No-brainers make for the best 'Shop Contest ideas and this one was a lead-pipe lock as soon as it was spotted on Tuesday. This log flume full of Smash Bros aficionados takes the gold for best roller-coaster reaction shot of all time, but we're going to make it better.
The exploitable potential of this really needs no explanation, so I'm just going to skip to the source image and the participation guide. Have at it. I expect a billion entries.
Source Image: Smash Bros. Water Slide Reaction Shot [seen via Reddit]
Now, while this one was an easy candidate, I do want to be sure I'm picking subjects you guys want to 'Shop up. So feel free to put suggestions in the #photoshop hashtag. I'll be sure to check there when I'm looking for candidates.
You know the drill: The 20 best 'Shops will get rounded up and published at the end of next Saturday. Meantime, I and the rest of the starred commentariat will approve and promote as many as we can so folks can see them and pass judgment.
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. What's more, we're getting reports that if your 'Shop is more than 1000px tall (vertical), it won't upload. If you're getting the broken-image icon, try resizing to a smaller dimension.
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!