Hideo Kojima has posted a new teaser video for his mysterious upcoming project, Death Stranding. Released on Twitter, the video shows the outline of a hand and the words “Create the rope.” Some eerie music plays in the background, while flashes of mysterious objects appear as well.

It’s hard to make sense of, which is par for the course with Death Stranding. Check out the video for yourself in the embed below and let us know in the comments what you’ve spotted.

Death Stranding is Kojima’s first new game since his split with Konami. Very little is known about the game, and that appears to be intentional, with Kojima weaving secrets into its new trailers and teasers like the one he released today.

The game features a number of celebrities, including The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus in the lead role, as well as Mads Mikkelsen, Lea Seydoux, Lindsay Wagner, Guillermo del Toro, and Troy Baker.

Speaking to Metro, Reedus said he’s never seen anything like what Kojima is doing with the game.

“The concept is so far out into the future. Instead of eliminating everyone around you, it’s bringing everyone together,” he explained. “It’s a very positive video game, but scary and depressing at the same time. It’s kind of a new movie. I’ve never seen anything like what we’re doing.”

At the Tribeca Film Festival in April, Kojima talked about how Death Stranding will make you cry.

No release date has been set as of yet for Death Stranding. The game was announced for PlayStation 4 and PC, and it’ll be released on console through a partnership between Kojima’s new studio, Kojima Productions, and Sony. A recent report said Death Stranding might also release on PS5.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/kojima-releases-myserious-new-death-stranding-teas/1100-6467165/

The World Health Organization, the public health division of the United Nations, has officially added “gaming disorder” to its registry of officially recognized diseases. This happened over the weekend when the WHO officially adopted the 11th revision of its International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11). All 194 members of the WHO voted unanimously to adopt the revision.

According to the WHO, “gaming disorder” is characterized by a “pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour” online or offline. The official description goes on to say that gaming disorders can include the following: “1) impaired control over gaming (e.g., onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context); 2) increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities; and 3) continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”

People who are deemed to have the “gaming disorder” run the risk of “significant impairment” to their personal, family, social, education, and occupational lives, according to the WHO. The description goes on to say that “gaming disorder” can be a continuous condition or it can be episodic in nature. For it to be suggested that a person has “gaming disorder,” they would display these behaviour patterns for a year or longer.

The “gaming disorder” disease will become officially recognized by the WHO on January 1, 2022. According to GI.biz, the WHO came to its conclusion based on consultations with experts from a variety of backgrounds.

In January, when the WHO first announced it would consider recognizing “gaming disorder,” the US video game industry group, ESA, said the designation “recklessly trivializes real mental health issues.”

“Just like avid sports fans and consumers of all forms of engaging entertainment, gamers are passionate and dedicated with their time,” the ESA–which lobbies on behalf of the video game industry to protect its interests–said in a statement. “Having captivated gamers for more than four decades, more than 2 billion people around the world enjoy video games.”

“The World Health Organization knows that common sense and objective research prove video games are not addictive. And, putting that official label on them recklessly trivializes real mental health issues like depression and social anxiety disorder, which deserve treatment and the full attention of the medical community,” the statement continued.

At the time, the ESA said it strongly encouraged the WHO to reverse the action, but now that it has been officially adopted, it remains to be seen if there are any appeal possibilities.

It’s not just the ESA that’s hitting back at the WHO over this decision. A statement attributed to the global video game industry associations–including the ESA (USA), ESA Canada (Canada), IGEA (Australia and New Zealand), ISFE (Europe), K Games (South Korea), and UKIE (United Kingdom)–says the WHO reached its decision “without the consensus of the academic community.” The consequences could be far reaching and might achieve the opposite of what the WHO is setting out to do, according to the statement.

“There is significant debate among medical and professionals about today’s WHO action. We are concerned they reached their conclusion without the consensus of the academic community,” reads a line from the statement. “The consequences of today’s action could be far-reaching, unintended, and to the detriment of those in need of genuine help.”

It continues: “We encourage and support healthy game play by providing information and tools, such as parental controls, that empower billions of people around the world to manage their play to ensure it remains enjoyable and enriching. As with all good things in life, moderation is key and that finding the right balance is an essential part of safe and sensible play.”

Last week, before the WHO decision came down, Sony’s CEO talked about how the video game industry needs to do more to promote healthy gaming. “We need to take it seriously and adopt countermeasures,” he told reports (via Kyodo News).

Some games are already implementing features to promote healthy gaming behaviors. Recently, PUBG Mobile introduced a new feature that sends pop-ups to young players to remind them to put the game down and take a break.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gaming-disorder-is-a-disease-world-health-organiza/1100-6467163/

Valve’s latest Steam event, Spring Cleaning, has begun and will continue until May 28 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST. The event allows you to play several select games for free, and also complete specific tasks to earn badges.

In Spring Cleaning, you can unlock three different unique profile badges for your Steam account. The first badge is unlocked after you’ve completed five tasks, the second badge at 10, and the third at 15. There are a total of 17 tasks, so you have a bit of choice when it comes to which ones you complete.

Three daily tasks will require you log in four different times to fully complete, thus making up 12 of the 17 total tasks. The first, Speed Clean, is perhaps the easiest. All you have to do is play the free games offered during Spring Clean. There are some pretty good ones on the list, such as Left 4 Dead 2 and Black Desert Online. The other two require you to have used Steam for buying and playing games before. Spin Cycle tasks you with playing games from your Steam library that Valve will randomly pick out for you. Clear the Backlog, on the other hand, can only be completed by playing a game that you bought but never actually tried.

The remaining five tasks are not daily challenges and can only be completed once. To complete Nostalgia, you’ll need to play a game that you’ve already invested two hours into but “haven’t played in a while.” To nab Can’t Wait, you have to play a game you’ve purchased in the last six months, regardless if you’ve played it or not. Trusted Friend wants you to play a game that a Steam friend recommended to you, and Tag Contributor asks you to play a game you’ve applied a tag to or created a tag for. Last year’s Blast From The Past task is back, once again asking you to play the first game you bought on Steam. If you happened to complete this task last year, then this year you must play the second game you bought on Steam.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-steam-spring-cleaning-event-helps-you-clear-th/1100-6467162/

Google used its Stadia reveal event to explain the potential of its game streaming platform and sell some of its unique benefits, but some very big questions remained. Now the company has teased that we’ll get those answers this summer.

In an official tweet, Google promised more details are coming soon. More specifically, it promised a price reveal, game announcements, and launch information. Those are the three biggest lingering questions surrounding the platform, and it sounds as if Google is preparing a second big event to answer them.

More vague is the timing of these reveals. It says this summer, which could mean an announcement during or near E3 2019. We haven’t yet seen Google stake out a time for an E3 press conference, though, so the company may be avoiding the spectacle of the annual event and looking to carve out its own time with less competition.

Google Stadia is a streaming-only platform for games, which means it can run through your browser as easily as your TV with a pass-through box. Google plans to sell a dedicated controller optimized for the device, but otherwise says standard controllers will just work. Our hands-on showed impressive potential, but the pricing model is still a total mystery.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is preparing its own Project xCloud streaming solution to compete with Google Stadia. That appears primed for an E3 debut, and Microsoft recently announced that it has moved into a testing phase with select developers. By comparison to Google, Microsoft is stressing the ease of development on familiar hardware, as well as a vast back-catalog of existing Xbox, 360, and Xbox One games.

For more on cloud gaming, check out our primer on everything you need to know.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/google-stadia-price-and-more-to-be-announced-this-/1100-6467158/

Steam is aiming to help gamers tackle their huge backlog of games with its new spring cleaning event, which went live today and runs until Tuesday, May 28 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. From games you used to love but haven’t played in years to those you grabbed because they were free but never even installed, you can earn trophies by playing them this weekend, which unlocks badges for your Steam profile.

But even if you’re not interested in revisiting the neglected games in your Steam library, you can still enjoy some titles for free this weekend. A batch of seven games are available to play for free as part of the spring cleaning event, and with a three-day holiday weekend ahead for many in the US, there’s plenty of time to check them all out.

The free-to-play offerings include classic zombie shooter Left 4 Dead 2, which lets you team up with up to four other players against the hordes of Infected. Other games worth checking out (or revisiting) this weekend include Endless Space 2, a sci-fi 4X game, and Grim Dawn, a gory, action-packed RPG. Play one of Steam’s free game offerings every day this weekend, and you’ll earn a Speed Clean badge

Steam Free-to-Play Games, May 24 – May 28

• Left 4 Dead 2
• Endless Space 2
• Grim Dawn
• Don’t Starve Together
• Dead by Daylight
• Black Desert Online
• Assetto Corsa

And while this game isn’t technically part of Steam’s spring cleaning event (meaning you won’t earn any points for playing it), it’s worth mentioning Nidhogg 2 is also free to play until Sunday at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET. The fighting game is also 70% off ($4.49) through Monday.

Plus, be sure to check out all the best Memorial Day gaming deals available at Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers this weekend, as a ton of games and consoles are currently on sale for cheap.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/all-the-free-pc-games-you-can-play-on-steam-this-w/1100-6467155/