Once was a time there were just normal ads in Draw Something. Now, thanks to research by the game's new owners Zynga, you're actually drawing advertisements.

Having quietly tested the idea with more iconic brands like Nike, KFC and Doritos - "People loved to draw the Colonel and bags of Doritos", says Zynga's Dan Porter - the game is now running paid deals with clients like the NHL, which has bought a ton of words associated with hockey for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

In addition to these ads, Porter also says Zynga is looking at implementing some form of method to "get brands to underwrite rewards" in the game.

Before you cry this will be the end of Draw Something, ask yourself this: when was the last time you played Draw Something? Then know this: research shows the game's userbase may have dropped by almost one third in just the last month.

Zynga's New Ad Pitch for Draw Something: 'Draw This Brand' [AdAge]

When Stephen said an eye needed to be kept out on the "Sims Gone Wrong" tumblr - showing the wonderful ways one of the biggest games on the planet can break - he wasn't kidding.

Hey, buddy. The fish baby is just trying to get some sleep. Don't be a jerk.

Just gonna sit here and you know.. tease my fish baby [Sims Gone Wrong]

Stock images, TV, movies, they all usually shows people playing video games doing one of either three things: boasting like madmen, staring at a screen like a zombie or smashing something in frustration.

The first and last are extremes for extreme people, and the middle is what happens when you play by yourself. What they never show is perhaps the most enjoyable experience to be found in all of video games: the happy chaos of playing with someone else, not knowing what the hell you're doing yet feeling the need to do it anyway.

simini sketches [Simini Sketches]

Electronic Arts has run a surprisingly frank piece on the Origin blog, which basically amounts to "yeah, we know, this service isn't that great, so tell us how we can fix things".

Which means we should all tell them how to fix things. But here's the thing: let's try and be adults about it, OK?

The temptation is there to unload on the company, sure. It's EA! It's not Steam! We want EA games on Steam! Your service sucks compared to Steam, etc etc. They're obvious issues/trolls/complaints, and while some are understandable - I really want EA games back on Steam - ones that the company is already more than aware of. You'd be wasting your time sending them in.

Instead, now's the time to suggest some more constructive changes. I just want the thing to run faster. And do a better job with friends lists. And improve its release date authentication system, since it's even worse than Steam's. Those are the kind of things that can actually be addressed!

To make a suggestion, head into the comments section of the story below:

CONTINUING THE ORIGIN CONVERSATION [EA]

So an "artist" by the name of Iani Papadopol recently held an exhibition in Romania called "UpDate 3D Loading". It was a local hit because the "paintings" he showed off were, for a guy nobody had ever heard of, amazing.

Turns out there was a reason for that. He'd stolen them.

The images turned out to be video game concept art from some of the biggest and best names in the field, including Daniel Dociu, Craig Mullins, Mathias Verhasselt and Sparth (click those links to be taken to galleries featuring their awesome work).

Papadopol simply took some of their existing images, as well as those from other artists, printed them off on canvas and held the exhibition. Worse, the exhibition was held with the intent of selling the pieces.

It's a double-whammy of a crime; not only is he stealing work from respected artists, but much of that work is also the property of major publishers, making it even more serious than a mere act of artistic plagiarism.

He was quickly caught by alert online fans, not to mention some of the artists themselves - who were understandably a little surprised/concerned - but not before local art critics could hail "his" work as "giving shape to three-dimensional art".

To those local critics, you should really check out more video game concept art. There's a reason he stole it. It's often incredible.

UPDATE - Here's a blog created in 2009 containing "conceptual art by iani papadopol". It actually contains conceptual art by other artists, such as the above-mentioned Craig Mullins and Daniel Dociu.

"UpDate 3 D loading" – accusation of plagiarism [NTV]

"UpDate"... pe simezele clubului Doors [Telegraf]

Expozitie de arta digitala, UPDATE 3D, la Doors [evenimente]

I hated the N64 pad. Hated it. Didn't like the button placement, didn't like the ergonomics, really didin't like the fact the little joystick was broken on half the controllers you ever picked up.

But you know what? I could easily live with it if I had the choice between Nintendo's official pad and those offered by third parties. Aside from the awesome arcade stick down the bottom this looks like a poster for a horror movie.

[via VGJunk]

There are loads of terrible Star Wars games. We've talked about them here before. But there's different reasons someone can say a game is terrible. They might not like the genre, or the platform, or the way the game has treated the Star Wars canon.

One thing many will agree on, though, is that the absolute worst Star Wars game ever made was 1997 disasterpiece Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi.

Taking its name from a style of unarmed combat present in Star Wars' expanded universe, Teräs Käsi was a PlayStation fighting game which looked a bit like Tekken, but sadly played nothing like it.

Using 3D characters in arena-style stages, Teräs Käsi concoted a flimsy plot about an assassin hunting down the Rebel Alliance to construct a fighting game in which players could make Chewbacca fight Darth Vader, Boba Fett take on Han Solo or, well, just about any other combination they could think of from a roster of 12 characters (actually 13, but Leia's in there twice).

At the time, it wasn't received too poorly. And you'll still find today people saying "oh, it's not that bad". Ignore them. This game was offensive on all levels.

As a fighter, it was terrible in that it was slow, clunky and unfairly balanced towards characters with lightsabers. As a Star Wars experience, it was even worse. Not that "breaking canon" is something only this game can be accused of, but man, this was extra stupid. Not even the inclusion of Slave Leia as a character could save it.

My biggest gripe at the time, though, was how much of a waste it was! How it could have been something actually worthwhile. It was developed in-house by Lucasarts, the team behind some of the finest 2D pixel art the world has ever seen. Even in 1997 (well, 1998 for me, since that's when it was out in PAL territories), it seemed ridiculous they'd try - and fail - to make things 3D when a 2D fighter would have not only looked better, but also presumably have been easier to make as well.

Sure, you can say "well, it might not have sold as well", but hey, this game didn't sell well. Because it was terrible!

Oh, and before we go: if you say "no, Star Wars: Rebellion" was the worst game, I will probably ban you, because such talk makes me very upset.

Hello Kotaku. Welcome to your Thursday night open thread. Who's this sitting next to me? Oh, that's just Mr. Pointy. Say hello to the readers, Mr. Pointy!

Here, from the internet, are some things to talk about.

• Man, I can't believe this is official Obama merch - Also, I want one.
• If Aaron Sorkin had written "Twilight" - Ha ha ha ha ha.
• They're remaking "Little Shop of Horrors" - This might not suck, since Joseph Gordon Levitt is gonna be in it. We'll see...
• Here's Prince doing Uptown - Man, this was a long time go now. Still grooves, though.
• Buffy and Angel vs. Buffy and Spike: Let's Settle This Once and For All - I'm not going to spoil the results but what the shit, Angel was robbed you guys.

And that's that. Have good chatting!

The hip, small-time boutique publishing label Electronic Arts revealed its "Indie Bundle" yesterday—curiously for sale over Steam and not Origin, and there was a passionate response from many observers of the video game artistic community. Including Markus "Notch" Persson, better known as the creator of uber-indie hit Minecraft.

"EA releases an 'indie bundle'? That's not how that works, EA," he tweeted yesterday. "Stop attempting to ruin everything, you bunch of cynical bastards."

Not only that, Persson says he doesn't consider his operation to be "indie" anymore, meaning he focuses more on the spirit of the term and not its literal meaning, which is good. Minecraft is about to release on Xbox 360, published by that art-house Microsoft.

"Fwiw, I don't even call Mojang inde any more," he said. "Vlambeer is indie. Polytron is indie. Stephen, Ed, Terry, Derek, Tommy and Chris are indie.

"Indies are saving gaming. EA is methodically destroying it," Notch concluded. That settles it!

It's less than two weeks before the release of the most eagerly anticipated PC (and Mac!) game of the year. Some of us are pretty excited about it. This guy is way beyond that.

Diablo III forum-goer Scrambles shared his preparations with the game community yesterday, linking a few pictures of his new computer setup along with the message "Hey guys, I think I'm ready for Diablo." That's quite the understatement.

To me, ready to play Diablo means being seated at some sort of computer, mouse, keyboard and monitor all in working order. Perhaps I'd have a delicious diet Sun Drop at hand. Perhaps not. That's optional.

My definition obviously does not apply to Scrambles.

His setup has it all, from melted candle wax to the scribbled ravings of a madman. I see some random plant clippings, bits of rocks, various bottles and lanterns, and Scrambles himself, staring intently at his Diablo III wallpaper. I imagine him sitting like that until May 15, unblinking and emotionless. Unmoving except for the odd times he needs to activate the smoke machine.

I wasn't kidding about the smoke machine.

This level of dedication is inspiring. In honor of Scrambles' effort, I plan on playing Diablo III accompanied by the plaintiff wailing of two angry baby spirits. As if I had a choice.

Hey guys, I think I'm ready for Diablo [Diablo III Forums - Thanks, Generic Bad Guy!]