Jess
- Dec 18, 2020
- 4 min read

#ICYMI 12.18.20

Updated: Dec 23, 2020

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

THE VERGE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 2020

Make a hard year easier with these great gifts. The Verge

THE BEST HOLIDAY GIFTS TO GIVE GAMERS, ACCORDING TO GAMERS

Perfect for you, or the gamer in your life! NY Mag

THE 368 CREATOR GIFT GUIDE: A THREAD

For all of the creators in your life! Twitter

YOUTUBE NEWS

THE STREAMY AWARDS 2020

Congratulations to all of the winners! Streamy's | Instagram

YOUTUBE'S BIG MINECRAFT CHEATING SCANDAL, EXPLAINED

Dream, YouTube’s biggest gaming channel of the moment, denies allegations. Polygon

Q&A WITH A CDC DISEASE DETECTIVE

Hannah Elise did an interview with LT Tia Rogers from the CDC to ask questions and talk about COVID-19, mental health, and more! YouTube

WEEKLY WHOLESOME

MERRY THANKMAS 2020!

Creators all around the world have raised over $4 million for Thankmas to raise money for Red Nose Day! Thankmas is Dec. 12th-20th! Tiltify

ST. JUDE PLAY LIVE IS UNDERWAY!

Dr.Lupo is part of the effort to raise money for St.Jude, along with many other creators! Tiltify

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

BILLIE EILISH TURNS 19

Happy birthday, Billie! Instagram

STREAMERS

DR.LUPO CHALLENGES THE 'TOXIC' REPUTATION AROUND GAMING

"Gaming is a force for good, might as well try to make that known."- Dr.Lupo

Twitter

HARDWARE

SAMSUNG CONFIRMS STYLUS SUPPORT IS COMING TO GALAXY PHONES LIKE THE S21

The Note seems not long for the world, and cheaper folding phones are coming. The Verge

GOOGLE DISCONTINUES THE GOOGLE HOME MAX

The company will still support the smart speaker, though. The Verge

THE WEBCAM IS THE GADGET OF THE YEAR

From grainy MacBooks to elaborate DSLR setups, no gadget had a bigger impact on how we got through 2020. The Verge

REVIEWS

"WHY TONY HAWK'S PRO SKATER'S 1 + 2 IS MY GAME OF THE YEAR"

THPS skates right back into relevance. The Verge

"GTA ONLINE'S NEW ISLAND IS BORING"

"While I enjoyed some of the heist-related missions, I was disappointed by the island and how it’s used in the update." Kotaku

"MADDEN NFL 21'S NEXT-GEN CONSOLE UPGRADE REALLY DOES MAKE IT A NEW GAME"

"In a preview call with the executive producer of Madden NFL 21, Seann Graddy promised me that I would see the difference between console generations in my first game. I was skeptical. But he was right." Polygon

MEDAL OF HONOR: ABOVE AND BEYOND REVIEW

"Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond has a good foundation for its WWII action, but poor pacing and a poorer story hold it back." GameSpot

TWITCH

STREAMERS FLABBERGASTED AFTER TWITCH PARTIALLY BANS THE WORD 'SIMP'

In the aftermath of Twitch's live town hall earlier this week, many streamers fixated on one small portion of the two-hour presentation: Twitch’s decision to ban words like “simp,” “incel,” and “virgin”—at least, when they’re used in derogatory contexts. Kotaku

GAMES, GAMES, GAMES

NINTENDO IS REMOVING ITS MARIO CELEBRATION GAMES IN MARCH, HERE'S WHY

In an interview with Polygon, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser said it’s simple: These Mario games were added as part of a celebration. It was intended to be a special, unique moment for the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. Polygon

UBISOFT'S GAME SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE IS NOW AVAILABLE ON STADIA

Ubisoft+, the $15-a-month service, is now available as part of Google’s Stadia streaming platform. Kotaku

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA UPDATE ADDS COSTUMES BASED ON BLOODBORNE, GOD OF WAR, AND MORE

The new update for Ghost of Tsushima lets players snag some snazzy homages to other PlayStation franchises in the Legends multiplayer mode.

GameSpot | Twitter

DESTINY 2'S OLDER SUBCLASSES COULD GET AN UPGRADE, EVENTUALLY

Game director Luke Smith’s super long-term plan to update all of the Supers in Destiny 2. Polygon

NINTENDO COMPLETES DONKEY KONG COUNTRY TRILOGY ON SWITCH ONLINE SERVICE

Dixie Kong returns. The Verge

CLAIM 15 FREE PC GAMES AT EPIC THIS HOLDAY

The Epic Games Store will have one free game per day for the next two weeks, starting Dec. 17th! GameSpot

CALL OF DUTY: WARZONE SEASON 1 PATCH ADDS REBIRTH ISLAND, THE MODE'S FIRST NEW MAP

All of Black Ops Cold War’s weapons added to Warzone. Polygon

SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE'S SEPHIROTH DLC RELEASES NEXT WEEK, BUT YOU CAN UNLOCK HIM EARLY

The One-Winged Angel joins the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster on December 22, but you can get him a few days early if you beat him in battle.

GameSpot

SONY PULLS CYBERPUNK 2077 FROM PLAYSTATION STORE, SAYS BUYERS CAN GET A REFUND

Sony has confirmed that not only will the company be issuing refunds, but the game itself is being pulled from the PlayStation Store. Kotaku | Twitter

GAMING TIPS

HOW TO GET A REFUND FOR CYBERPUNK 2077 ON PS4 OR XBOX ONE

You don’t have to stick with Cyberpunk 2077. Kotaku

SOFTWARE

ASSASSIN'S CREED VALHALLA 1.1 UPDATE ADDRESSES GAME-BREAKING BUGS

The biggest blessing comes in the form of several planned fixes for broken objectives. Kotaku

MMO

RIOT GAMES IS MAKING AN MMO SET IN THE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS UNIVERSE

At long last! Polygon | Twitter

INDUSTRY

GAMESTOP'S LAST-MINUTE CONSOLE RUSH PUTS WORKERS AT RISK

Staffing shortages and the threat of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States made employees feel both overwhelmed and unsafe. Kotaku

GOOGLE PUSHES RETURN TO OFFICE TO SEPTEMBER, WILL TEST FLEXIBLE WORK WEEK

CEO Sundar Pichai says a hybrid work model could improve productivity and well-being. The Verge

EA IS BUYING RACING DEV CODEMASTERS FOR $1.2 BILLION

The purchase will put popular racing series Dirt, Dirt Rally, Grid, F1, Project Cars, Burnout, and Need for Speed under one world-encompassing roof. Kotaku

PS5, SWITCH SALES DRIVE SONY AND NINTENDO STOCK TO HIGHEST POINT IN OVER A DECADE

The success of the Nintendo Switch and Sony PS5 has driven both companies to Wii- and PS2-like stock numbers. GameSpot

NINTENDO IS BLOCKING SWITCH GAMES FROM EXTREME ESHOP DISCOUNTS

Keep your change! Polygon

US GOVERNMENT ADDS DJI TO COMMERCE BLACKLIST OVER TIES TO CHINESE GOVERNMENT

American companies will be forbidden from exporting technology to the drone maker. The Verge