Smash Mountain. Ricky Lee Kalichun. Mr. Shady Shades. A power adapter that looks like Mr. T. And so many more.
It was an epic year for the Kotaku 'Shop Contest, thanks to your creativity and drive. Our 50 contests this year featured tons of callbacks to earlier hits, and so now we're going to bring 10 of them together in one great big year-end blowout. And we're going to find out who the real stars are.
No, I'm not asking you guys to go back and re-do what would be 200 finalists from across 10 of our most memorable contests. I'm asking you guys to use your creativity and bring them together in an entirely new 'Shop.
So while I've never been keen on rules around here, I am laying down one because this is an all-star contest, and also to discourage people from plagiarizing former entries (or, worse, simply resubmitting their own). Your new 'Shop must feature at least two different subjects from the above gallery. And yes, I will give a higher grade to 'Shops that have more than two subjects—hell, I know someone will try for all 10, like it's Presto Magix.
Clarification: You're not limited to just these images, if you've got a good idea that needs a completely separate base or background. I am not holding you to, say, taking Mr. Shady Shades out of one image and sticking him on the Smash Mountain Boat. You can combine these with an entirely new image (and other exploitables tossed in) if you like. You could even go way off message and use something from a 'Shop Contest not featured here. Just use something from at least two of the exploitables.
All of the exploitables are in this Drop Box file here, or can be pulled from that gallery above (which contains links to the original roundups, plus the winners' names) if you don't want the full 7.3 MB file. Note that there are about 20 images from our 3DS Warnings edition back in February (they are at the end of the gallery. The rest are in chronological order.)
Source Images: The 2011 'Shop Contest All-Star Finale [.zip; 7.3 MB]
You know the rules: The 20 best 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.
Thank you again to all who have made the Kotaku 'Shop Contest such a fun and popular feature.
Ricky Lee Kalichun (Give This Guy His Game, Feb. 19. Winners: m3rcer and JPS)
Assassin's Creed cosplayer at PAX East (PAX's Creed, April 2. Winner: obeyyurmaster)
Triforce Johnson gets the first 3DS. (First in Line, April 9. Winner: Laodicea-Dude)
Triforce Johnson and Reggie Fils-Aime. (First in Line, April 9.)
Wrestling fan takes a 3D picture (SmackDown vs. 3DS, June 11 Winner: LameThrower)
Gabe Newell and pro-Half-Life 3 demonstrators (The Summer of Valve, Aug. 20. Winner: Snufkin)
A boatload of fun on Splash Mountain (Smash Mountain, Sept. 10. Winner: meelooteen)
Guy cosplaying as Call of Duty: Black Ops (Boxplay, Sept. 17. Winner: Gyaruson 2.0)
The Sonic and Friends Car (Donks, Hoopties and Shitmobiles, Oct. 1. Winner: SalamanderJuice)
Mike Fahey Wields the Doomhammer (Wild Card Weekend, Oct. 29. Winner: PoopMcGreeley)
Mister Shady Shades (Wild Card Weekend, Oct. 29.)
Happy Owen and Wheelbarrow (Wild Card Weekend, Oct. 29.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5. Winner: Bastard11)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)
A warning from the 3DS instruction manual. (3DS Warnings, March 5.)