Some people misunderstood me last week. I didn't say Michael Phelps was a jackass, only that he looked like one in a picture of him playing Kinect. Truth be told, everyone looks like a jackass in still photos of them playing Kinect.
That's why they're so useful for the Kotaku ‘Shop Contest, which saw a bumper crop of solid entries last Sunday. Let's round up the 20 finalists.
For starters, my apologies to CaptainRyan47 (5), Koda89 (11), pan1da7 (16) and Snufkin (18). Their images in this gallery are the 300-pixel thumbnail size because our comments system screwed up - I know, fancy that - and I can't access the full size versions. I think they're large enough that everyone can get the jokes, and I didn't want these four penalized for our problems. Especially when pan1da7 does something near and dear to my heart, which is turn Phelps into Asshole Dog.
ARYXANDRE (3) and Creighton (6) were two of many making light of PSN's continued troubles. Though it isn't games related, who cares? - Jidget (10) deserves a standing ovation for turning Phelps into Vince Shlomi, aka ShamWow guy. Likewise, I don't know where Spatula (19) got his idea, but I can't stop chortling at it, either.
Frankly, few of these are game-related, but the ones that are are big winners. Andrew C. Jabsen (2) had the best interpretation of Phelps as Del Lago in Resident Evil 4; Cygnus_Mal's (7) take on Sonic is positively inspired. kronicus (12), knowing Phelps' reputation with the ladies, has Miranda from Mass Effect 2 as his latest conquest. MicahTheBrave (13) turned him into Goro.
All deserve a big hand, but my personal overall winner is Jalalipop, for bringing us the long-awaited dreaded sequel to QWOP. Nicely done. Congratulations to everyone, we'll see you back here tomorrow.