Alright, I think it's finally time to reveal what I've been working on for days and days now. I've done a few other things, like updating the Final Fours and all, but this has been my main project for a long while now. Its The Top 100 FAQs of All-Time Now, a few things. Firstly, it's not really "all-time", since CJay didn't start tracking hits until October of 1998. (This also helps explain why Ocarina/FF7/GE/etc aren't ranked higher than they are.) Second, it is of course debatable as to how much FAQ popularity will determine a game's performance in a Contest. But regardless, this is a project that I've wanted to get off the ground for months now, and I think the results are well worth seeing, regardless of whether or not they will influence the remainder of the questionable calls in your bracket. And, given the large collection of stat-heads who populate these fantastic Discussion topics, I hope some of you will enjoy seeing this as well. I'm going to post the full 100 in the next two posts, but PLEASE, don't actually try to follow the data that way! I spent a bunch of time converting the listing into a nice, colorful HTML table that will be much easier on the eyes. So please check that out instead: http://geocities.com/cyber1166/gamefaqs/topfaqs/ In addition, with the page there I've added some data on a few Contest games which didn't quite make the Top 100. I've also attempted to preemptively tackle some of what I expect to be the most Frequently Asked Questions, such as, "Why doesn't FF7 run away with the #1 spot?" Enjoy! --- the-elite.net Ngamer's Contest Archives: http://geocities.com/cyber1166/gamefaqs ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The 23 members of The Great Game Contest have been bolded. The Top 100 FAQs January 1, 1999 through December 31, 2003 Rank | Game | Total Hits | (Top 100 Positions, 2003 - 1999) 1 Final Fantasy X - 7.740 ( 2 1 9 - - ) 2 Final Fantasy VII - 7.655 ( 6 8 4 4 4 ) 3 Grand Theft Auto III - 7.263 ( 7 2 10 - - ) 4 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - 6.600 ( 1 3 - - - ) 5 Final Fantasy VIII - 6.453 ( 17 15 5 1 1 ) 6 Kingdom Hearts - 5.652 ( 4 4 - - - ) 7 Final Fantasy IX - 5.398 ( 18 10 1 5 - ) 8 Metal Gear Solid 2 - 4.763 ( 25 5 7 - - ) 9 Super Smash Bros. Melee - 4.633 ( 9 8 22 - - ) 10 Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 4.487 ( 23 23 16 10 3 ) 11 Pokemon Gold/Silver - 4.303 ( 52 28 3 3 - ) 12 Chrono Cross - 4.165 ( 41 26 6 2 - ) 13 Elder Scrolls III, The: Morrowind - 4.094 ( 15 14 - - - ) 14 Golden Sun - 3.921 ( 13 7 33 - - ) 15 Zelda: A Link to the Past - 3.713 ( 42 47 42 49 62 ) 16 Final Fantasy Tactics - 3.487 ( 22 22 20 34 19 ) 17 Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire - 3.401 ( 3 68 - - - ) 18 Diablo II: Lord of Destruction - 3.152 ( 16 25 17 22 - ) 19 Animal Crossing - 3.007 ( 8 16 - - - ) 20 Jedi Outcast - 2.697 ( 36 9 - - - ) 21 Metroid Prime - 2.692 ( 10 18 - - - ) 22 Zelda: Majora's Mask - 2.683 ( 55 46 8 12 - ) 23 Final Fantasy III - 2.658 ( 53 42 30 36 27 ) 24 Phantasy Star Online - 2.640 ( 84 66 2 - - ) 25 Legend of Dragoon, The - 2.559 ( 66 49 21 8 - ) 26 Gran Turismo 3 A-spec - 2.380 ( 63 27 11 - - ) 27 WarCraft III - 2.342 ( 30 13 - - - ) 28 Chrono Trigger - 2.321 ( 73 63 27 26 51 ) 29 Zelda: The Wind Waker - 2.296 ( 5 - - - - ) 30 Baldur's Gate II - 2.275 ( 67 52 12 37 - ) 31 Devil May Cry - 2.262 ( 68 20 25 - - ) 32 Resident Evil - 2.168 ( 69 11 - - - ) 33 Halo - 2.127 ( 26 32 96 - - ) 34 Super Mario Sunshine - 2.093 ( 65 12 - - - ) 35 Dynasty Warriors 3 - 2.080 ( 59 19 81 - - ) 36 Resident Evil 3: Nemesis - 2.049 ( - - 31 6 8 ) 37 Neverwinter Nights - 2.041 ( 39 17 - - - ) 38 WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth - 1.880 ( 32 31 - - - ) 39 Pokemon - 1.856 ( - - - 11 2 ) 40 Suikoden III - 1.832 ( 38 29 - - - ) 41 Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages - 1.785 ( 92 50 13 - - ) 42 Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance - 1.775 ( 95 36 - - - ) 43 Metroid Fusion - 1.773 ( 29 40 - - - ) 44 Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons - 1.689 ( 93 56 14 - - ) 45 Ragnarok Online - 1.617 ( 14 87 - - - ) 46 Sonic Adventure 2 Battle - 1.564 ( 72 30 - - - ) 47 WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It - 1.563 ( 64 33 - - - ) 48 Xenogears - 1.548 ( - - 53 38 6 ) 49 Pokemon Crystal - 1.509 ( 83 55 51 - - ) 50 Silent Hill - 1.507 ( - - 86 45 5 ) ------------------------------------- 51 Silent Hill 2 - 1.495 ( 94 59 34 - - ) 52 Splinter Cell - 1.438 ( 60 43 - - - ) 53 Star Ocean: The Second Story - 1.436 ( - - 71 30 7 ) 54 Dungeon Siege - 1.383 ( 61 48 - - - ) 55 Dragon Warrior VII - 1.339 ( 91 69 55 - - ) 56 TimeSplitters 2 - 1.325 ( 98 76 - - - ) 57 Gold Sun: Lost Age - 1.323 ( 11 - - - - ) 58 Star Fox Adventures - 1.317 ( 88 39 - - - ) 59 Onimusha 2 - 1.275 ( 96 38 - - - ) 60 Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories - 1.229 ( - 21 - - - ) 61 Dynasty Warriors 4 - 1.244 ( 12 - - - - ) 62 Rogue Leader - 1.208 ( - 41 54 - - ) 63 Resident Evil 0 - 1.207 ( 76 57 - - - ) 64 Eternal Darkness - 1.170 ( - 24 - - - ) 65 Marvel vs. Capcom 2 - 1.139 ( - - 36 14 - ) 66 Wild Arms 3 - 1.108 ( 80 67 - - - ) 67 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 - 1.086 ( - 78 49 - - ) 68 Perfect Dark - 1.073 ( - - 32 9 - ) 69 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - 1.051 ( 78 75 - - - ) 70 Final Fantasy X-2 - 1.020 ( 19 - - - - ) 71 Pokemon Yellow - 1.017 ( - - - 17 11 ) 72 FFTactics: Advance - 1.005 ( 20 - - - - ) 73 Star War: KotOR - 0.989 ( 21 - - - - ) 74 Hitman 2: Silent Assassin - 0.989 ( 75 71 - - - ) 75 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai - 0.980 ( - 35 - - - ) 76 Legend of Legaia - 0.958 ( - - - 46 9 ) 77 Castlevania: Circle of the Moon - 0.951 ( - 82 35 - - ) 78 Dark Cloud - 0.948 ( - 80 37 - - ) 79 Final Fantasy XI - 0.925 ( 25 - - - - ) 80 Gran Turismo 2 - 0.916 ( - - 84 18 55 ) 81 Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance - 0.912 ( 97 77 - - - ) 82 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 - 0.911 ( - - 50 20 - ) 83 WWF SmackDown! 2 - 0.910 ( - - 15 32 - ) 84 Soul Calibur 2 - 0.909 ( 27 - - - - ) 85 Metal Gear Solid - 0.903 ( - - - 44 10 ) 86 WWF No Mercy - 0.902 ( - - 18 29 - ) 87 F-Zero GX - 0.893 ( 28 - - - - ) 88 Mega Man Battle Network 2 - 0.853 ( - 44 - - - ) 89 Xenosaga - 0.845 ( 31 - - - - ) 90 Yu-Gi-Oh! The Eternal Duelist Soul - 0.843 ( - 45 - - - ) 91 Mario Kart Double Dash - 0.813 ( 33 - - - - ) 92 Seiken Densetsu 3 - 0.812 ( - - 60 56 57 ) 93 Syphon Filter - 0.807 ( - - - 52 12 ) 94 Donkey Kong 64 - 0.804 ( - - - 23 25 ) 95 Mario and Luigi Superstar - 0.797 ( 34 - - - - ) 96 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - 0.794 ( - - - 16 33 ) 97 Goldeneye - 0.793 ( - - - 40 14 ) 98 WWF Wrestlemania 2000 - 0.793 ( - - - 23 29 ) 99 Super Mario World - 0.779 ( 90 100 - - - ) 100 Super Smash Brothers - 0.778 ( - - - 55 13 )