Theres a focused intensity about the place. People getting the last things done before the game is finished and sent off to be sold in shops. Downloaded all over the world. I want to see what is going on and stick my nose in places. Hi, its nice to meet you. Thank you very much. So, what are you working on here . I am checking different parts of the rendering, seeing if there are any flaws in it. At this stage in the process, with the game just about to be finished, is this where you are at your busiest . Right now, were just checking for bugs in the game. A month ago, thats the time limit for the artist to finish their work, that was the busiest for them. What you see on screen is obviously a major part of the game success. But what you hear is important too. For Death Stranding, theres one man in charge of all of that. Good morning, how are you doing . Are you all right . Im good. Thank you for your time. Right now, im basically making the rough mix for the launch trailer. You can see it up. Usually, i get something from hideo and i react to that, this time he is reacting off of me which is also interesting. Ive been sitting with him and giving a few pointers as to what im hearing in my head when i wrote the music, like, shouldnt there be more cuts here, and so on. Of course he is in charge of everything, but it is fun to see something being built, a part of what you already did, instead of the other way around. This is the main vocal theme of the game. When did you write that . I finished writing it in december last year, its been nine months since i wrote it. Hideo wanted a lullaby theme for sam and also cliff to be humming both in the game and in cut scenes. It came from having a simple theme, which is heard throughout the game and in other tracks as well. I need to do this rough mix and make sure that we do not have anything embarrassing by 3pm today, when we will watch it altogether. I will do that. Id better leave you to it, if you have a three oclock deadline tell me, sam, what does america mean to you . With weeks to go before it is released, loads of people are still asking, what is Death Stranding . What is it all about . I tell you what, lets find out. In classic hideo kojima style, it is difficult to explain. A traditional genre does not really cover it. It blends travel, role play and action together, delivering messages to reconnect a broken world. Its a game of choice and item management and one that has players interacting with each other in a unique way. I got the chance to play the game too, but more on that later. Today is a good day. Thanks for your help to put it mildly, hideo kojima is a big deal in the gaming world. His first title, metal gear, came out in 1987. The first game was made on this device. It was the start of a near 30 year relationship with the publisher, konami. When the next instalment arrived in 1988, his legacy who made stealth games popular was secure. It became iconic and had a reputation for innovation. His last title, solid five, released in 2015, brought true open world gaming into the series and following that. Hideo kojima announced that he was leaving konami. He worked at konami for 30 years. His name is pretty much synonymous with konami at the time. His departure paved the way for Kojima Productions to become independent and work started on Death Stranding. Since the first trailer in 2016, weve learnt little bits about the game and who is involved. We were asked to write a song into our style. We begged and we borrowed. What would become of us all . Questions were raised online as to whether giving him too much freedom would be good for the game. Editors exist for a reason and i think at least at konami there were people around who would tell him no. Plenty of gamers are hoping Death Stranding would bring innovation to the industry today like the original metal gear did 30 years ago. This game felt a lot more human and is encouraging connection and community and working together with others. He knows how to use gaming as a concept and push the envelope technologically. I know that what he does, nobody else could do. In the studio, everyone is slowly gathering together, even the lights have been dimmed and there is an air of tense excitement as everyone in the Company Comes together to watch the final trailer. Did you get it done in time . Yes, hideo kojima did a lot of edits, i had about 30 minutes, so i hope i didnt screw it up im sure you didnt this is a rough edit of the fairly lengthy, its about eight minutes, launch trailer for the game. Im letting the more important people go to the front, theyve worked on it so they deserve to see it. I will stay at the back laughter. Its ok. Ill always be with you. Come and find me. Applause. It is quite a big moment for people here, they havent seen any of that stuff before. The lights are bright now that is being used to sell the game to people all over the world. They obviously liked it. It might have been a hit with the staff, but straight after the viewing, hideo is back at the Video Editing desk making changes. Hideo kojima is now going to work with ludvig forssell, in charge of the sounds, to nail the trailer. Theyve got to get this done soon. Freeze it is intense to watch, but there is no messing around. In under ten minutes, hes been through the entire trailer, given his feedback, and is back out talking to another member of the team. Well done, good job thats how we deal the pressure is off now, for a little bit yeah, a few minutes thank you. Weve just left the studio, our work is pretty much done for the night, not so much for the guys there. They will be there for a while yet. They are pretty busy, to be honest. When i was coming over here, i knew there wasnt any jeopardy the game would not be finished in time, there would be something ready for release. But what has been an eye opener is how much work is left to do after they have technically finished the game. Things like sorting out the bugs and the kinks, and making the trailer and coming up with merchandise. I assumed a lot of that stuff would be outsourced, but it is not. I was expecting an end of season feeling in the studio, but actually, they are really busy and there is tonnes of stuff left to do. Part of the reason this team has so much left to do is because nearly all of Death Stranding is being made here, in house. The Cinematics Team is responsible for all the cut scenes and as you would expect in a hideo kojima game, there are plenty of those. 0ver seven hours, in fact. And thats without all of the videos and stills that are used to promote the game. That is the poster sorted, but what about this first attempt at a teaser trailer . And with that, shall we say quite direct feedback delivered, hideo kojima is off to see someone else. So i popped into his chair. What is it like with working with mr kojima . Thank you, good luck the studio is a hive of activity today. Hello, nice to meet you. Just as we are finishing our chat, over on the other side of the studio, one of the actors from the game, morgan mala, is here to have a look. She is about to meet her in Game Character for the first time. People have quickly started gathering around the middle of the office again. Having been here for a while, im getting the hang of it. This means that something is about to happen. Applause. Laughter. Applause. With a bit of theatricals thrown in, you can forgive that, though, this is a big moment for Kojima Productions. Gold master approval means they now have a version of Death Stranding that they and sony are happy to sell to people on release day. That was a pretty big highlight for the team and next, next a pretty big highlight for me. Since 2016, ive been wondering what Death Stranding is like to play and now, im about to find out. Thats the basic, make sure that you dont fall i will try not to die who better to show me how it is done. It really is a cinematic experience that sometimes is like being on an adventure in enchanted, and others like sneaking past zombies in the last of us. That is part of the mechanic, isnt it . Since this First Experience of the game, ive gone on to play for a further a0 hours or so. It is a title full of moments of high drama that leaves you on the edge of your seat. I found interacting with a shared online environment is really rewarding even if my role as a gamer is to complete the missions. Delivering messages over rough terrain will not be for everyone, it could be tedious for repetitive players who are used to games with a faster pace of action. This rewards patience and investment. Thank you very much. Fantastic with just one more day left in the studio, and now with a much better idea of what the game is and what it is hoping to achieve, ive been thinking about how much is riding on this release for hideo kojima and the team. Our local producer loves his games, and he has played all of the metal gear series. 0n the journey into the studio for the last time, i asked him how hideo kojima is perceived here in japan. Maybe he is one of the most famous game creators here injapan. Because japan has loads of, you know, more famous game creators than elsewhere because of nintendo and stuff and you would say that hideo kojima is up there . Definitely, on that list. He is kind of different to the other people. He has more of a celebrity status. Yeah. His games are different because they are heavily based on reality. He always seems to have a social message in his games. Even though it would be a risk for a game studios not known for anything to be this secretive but because it is his studios, people buy his games. Weve been in the studios for a few days together. Do you think gamers are giving him more leeway because of the work he has done before . Definitely. We have clearly seen that hideo kojima is the overall visionary for this game. Good morning. Nice to see you again. But he does have a carefully selected core team around him. The art director is right at the top. The two has worked together since metal gear solid since the 1990s. There is so much competition for peoples attention, how do you draw people into spending time with this game and in this world, with your work on the characters . The main focus is not on getting as much attention as possible but trying to develop a character that is interesting for us. That is cool. Im sure there are students that focus on developing characters and Market Research on what will be perceived well out there but for us, it is more about creating a character that is fun for us. Thank you very much. Look at that it looks exactly like me lets make a toast, waiting for tomorrow when we played out. With the game officially finished, the studio is putting on a party. They sent the cake over. There are still bits for the team to tidy up and perfect but after all of the hard work and the undoubtably long hours, this is a chance to celebrate with a special guest. Shuhei yoshida is one of the big bosses at sony. So, this has been an experience like no other ive had in a gaming studio before. It is a Company Based around one man, fairenough, you dont have to work hard to guess that, the clue is in the title but having been here the last few days and seeing how involved he is in everything that happens here, from the big conceptual stuff to the smallest, tiniest detail, the nitty gritty like where a drum hits in the music of a trailer, it is really rare, i think. So, the question is, i suppose, is that the best way to make games in this day and age . Its a question only the people who have played Death Stranding will be able to answer, if all of this hard work has paid off. You can take my heart. And hold it together as we fall apart. Cheering the royal family and senior politicians arejoining the royal family and senior politicians are joining veterans in Central London this morning as the United Kingdom marks remembrance day. There will be a two minute silence shortly as people up and down the land on people who lost their lives and conflict. We are waiting for the politicians. That will be followed by representatives of members from overseas territories. Chief of staffs a nd overseas territories. Chief of staffs and then the ambassadors and high commissioners. The Prime Minister borisjohnson high commissioners. The Prime MinisterBoris Johnson on high commissioners. The Prime Minister borisjohnson on his right. The leader of the labour party. Secretaries of state, but they do not keep their positions as mps because of the election. Ian blackford on behalf of the snp there. Jo swinson on behalf of the liberal democrats. Former Prime Ministers. And then the high commissioners and representatives of the crown dependencies, further politicians. The chancellor of the exchequer there. The leader of the house of commons. And now the chief of the defence staff, led by the first sea lord, and chief of the general staff, and the chief of the air staff. And also with them the merchant navy, auxiliary association and civilian services. The ambassador of ireland and for the first time on his right, the ambassador of nepal. And then the grips of high commissioners. Each with their wreaths. And they are followed by representatives of the faith communities, among them the chief rabbi, buddhists, methodists, Islamic Religious adviser to the armed forces. The hindu council, the baptist union, the director of the unitarian and free christian churches, the senior rabbi to reform judaism, the salvation army. Representative of the Greek Orthodox church the managing trustee of the institute of genealogy, the humanists and the spiritualists national union. And now the prince of wales who will be laying to wreaths, one on behalf of the queen and won his own wreath. He leads out the members of the royal family. He leads out the members of the royalfamily. And he leads out the members of the royal family. And on he leads out the members of the royalfamily. And on the balcony looking down on the cenotaph, her majesty the queen, who watches the ceremony from here. The duchess of cornwall on her right, the duchess of cornwall on her left. The duke of cambridge, the duke of sussex, the duke of york, the earl of wessex, the Princess Royal and the duke of kent. They all take their place as we come towards 11 oclock. Big ben chimes the hour