Twitch s?treamer? Kai Cenat has been taken into custody after a giveaway event held in New York city took a turn.

Cenat and another streamer/social media influencer, Fanum, were set to host a giveaway in Union Square, as archived by The Verge. The day arrived, and a massive crowd r?eportedly showed up today for the event.

Cenat broadcast a video on Twitch, advertising P??layStation 5s and gift cards to give away, before leaving his bus and heading out. Things took a turn though, into what? could be described as a "bit of a commotion." It's unclear what sparked this turn at this time.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZEmdQxfliM

The New York Police Department mobilized with an estimated 1,000 officers, per NBC New York. Several videos caught glimpses of the chaos, ranging from what looks like people spraying fire extinguishers to Cenat apparently being taken into custody.

NYPD later confirmed during a press conference that when the crowd grew too large, they declared it an "unlawful assembly" and began to clear the area. The NYPD chief of police Jeffrey Maddrey said officers filled a bus with arrestees, but did not confirm how many were in custody following the New York giveaway event??-gone-south.

A spokesperson confirmed to NBC New York that Cenat and "numerous" other people were in custody. It's not clear yet if any charges will be filed, thou?gh Maddrey did suggest that "inciting a riot" could be considered.

//twitter.com/NYPDnews/status/1687584007230468096

Cenat is a popular streamer who garnered headlines earlier this year for a record of most active subscribers o??n ?Twitch, previously held by others like Tyler "Ninja" Blevins and Ludwig Ahgren.

_{Lead image via CBS News}

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Never tell me the odds

These streamers are just built different, because it feels like every time I turn around, another one has completed a seemingly impossible task in games with increasingly ridiculous means of playing said games. There was the streamer who played Untitled Goose Game by turning himself into a giant goose controller, or the Elden Ring streamer who challenged herself with beating the game using only a dance pad �you know, like you use for Dance Dance Revolution.

At this point, nothing should surprise me, but yesterday I was shocked to see a video come across my Twitter feed of a streamer playing Call of Duty: Warzone with a recorder. You know, the little plastic flute they forced seemingly every fourth gr?ader in the United States to try to learn how to play? That's the one.

The player's name is DeanoBeano, and he posted a video of himself from his stream yesterday, of course with his handy dandy recorder. He's also known for his quick-scoping, so naturally a sniper rifle was his weapon of choice. It appears that he simply mapped different notes on the instrument to match different button inputs, so after a few tense seconds of rapidly playing notes to adjust to the enemy's movements, he unbelievably gets the kill. Hearing chaotic recorder notes overtop of Call of Duty gameplay is just as funny as you'd think it is.

//twitter.com/DeanoBeano/s??tatus/1569440237650345984

I can't keep saying enough how much I'm impressed by these players who make a well-known game their own by imposing these cha??llenges on themselves, and they're certainly making some of the most entertaining gaming content out there.

It seems that for now, DeanoBeano is continuing his musical shenanigans, because he's back on Twitch looking for more musically-assisted dubs. He says he also plays with drums and a Guitar Hero controller, just to name a few, so it sounds like th??ere's more to look forward to from him. Godspeed, DeanoBeano, godspeed.

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She gives dance battle a whole new meaning

Unconventional controllers are one of my favorite gaming content niches. They're something I've enjoyed out of the corner of my eye for years, with my personal favorite being Rudeism's full-body goose costume/controller to play Untitled Goose Game. The Twitch streamers are back at it again, but this time the spotlight is on an Elden Ring streamer MissMakkaa, a??nd her build that uses a dance pad peripheral as?? a controller.

Basically, she got one of those at-home dance pads you use for games like Dance Dance Revolution and hooked it up to Elden Ring, which is already a funny enough concept on its own. What's even more impressive, then, is that she's already beaten five of the game's bosses to date (thanks, Eurogamer), and she isn't stopping there.

//twitter.com/JakeSucky/status/1563205863451418624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1563205863451418624%7Ctwgr%5E8e07232dce4a82b27d9c2dcfc0b8b7f344afab6a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&a??mp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eurogamer.net%2Ftwitch-streamer-dancing-through-elden-ring-with-a-d?ance-pad

Other than having to do a little jig when things get intense, another challenge MissMakkaa faces with this build is that there are fewer buttons on a dance pad than there are on a PlayStation controller, which means she sometimes has to perform tasks like controlling the camera directly on the PC. My brain can?? pretty much only handle one task at a time, so it's insanely impress??ive that she's made it this far with this setup.

Of course, MissMakkaa is used to a good challenge �recently she completed another Elden Ring run where she not only remained Level 1 the entire time, but also played with one hand. And to think I couldn't even beat Godrick normally. Some people are just built differently. Leave it to Twitch streamers to ??make one of the hardest games available even harder.

Twitch can be a toxic place sometimes, but content like this reminds me that sometimes gamers can be ??awesome, actually. The whole point of playing games is to have fun, and partaking in goofy challenges like this only amplify that fun.

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Streamers express concern at potential changes

Career streamers are raising concerns f??ollowing the publishing of a new report which suggests that Twitch is considering making drastic changes to the way revenue is earne??d on its mainline streaming service Twitch.tv.

According to the report �published by Bloomberg �Twitch is under pressure from owner Amazon to increase its profitability and, as such, is looking at numerous ways to bring more revenue into the company. Unfortunately, many of the rumored ideas, as leaked by those close to the matter, are not painting a happy picture for b?oth Twitch viewers and its core streamers �some of w?hom have made comfortable full-time careers out of content production.

Of chief concern is the possibility that Twitch may scale back the subscription revenue of its top-partnered streamers, cuttin?g the revenue earned by each subscription from 70% to 50%. The latter figure is the typical earning ??rate for all streamers on Twitch, but those who are among Twitch's top earners have been able to bargain for a higher cut in return for site exclusivity. According to Bloomberg, the revenue reduction would free up streamers from said exclusivity, allowing them to stream on other sites alongside Twitch.

The other supposed scheme would see Twitch push streamers to run more ads on their live respective channels. Streamers who are more open to placing ads within their broadcasts would be incentivized to do so by various means that are currently undecided. Summarized, the report presents a scenario in which Twitch is determined to make more profit as a? business, which wil?l inevitably require cost-cutting/revenue-making practices applied at the user end of the spectrum.

Unsurprisingly, several notable streamers have since voiced their concerns on social media, though some have welcomed the possibility of dropping exclusivity from the top streaming contracts. It should be reiterated that neither Amazo??n nor Twitch itself has released any statement confirming these plans.

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Sing us a song, you're the banana man

I love when gamers come up with zany control schemes to play a game. It's a whole subculture of the gaming side of the internet that fascinates me. Some of my favorites recently have been when streamer Rudeism played Hades on a real pomegranate, or Untitled Goose Game with his body, so that when he flapped his "wings" or honked in real life, he would do it in the game, too. Another streamer who is prominent in the modded controller scene, SuperLouis64, just released a video where he beat one of the notorious bosses in Elden Ring, Godrick the Grafted, with a controller made entirely out of bananas.

//twitter.com/SuperLouis_64/status/15010??57719175946242

The setup included eleven of the potassium-packed hand fruits wired to a circuit board that Louis programmed himself. Basically, each banana corresponds to a different button input, "kind of like an Arduino set-up with push buttons," writes Louis. It took a bit more tweaking to get the modified setup to work with a PS4 con?troller, but of course, he got it working in the end. The banana controller is basically just a bunch of bananas laid out on the desk in front of him, and he presses on each one to get the desired input for the button that banana controls. Pretty simple, but Louis also said that it smells pretty bad, which m?akes sense considering it's just a bunch of mushed bananas sitting out.

Louis calls himself the Controller Bender, and rightfully so, as this was not his first romp with a less-than-conventional control scheme. The banana controller is only the tip of the iceberg. He's built a Fat Cat controller on which to play Final Fantasy XIV, tackled Dark Souls with the controls of Ring Fit Adventure, beat Halo 3 on Legendary difficulty with a Guitar Hero controller -- the list goes on and on, so if this is your type of thing, definitely check out his YouTube channel. He's a master of his craft, and has what I consider to be one of the most impressive hobbies in the ga??mes space.

_{[Featured Image Source: Aroged]}

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How Celeste's award went missing in the first place is a mystery

Platforming indie darling Celeste took the gaming industry by storm back in 2018, and won two awards at that year's Game Awards: Games for Im??pact and Best Independent Game. While the game is still thought of fondly over four years later, news has just come to light that its developer, Extremely OK Games, never received one of their well-earned awards, at least physically, after it mysteriously went missing.

[caption id="attachment_310468" align="alignnone" width="1165"] _{[Image Source: Kotaku / Prestige]}[/caption]As reported by PC Gamer and Kotaku, streamer Prestige is Key was scouring the internet to find a r??eplica of the Game Award trophies that we see handed out time and time again each year. He fin?ally found a listing on eBay, and lo and behold, it was a real award listed, not just a replica.

Prestige proceeded to bid on the item and win, and once it arrived, he saw that it was none other than the actual award that the Celeste team had won and been handed on stage.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLKVU9mfBME

When he asked the seller where it came from, their answer only vaguely alluded to some "liquidation sources," which didn't quite add up considering Extremely OK is still around making games.

Most of the time, the awards that get passed out on stage during shows don't actually have the name of the winner on them �that's added later �so although Ninja presented an award to the team when they won, that statue was promptly handed back to staff when they walked offstage, and then Extremely OK's real award just... never showed up (altho?ugh their statue for the Games for Impac?t award seemed to make it to them just fine).

[caption id="attachment_310469" align="alignnone" width="1165"] _{[Image Source: Kotaku / Prestige]}[/caption]After figuring out the award in his possession was indeed real �and missing �Prestige got in touch with the studio to make sure he could get it back to them. In return, Extremely OK decided to send him some signed copies of Celeste, as well as reimburse him for the aucti?on and shi?pping costs.

This is probably the best this scenario co??uld have turned out, and it makes me happy to see some genuinely kind people gaming. Good on you, Prestige.

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Breaking down doors, or at least, knocking Snake through them

There is no formula for discovering new ways to save time in a speedrun. Sometimes, it just comes down to chance, as was apparent when a streamer discovered a new skip for Metal Gear Solid over the weekend by accident.

Yogscast streamer "Boba" was playing Metal Gear Solid and reached a section of the game called Comm Tower A, where Solid Snake has to climb a pretty tall tower. Normally, you'd have to ascend a whole bunch of stairs. But as Boba discovered, you could also just get shot by a guard ?and blasted backwards through the door.

//twitter.com/boba_witch/status/14??26896049730465793

As Metal Gear Solid speedrunners went on to verify, getting shot can extend Snake's hitbox into a loading zone, even those behind doors. It appears to save around 2 minutes and 30 seconds, a pretty substantial amount of time, and it also doesn't seem to require getting shot. Players discovered that you can also make it work with a chaff grenade and the right angle.

The speedrunners are already having a field day with this, as new records for both Very Easy and Easy Any% are popping up on speedrun.com. For t??he Very Easy category, this not only nabbed the world record, but ??the first-ever run below 30 minutes, clocking in at 29:54.7244.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h9DJyL2S8M

The Metal Gear Solid Speedrunners Twitter and Discord has been following the new developments as they come in, and those are also good resources to check out if you're interested at all in running, or just learning more about it. Runners have already been replicating the tr?ick and incorporating it into their run, so expect to see some jockeying for the top spot on the leaderboards. With the knowledge gained her??e too, I'm curious to see if any other paths are found using this trick.

As for what the trick is called? Well, some already started calling it "Boba Skip," after its obvious namesake. Boba, however, has a different name for it: "Kevin." So congrats to Boba, on discovering Kevin. And if you want to check out some more speedrunning this week, ch??eck out the Flame Fatales event that's currently underway, raising money for The Malala Fund.

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