We're still searching for the connection, but Activision has confirmed that its president, Bobby Kotick, will cameo in the upcoming flick Moneyball, informing Brad Pitt that he, of course, can't have any money. You didn't have to be a bloodhound to smell this 'Shop Contest cooking.
Simple premise: Kotick in Brad Pitt's flicks, or Pitt in Bobby Kotick's games. Pitt has been credited as an actor in 63 films, and there have been about 63 Call of Duties to date, so you should have plenty to work with.
Reference Image: Kotick's Moneyball cameo. Not a particularly exploitable image. It's from the 0:17 mark of this trailer.
Source Images: Bobby Kotick, via Google image search.
Source Images: Brad Pitt, via Google image search.
Source Material: Brad Pitt's IMDB listing.
Now, we've had some troubles with our image upload in the comments. Anything that goes wrong today I'm going to be compiling in an email that goes back to technical services tomorrow. Please feel free to email me directly about any problems, just use "Shop Contest Glitches" in the subject (I'm setting up a filter). I probably will not have any answers, and I certainly can't fix anything, but this will help us assess the size of the problems.
This is your no-frills step-by-step procedure to participation in the Kotaku 'Shop Contest.
1. Create your 'Shop.
2. Upload it to a free image hosting service. I suggest imgur. It's stupid simple. No account is necessary.
3. This is very important: You must use the URL of the image itself. In imgur, this is the second URL it gives you after you upload the image. It's under "Direct Link (email & IM)"
4. At the beginning of the comments roll, click "Start a New Thread"
5. To the right of your name, select "Image."
6. Paste the imgur URL in the image URL field. It's the field that says "Image URL."
7. You can add editorial commentary if you want, but then just hit submit and your image will load. If it doesn't, paste the image URL as a comment.
8. This is important: Keep your image size under 1 MB. It will not upload to comments if it is over that size.
As an added inducement, I want to let you know I do star commenters who send in worthy/funny submissions - whether or not they're chosen for the final 20. This may not happen immediately. I usually start rounding up a gallery by the middle of the week. This is my subjective call, but I do want to recognize as many contributors as possible, and show gratitude for making this such a popular feature on weekends.
Now, Gentlemen, start your 'shopping!