth frame rate, only briefly dipping with large amounts of action on the screen or out in the more graphically challenging open environments of the included Battle Royale mode. Weapons feature their signature punchy animations and sound effects, killstreaks retain their destructive glamor, and a variety of cosmetic options keep things from drowning in boring military styles. There's no mistaking it: This is Call of Duty.

It does, however, leave out controller support, despite Android and iOS supporting it widely. Instead you have to use on-screen touch controls, with a handful of buttons and two virtual joysticks controlling the action. First-person games with this type of control scheme have been attempted numerous times, and they've hardly stuck. The inability to continue firing while both moving and adjusting your aim is the issue, typically requiring you to sacrifice one or the other to use a finger to hit the trigger. This is how both Fortnite and PUBG work on mobile, but Call of Duty Mobile gives you numerous options to tweak it for the better.

The default mode removes manual shooting altogether. Instead of tapping a button to fire, it's triggered automatically when you keep your reticle fixed on an enemy for a short amount of time, which is drastically reduced if you're also aiming down the sights. This lets you focus on keeping aim on an opponent at all times without having to temporarily stand still to hit fire, allowing the action in Call of Duty Mobile to remain fast and fluid. Additional options allow you to make minute changes to the controls, too. You can choose which type of weapons use automatic or manual firing (snipers, for example, benefit from more precise firing) and finely adjust how closely you need to be aiming at an enemy to trigger a shot. Its flexibility lets you experiment with what setup suits your playstyle best while keeping everyone using the same input method for balance, and it works really well.

A well-placed action bar at the bottom of the screen and contextual buttons for equipment, like grenades and killstreaks, keeps all your actions within reach, letting you tap them quickly enough to not seriously affect your ability to continue moving and shooting. Battle Royale also includes the same automatic pickup systems featured in Black Ops 4's Blackout, and feels far more suited for this constricted control scheme. Attachments and weapons that outrank those you currently have will automatically be picked up and equipped as you hover over them, while additional ammunition and healing items will be added in the same breath. There are instances where you'll have to dive into your item menu and make quick, small changes to suit your preferences, and navigating this on such a small screen is cumbersome. But for all the potential areas where Call of Duty Mobile might have had a problem with its interface, it approaches the majority of them with smart solutions that let you just focus on the action without worry.

Being free-to-play, Call of Duty Mobile does come with a recognizable suite of microtransactions and blind loot boxes for you to purchase, the majority of which only contain cosmetic items such as weapons and equipment skins. It's typical for the game to bombard you with messages when launched about new in-game currency offers, Battle Pass exclusives, seasonal events, and more, which is frustrating if you're just trying to log in for a quick game. Whenever you earn a loot box through natural progression, you'll be reminded of how much better its contained loot would be had you splurged on the Battle Pass, offering yet another pop-up to route you towards its purchase. Call of Duty Mobile is unrelenting in the way it tries to steer you towards options that require your credit card, but thankfully it has a miniscule impact on gameplay.

Traditional progression governs when you unlock new weapons and equipment, and there's no way to pay money to speed this process up. As you rank up, you'll unlock new custom class slots, tactical equipment, weapons across all classes, and special weapons that you can use in a similar fashion to the hero abilities in Black Ops 4. Where it deviates is with weapon attachments. Each weapon you use has an associated level. The more you use a weapon, the more attachments you unlock for it. Although you can't outright purchase new weapons, you can purchase weapon XP vouchers that can drastically speed up the process of unlocking attachments for them. With just a few you can take a brand-new weapon to its maximum level in a few seconds, circumventing the grinding you'd have to put in otherwise.

This can give you an advantage, as spending money could allow you to more quickly unlock a precise red dot sight to improve your aim or a foregrip to steady your shots. It is easy enough to earn these vouchers through regular play, which mitigates the gap between paying and non-paying players to an extent, but if you're not looking to spend anything you'll have to play a couple of games with a slight disadvantage once you've settled on a new weapon. But once you've reached the maximum level for your preferred weapon, the playing field is entirely even again.

Beyond its messy microtransaction menus and the slight time-saving purchases, there's not much else in Call of Duty Mobile that detracts from its faithful recreation of the exhilarating and fast-paced multiplayer action of the core series. It's flexible and easy-to-use control scheme mitigates the lack of controller support, and its celebration of the best modes and maps the Black Ops and Modern Warfare series have produced makes it a pleasure to line up game after game.

Game of Thrones may be over, but this won't be the last fans see of Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms. Even though HBO has shelved its untitled prequel series set during the mythical Age of Heroes, it's moving forward with a different prequel. House of the Dragon, a series based on George R.R. Martin's novel Fire & Blood, has been given a straight-to-series order with a 10-episode first season.

But what is House of the Dragon, and how does it tie into the events of Game of Thrones? Read on for everything you need to know about the time period and what characters and events we're likely to see form the backbone of the new series. Here are the topics we cover here:

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Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, the creative force behind such franchises as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, and Star Fox, has been officially named a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government for his important cultural contributions to the world through video games.

As reported by Kotaku, Miyamoto is one of twenty individuals to receive one of Japan's highest honors for a creator, and all recipients come from a "variety of fields including the arts, music, science, and academia."

Nikkei (via Hachima and ANN) also reported that manga creator Moto Hagio (They Were Eleven, The Poe Clan) and filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi (House, Hanagatami) were also selected. Previous honorees include Studio Ghibli's Hayao Miyazki and Shigeru Mizuki of GeGeGe no Kitaro fame.

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Flying a drone is getting harder every year, with the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) increasingly stringent rules while the number of places you can legally fly are dwindling. Well now, DJI has come up with an ultra-light drone that’ll allow you to side-step a lot of those restrictions.

At 249 grams, the Mavic Mini is DJI’s smallest and lightest drone yet. It’s so small and light that you don’t even need to register it with the FAA.

Despite being so compact, this drone still has a lot of features found on DJI’s more expensive, capable, and larger drones. You get forward- and bottom-mounted proximity sensors, DJI’s entire suite of creative shooting and fly modes modes, as well as the return to home safety feature.

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It’s October. You want to watch horror movies. But you’ve already seen all the popular ones and you want something new.

Luckily, streaming services offer many, many horror options. But unluckily, most of those options are really, really bad.

That’s why every year, I put in the work to watch a truly heroic number of horror movies on streaming services to weed out the good from the bad. The scary from the sorry. The horror from the horrible.

This is an excellent year for horror hidden gems, and I’m very pleased to offer this 2019 list. I guarantee there’s something on here that even hardcore horror fans haven’t seen.

But please note, this 2019 list will only feature hidden gems that have not yet appeared on any of my annual lists. There are plenty of fantastic movies I have featured in previous years (2018, 2017, 2016) that are still up on streamers, like XX, Baskin, and Creep 2. Enjoy and get scared!

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Actor Hayden Christensen, known for his role as Anakin Skywalker in all three prequel Star Wars movies, took the time to visit Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge park this week, taking the time to visit some key sites and pose with a young fan.

The official Star Wars Instagram account captured the experience, starting off with Christensen interacting with a young Star Wars fan as part of the experience at Savi’s Workshop. For $200, fans can build their own lightsaber, but we’re sure Christensen isn’t a part of the usual package.

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With Resident Evil back on track, Shinji Mikami returning to the world of survival horror he helped create, and surprise indie hits like Outlast, the current console generation has been a treat for fans of the dark and dreary. With Halloween approaching, we're looking back at the 25 scariest games of this generation (November 2013–present).

Click through the gallery below or continue scrolling for our full list.

25. Observer

Layers of Fear developer Bloober Team stepped away from its usual psychological horror for Observer, a mind-bender set in a cyberpunk dystopia. The result is a well-realized concoction of mind tricks that will have you slowly questioning the reality of the game world.

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