Just to go partially off-topic again, I had a detailed dream about GameFAQs last night. I dreamed that I went to the homepage (I even had the new layout in my dream) and scrolled down to click on the "Results Only" text in the poll. The results of the match came up (I can't remember where they were or what games were up against each other) but what struck me was that, right after the purple-colored links for "Check your entry" and "View the bracket" was a fresh, not yet clicked blue link titled "View statistics". I clicked it, and then I woke up.

Yes, I dreamed about getting stats for this contest, and woke up before seeing them.

*hangs head in shame*
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 31/32, Next Winner: Super Mario Bros. 3

I am extremely happy with what SMB3 is doing today, very, very happy. =)
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Nintendo® - The Beginning and the End
Time passes, people move. Like a river's flow, it never ends.

Looks like an all-Zelda Final 4 ain't happening. :-(

But go SMB3! No wait..SFF factor..gahh should have known..
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Welcome to SpC2k4, where you suck if you presume someone else's opinions.- Tai.

Wow! Wow, wow wow! And to think that I was actually worried that Metorid might get over 40% in this match. Undoubtedly, this all due to SFF, but even so, these results are spectacular. I still feel kinda bad for Pac-Man though. Two contests in a row, it's been stuck with a lower rating then it deserves due to the game it lost to getting socked with SFF next round.

And also, for all the people saying LOZ Vs. Donkey Kong will break the 80-20 barrier, without SFF, this ain't happening. DK is very underrated.

Oh, and SSBM redeemed itself during the day, proving that it still has a fighting chance against Vice City next round, at least according to my handy-dandy little chart.
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Heh Heh... The wind... It is blowing...--Ganondorf

If you live near Quebec, get in there and find Slowflake the Starcraft Battle Chest. I`ll reimnburse you if you have a Western Union up there
Is Montreal considered "near Québec" now? Might be able to help...

Note: Montreal is an awesome city for about eight months of the year but eastern winters suck beyond what I would have believed possible. Snow in April is inhumane.
Actually, I'd say it's great 10 months of the year up here! With October and November being plain awful rainy cold and wet...

This makes me wonder, how many of you guys live in Québec too? I knew we were a few, but I'm wondering how many regulars of this board come from here...

And to stay a little on-topic, seeing Metroid get slaughtered almost as bad as Metal Gear, I'm more confident that we underestimated MGS and MGS2, which would give SSB:Melee a chance to go farther in the contest....
or so I hope...
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"Everything gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost"

I fail to see how a 60/40 victory against KotoR is much worse than a 57/43 victory against MGS2.

I'd say it is vastly more impressive. Knights of the Old Republic is not even close to being as strong as MGS2.

MGS2, however, clearly does not have the backing that MGS has. As I said in another topic, MGS2 does not have the popularity of MGS any more than FFX has the popularity of FFVII.

I'd say MGS2 was a helluva lot closer to MGS than Final Fantasy X to Final Fantasy VII. I could see Final Fantasy VII getting 65%-70% against Final Fantasy X even without SFF, which I don't see happening with MGS and MGS2 (again, without SFF). If you take my earlier calculation of MGS2 being an average of Snake and SFF adjusted Raiden, MGS beat MGS2 with 65.76%, and this seems to me like a very conservative estimate of MGS2's popularity relative to MGS. I strongly believe that MGS2 was being very underrated by people.

against a less popular PS2 game, so why should anyone be convinced that it will do well against VC, a PS2 heavyweight, second only to FFX?

? VC doesn't seem like much of heavyweight to me, and I would not say MGS2 was "less popular" than it, contest-wise. I think MGS2 would beat VC 55%-45% or more, which implies a 61% victory for SSBM against VC. I think it'll be closer to 65%. I could be very wrong, but I don't think so. And I did nail both SSBM and VC's matches, (before getting destroyed by SMB3) which gives me some confidence that I know the strength levels of these games fairly well.
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Remember to nominate Frog from Chrono Trigger for Summer Contest 2K4!
SC2K4.com

against a less popular PS2 game, so why should anyone be convinced that it will do well against VC, a PS2 heavyweight, second only to FFX?

? VC doesn't seem like much of heavyweight to me...

the first comment was probably made because vice city has a higher seed than any other ps2 game but ffx.

i'm not convinced mgs2 is more popular than vice city, either.
after all...vice city is eight seeds higher.
like i said before, i know seeds aren't everything...but it's still a good sign for vc.

...granted...getting 60% against kotor is a pretty bad sign for vc...
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signature (n.): a random bit of gibberish that no one ever reads.

Final Fantasy vs. Contra:

I have mixed feelings about this match. On the one hand, I want Final Fantasy to PWNinate so that it increases its odds of putting up a fight against SMB3. (that match will be one of my most beloved childhood games vs. the game whose overwhelming popuarity I resented heavily as a child) While I've given up the tiny bit of hope I had of Final Fantasy winning, I'm hoping it can get at least 40%. And dominating Contra would increase the odds of that.

On the other hand, Contra deserves more than 30% again any game in the 8 bit division. It's Contra!

While I recently increased my prediction for Final Fantasy to 73%, I wouldn't be surprised if it did significantly worse than that. Though, Contra only getting 60% against Phantasy Star is not a good sign for it at all.

Contra's performance against Phantasy Star indicates that unless Final Fantasy can get 65% there, it will get completely destroyed by SMB3, maybe struggling to get 30%. A performance in the neighborhood of 75% means it might get close to 45%, I think.
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Remember to nominate Frog from Chrono Trigger for Summer Contest 2K4!
SC2K4.com

Metroid wasn't a top tier game in it's day either. I didn't say That either were on the level of SMB3 (in fact, they obviously aren't) but for that tiem they were both pretty equally known (though MG would have kicked Metroid's ass up and down the street in Japan). Yes, Nintendo's greatest heroine had the advantage, but MG was by no means a little known game. Advertising for the game was in fact quite common, and I'd be willing to bet I even have advertisements for Snake's ****ing Revenge lying around here or there somewhere, and that's not even a true sequel! MG was easily on the same level with Contra and Metroid in the day, meaning they were realatively of equal success levels, however being a game from the big N, Metroid was damn good so it left a longer lasting Impression at the end of the system's life. MG, no matter how many times people say the contrary, actually did have quite a few fans then. In fact, though it's obviously not indicative of the big picture, but I knew about 10 time more people who had played MG than the number who had played Metroid, so if you'd have actually asked me around '90 I would have thought MG was by far the more popular (though not necessarily better) game.
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ChichiriMuyo is officially the Discussion Guru Encyclopedia - UltimaterializerX
And I'm 23/24 myself. My loss was all part of Alucard's plan. - BigCow

I'd say it is vastly more impressive. Knights of the Old Republic is not even close to being as strong as MGS2.

And you know this…how?

I'd say MGS2 was a helluva lot closer to MGS than Final Fantasy X to Final Fantasy VII.

I want proof. Speaking of which:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=1329
http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=1341

Not that I'm saying this is incontrovertible...but if you have anything better then please share.

? VC doesn't seem like much of heavyweight to me, and I would not say MGS2 was "less popular" than it, contest-wise.

Hah, I’d take that bet any day.
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 31/32, Next Winner: Super Mario Bros. 3

*** COMPARISONS GAME - Match #34 - (12) CONTRA vs. (4) FINAL FANTASY ***

Sales

Gathering the thoughts of board members, I got quite a few "I was the only one to own FF1, everyone else had Contra". Anyway, I keep hearing how Contra was huge back in the day and how Final Fantasy was niche. My, how times change.

- Advantage CONTRA.

Franchises

Why did FF1 score so high against Pitfall? Take a wild guess. I seriously doubt a game of equal strength NOT named Final Fantasy (or Zelda for that matter) would have scored so much on Pitfall.

- Advantage FF1.

GameFAQs Status

Number of FAQs: FF1
Number of reviews: FF1
Average review score: Contra
Board activity: FF1

Boring. Contra wins the review score with a very large amount of 8s and 9s and not much else, while FF1's scores fluctuate madly. For the rest, bleh.

- Advantage FF1.

Board Odds Project

PICKS (out of 102)
Final Fantasy - 98
Contra - 2
Also picked: Phantasy Star (1), Pitfall (1)

POINT VALUE
13. Final Fantasy - 331
31. Contra - 66

Contra's low ranking is mostly due to the relatively low amount of people who picked it to get here in the first place, though it was still favored against PS. FF1 gets beaten by Metroid Prime, hypothetical second round loser... because at least Prime has a shot to the division finals - or so it was believed back then. Meaning the BOP numbers will lose a lot of significance as we progress.

- Advantage FF1.

Previous Rounds

Contra made PS its ***** in what was one of the hardest first round matches to call. But that was nothing in comparison to FF1's performance. Harry's still nursing his behind daily.

- Advantage FF1.

Summer Contests / Polls of the Day

No data available. Duh.

- UNAVAILABLE.

Intangibles

The match pic will definitely catch the eye of the 8BT fan. The game's name will catch the eye of the "OMG CLOUD" fanboy.

It's not about what was more popular 15 years ago, or Contra would win in a landslide.

- Advantage FF1.

Conclusion: *clears throat*

I AM THE FF FANBOY! I CASTS THE VOTES THAT MAKES THE CLASSICS FALL DOWN!
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 027/032 --- Matches: 27/32 --- Rank: ?????/????? --- Today's pick: SMB3

Has anyone else seen the "pregnant teen" advertisement on the side of the page? Am I the only one that is bemused by the presence of that ad on a site that is 95% male?

Guess what? In all likelihood, it really WON'T happen to you :)
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 31/32, Next Winner: Super Mario Bros. 3

lol Slow, nice analysis.
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 31/32, Next Winner: Super Mario Bros. 3

Stop sucking up. You SO did not read that in a minute. ;)
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 027/032 --- Matches: 27/32 --- Rank: ?????/????? --- Today's pick: SMB3

Stop sucking up. You SO did not read that in a minute. ;)

Haha, there's a reason you're called *Slow*flake, it seems.
---
Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 31/32, Next Winner: Super Mario Bros. 3

"I AM THE FF FANBOY! I CASTS THE VOTES THAT MAKES THE CLASSICS FALL DOWN!"

Brilliant. I', tempted to put it in my sig but there seems to be no room...
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ChichiriMuyo is officially the Discussion Guru Encyclopedia - UltimaterializerX
And I'm 23/24 myself. My loss was all part of Alucard's plan. - BigCow
I AM THE FF FANBOY! I CASTS THE VOTES THAT MAKES THE CLASSICS FALL DOWN! - Slowflake

cyko's Point of View

Match 34

(4) Final Fantasy vs. (12) Contra

yawn. predictable, huge blowout number two out of three in a row. the household-named RPG will be able to handle the classic shooter with ease. in fact, Final Fantasy will prove it's heavy superiority over Phantasy Star by nearly doubling it's first round percentage total. this blowout will be nearly as big as Mario's was today- watch and see. especially if CJayC uses a pic of Black Mage. squee!! ^_^


prediction - Final Fantasy with 75-78%

my bracket - Final Fantasy

personal favorite - Final Fantasy - Contra was indeed awesome. especially playing two-player. they need to make more two player co-op games. but, even the first Final Fantasy was a great little RPG.

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Current Score: 29/32 (through SSBM vs MGS2) ?????/????? with ???? other people
A WINNER of Trivia 12

I think Final Fantasy will hover around 70% or even under it.
---
Nintendo® - The Beginning and the End
Time passes, people move. Like a river's flow, it never ends.

That was sweet, Slow.
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Slowflake, have you looked at Tails vs. Auron with this other perspective:

If there was SFF in Mario vs. Link? If THAT was true, Tails value would move up in terms of his 2002 value, making him appear weaker in 2003, which THEN can cause Cloud vs. Auron to be blamed for SFF.

Of course, that argument isn't very strong at all, because if Mario would have received, say, 42% against Link without SFF, then that means Link would've had to have grown in popularity the next year, and that would automatically push Tails back up again in relation to his 2002 value. How interesting. (Oh, heh, that's right...I once had a suspicion that Link overperformed against Cloud...if that was the case, maybe that's the only possible counter-argument)

Hm, and I was going to do that 4-pack strength thing, too. One of these days I want to go back and do it with the Summer 2K2 and 2K3 Contests just to see how things would have looked for the later rounds of those tournaments.

On to Final Fantasy vs. Contra... well, first off, I believe Final Fantasy would destroy Phantasy Star with at least 80%. The 4th installment of PSIV failed to take 17% out of Super Metroid, and look at how Metroid ate SMB3's dust! Secondly, I'd imagine Final Fantasy would be about as close to Super Mario Bros. 3 as Contra would be to Metroid, thinking about, so I think Final Fantasy should get over 75% tomorrow.

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"Ah, a party! We haven't had one of those. It could be fun! So...what is a party?"
"Well, you drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think."

I`m really thinking that SMB3 will win end up winning this thing...
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Nintendo® - The Beginning and the End
http://www.xthdimension.cjb.net/goldenmario.gif

Match #32 Review:

Another 128-bit match, another underperformance by the winner. SSBM and Vice City should be interesting.

Match #34 Preview:

Uhh, FF.
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"Thank you, Mario. But our princess is in another castle."
-Toad in Super Mario Bros.

something i forgot to mention earlier today:

...well...so much for our theory that the early divisions will follow the character contests exactly.

unless smb3 is the exception and not metal gear...
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signature (n.): a random bit of gibberish that no one ever reads.

Top 10 Biggest Blowouts (difference in percentage)

1) 90.40% - Legend of Zelda over Adventure
2) 82.30% - Legend of Zelda: LTTP over Gunstar Heroes
3) 75.28% - Final Fantasy over Pitfall
4) 72.62% - Legend of Zelda: OOT over Fallout 2
5) 71.26% - Final Fantasy 7 over Suikoden 2
6) 69.66% - Super Mario 64 over Nights *
7) 66.58% - Super Metroid over Phantasy Star 4
8) 64.60% - Super Mario Bros. 3 over Metal Gear *
9) 62.94% - Super Mario World over The Simpsons
10) 61.62% - Goldeneye 007 over Panzer Dragoon Saga *

Top 10 Biggest Vote Gaps (difference in votes)

1) 88208 - Legend of Zelda over Adventure
2) 78272 - Legend of Zelda: LTTP over Gunstar Heroes
3) 76348 - Final Fantasy 7 over Suikoden 2
4) 74682 - Final Fantasy over Pitfall
5) 69753 - Legend of Zelda: OOT over Fallout 2
6) 61229 - Super Mario World over The Simpsons
7) 59648 - Sonic 2 over Shining Force
8) 56834 - Super Mario 64 over Nights *
9) 56376 - Super Metroid over Phantasy Star 4
10) 53087 - Chrono Trigger over Secret of Mana

Top 10 Closest Matches (difference in percentage)

1) 0.14% - Donkey Kong over Duck Hunt
2) 0.34% - Starcraft over Halo
3) 1.20% - Kingdom Hearts over Soul Calibur #
4) 6.36% - Castlvania: SotN over Perfect Dark *
5) 12.32% - Metroid Prime over Half-Life #
6) 12.48% - Super Mario RPG over Street Fighter 2
7) 13.44% - Super Smash Bros. Melee over Metal Gear Solid 2 #
8) 14.08% - Doom over Earthbound
9) 15.90% - Xenogears over Pokemon G/S/C *
10) 20.64% - Grand Theft Auto: Vice City over Star Wars: KOTOR @

Top 10 Smallest Vote Gaps (difference in votes)

1) 143 - Donkey Kong over Duck Hunt
2) 373 - Starcraft over Halo
3) 1088 - Kingdom Hearts over Soul Calibur #
4) 4883 - Castlvania: SotN over Perfect Dark *
5) 9066 - Metroid Prime over Half-Life #
6) 10065 - Super Smash Bros. Melee over Metal Gear Solid 2 #
7) 11114 - Xenogears over Pokemon G/S/C *
8) 12076 - Super Mario RPG over Street Fighter 2
9) 12164 - Doom over Earthbound
10) 18491 - Grand Theft Auto: Vice City over Star Wars: KOTOR @

Top 10 Most Popular Polls (by vote totals)

1) 112889 - Halo vs. Starcraft
2) 107150 - Final Fantasy 7 vs. Suikoden 2
3) 99194 - Final Fantasy vs. Pitfall
4) 97580 - Legend of Zelda vs. Adventure
5) 97285 - Super Mario World vs. The Simpsons
6) 97126 - Sonic 2 vs. Shining Force
7) 97031 - Donkey Kong vs. Duck Hunt
8) 96704 - Super Mario RPG vs. Steet Fighter 2
9) 96186 - Final Fantasy 3/6 vs. Mortal Kombat
10) 96053 - Legend of Zelda: OOT vs. Fallout 2

Top 10 Least Popular Polls (by vote totals)

1) 65875 - Final Fantasy Tactics Advance vs. Fire Emblem #
2) 69876 - Xenogears over Pokemon G/S/C *
3) 72743 - Metroid vs. Pac-Man *
4) 73642 - Metroid Prime vs. Half-Life #
5) 74556 - Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. Metal Gear *
6) 74688 - Metal Gear Solid vs. Resident Evil *
7) 74923 - Super Smash Bros. Melee vs. Metal Gear Solid 2 #
8) 75583 - Goldeneye 007 vs. Panzer Dragoon Saga *
9) 75687 - Legend of Zelda: WW vs. Skies of Arcadia #
10) 76743 - Perfect Dark vs. Castlevania: SotN *

Top 10 Least Popular Polls without an Extra PotD (by vote totals)

1) 65875 - Final Fantasy Tactics Advance vs. Fire Emblem #
2) 73642 - Metroid Prime vs. Half-Life #
3) 74923 - Super Smash Bros. Melee over Metal Gear Solid 2 #
4) 75687 - Legend of Zelda: WW vs. Skies of Arcadia #
5) 77424 - Final Fantasy X xs. Shenmue #
6) 81045 - (ii) Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. Metroid #
7) 84501 - Tetris vs. Galaga
8) 84664 - Super Metroid vs. Phantasy Star 4
9) 84804 - Pong vs. River City Ransom
10) 86418 - Earthbound vs. Doom

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Current Score: 35/38 (through Zelda vs. DK) ?????/????? with ???? other people
A WINNER of Trivia 12

Top 10 Highest Individual Votes

1) 92894 - Legend of Zelda
2) 91749 - Final Fantasy 7
3) 86938 - Final Fantasy
4) 86690 - Legend of Zelda: LTTP
5) 82903 - Legend of Zelda: OOT
6) 79257 - Super Mario World
7) 78387 - Sonic 2
8) 71697 - Chrono Trigger
9) 70520 - Super Metroid
10) 70294 - Final Fantasy 3/6

Top 10 Lowest Individual Votes

1) 4686 - Adventure
2) 8418 - Gunstar Heroes
3) 12256 - Pitfall
4) 12375 - Nights *
5) 13150 - Fallout 2
6) 13197 - Metal Gear *
7) 14144 - Phantasy Star 4
8) 14504 - Panzer Dragoon Saga *
9) 15401 - Suikoden 2
10) 17799 - (ii) Metroid #

Top 10 Most Impressive Losers (by votes)

1) 56258 - Halo
2) 48444 - Duck Hunt
3) 44532 - Soul Calibur #
4) 42314 - Street Fighter 2
5) 37127 - Earthbound
6) 35930 - Perfect Dark
7) 35564 - Star Wars: KOTOR @
8) 35513 - Phantasy Star
9) 32429 - Metal Gear Solid 2 #
10) 32288 - Half-Life #

Top 10 Least Impressive Winners (by votes)

1) 40495 - Xenogears *
2) 40813 - Castlevania: SotN *
3) 41354 - Metroid Prime #
4) 42494 - Super Smash Bros. Melee #
5) 43716 - Final Fantasy Tactics Advance #
6) 45620 - Kingdom Hearts #
7) 48587 - Donkey Kong
8) 49291 - Doom
9) 49837 - Metroid *
10) 52745 - Metal Gear Solid *

Top 10 Least Impressive Winners without an Extra PotD (by votes)

1) 41354 - Metroid Prime #
2) 42494 - Super Smash Bros. Melee #
3) 43716 - Final Fantasy Tactics Advance #
4) 45620 - Kingdom Hearts #
5) 48587 - Donkey Kong
6) 49291 - Doom
7) 54055 - Grand Theft Auto: Vice City @
8) 54390 - Super Mario RPG
9) 55593 - Contra
10) 56544 - Legend of Zelda: WW #

Top 10 Easiest Matches to Predict (based on entrants choosing the winner)

1) still, no data yet..... tonight???!!........... maybe..........
2)
3)
4)
5)

Top 10 Hardest Matches to Predict (based on entrants choosing the winner)

1) no data yet...... come on, pleeeaseee..........
2)
3)
4)
5)

* = shared PotD with GameRiot or ESPN or FFXI poll

# = matches after the home-page layout change

@ = messed up two day match after the layout change

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Current Score: 35/38 (through Zelda vs. DK) ?????/????? with ???? other people
A WINNER of Trivia 12

looks like Final Fantasy isn't dominating by quite as much as i thought. but, i believe that it will climb into the low seventies as it gets more of the day vote; seeing how it is more recognizable here than Contra. too bad, we didn't get Black Mage's pic, but Fighter is a pretty good alternative.

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Current Score: 35/38 (through Zelda vs. DK) ?????/????? with ???? other people
A WINNER of Trivia 12

Well, hopefully Contra's predictable strong showing (well I predicted it this close anyway - note that in the spread betting topic, I state I'd take Contra if it was at +45, not +60 - meaning I'm saying it'd get 27-28% or more) is a solid indication that FF will reach the last 16 and then go out to Mario 3. Shame Contra has to go out so soon, but in fairness I can think of 4 better games from the 8 bit era. None of them contain the words "Final" or "Fantasy" though...
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Jon Thomson - 27/33, 28/34 - today: FF (voting Contra), tomorrow: Zelda

in the spread topic, i predicted a final spread of 70-30, and i don't think there's going to be too much day/night discrepancy here - i expect ff to hover in the 68-72 range until the end.

Haste2: Of course, since Mario performed similarly against Link and 2003 Sephiroth, and both scored about the same against Cloud, the idea of Mario/Link SFF is, ahem, hastily disproven.

Hm, I'm not very surprised by the scores today. I knew that if people had played Contra enough to take 62% against Phantasy Star, then it has the potential to do well against a game that it outsold, even if it IS Final Fantasy.

Still, don't count on FF1 next round. This will be all SMB3.
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 027/032 --- Matches: 27/32 --- Rank: ?????/????? --- Today's pick: SMB3

I cannot believe that Fighter is the one in the pic. This is such a crime against 8-Bit Theater that it`s not even funny.

Urge to kill... rising...
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

I cannot believe that Fighter is the one in the pic. This is such a crime against 8-Bit Theater that it`s not even funny.

Urge to kill... rising...

Agreed...it's a travesty!
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 31/32, Next Winner: Super Mario Bros. 3

Chichiri:
Metroid wasn't a top tier game in it's day either

It most certainly was. The top tier games were (in no order) SMB, SMB3, The Legend of Zelda, Punch-Out, Metroid, and Contra. While the SMB games were obviously in a different league, most NES owners that you would know had these games.

Chichiri:
MG, no matter how many times people say the contrary, actually did have quite a few fans then.

But I'm pretty sure it didn't. I'd venture to say that even Excitebike was much more well known than Metal Gear.

In fact, though it's obviously not indicative of the big picture, but I knew about 10 time more people who had played MG than the number who had played Metroid, so if you'd have actually asked me around '90

If you want to talk anecdotally, I knew *nobody* that had Metal Gear. A lot of people had Metroid. When I go to my parents house in a week, I'll try to check the Nintendo Power rankings those magazines used to have--those correlated roughly with market share as I recall. If Metal Gear is high on there, then I'll believe you, but otherwise it is ridiculous to hear that Metal Gear was as popular as Metroid.


smitelf:
And you know this…how?

The same way we forecast anything: educated guess about the relative popularity of these games at GameFAQs. And like I said, given that I nailed both these matches, I can say with some confidence that I am familiar with the levels of popularity these games possess.

Speaking of which:

Doesn't seem to be all that relevant; in fact it seems almost completely meaningless, other than that we know MGS would beat MGS2. It is absurd to say that the original MGS would get 70% against MGS if SFF weren't involved.

Hah, I’d take that bet any day.

Oooh...a bet! I can't resist bets. So you want to make a bet that VC will get a higher % against SSMB than MGS2 did? What do you want to bet? Something in the sig, I guess?

I'd almost say perhaps we should have a spread, because this bet doesn't seem equal to me. But it seems that most people here do think VC will challenge SSBM, so perhaps a spread isn't warranted. This is very odd to me though, as other than the "less nominations on same system thing"--which is shady--there isn't much reason to think that VC could equal MGS2 at this site.


cyko:
too bad, we didn't get Black Mage's pic, but Fighter is a pretty good alternative

While as a kid I was always biased towards Black Mage, and 8BT has made him the Final Fantasy icon, Fighter was probably more associated with the game back then. So it's a good choice.

Strangely enough, I actually like Black Mage less now because of 8BT. I loved the Black Mage back then, but I get really annoyed by his wanton murder of innocents in 8BT. I'm not partial to such things. Oh well.

Red Mage totally rocks, however. As does Garland.
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Remember to nominate Frog from Chrono Trigger for Summer Contest 2K4!
SC2K4.com

>>I cannot believe that Fighter is the one in the pic. This is such a crime against 8-Bit Theater that it`s not even funny.

Urge to kill... rising...

>>Agreed...it's a travesty!

Hopefully he'll put up Black Mage next round against SMB3.
---
Remember to nominate Frog from Chrono Trigger for Summer Contest 2K4!
SC2K4.com

The same way we forecast anything: educated guess about the relative popularity of these games at GameFAQs. And like I said, given that I nailed both these matches, I can say with some confidence that I am familiar with the levels of popularity these games possess.

Okay, well I choose *not* to take your word for it since it makes no logical sense for MGS2 to be more popular than Vice City.

Oooh...a bet! I can't resist bets. So you want to make a bet that VC will get a higher % against SSMB than MGS2 did? What do you want to bet? Something in the sig, I guess?

Sure, I’ll make a sig bet. Something like “creativename pwned me!” or whatever else you can think up (I'm no good with sigs).

And I’ll agree that my “evidence” wasn’t too relevant. I brought it up more because I thought it was kind of funny.
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 31/32, Next Winner: Super Mario Bros. 3

Are ya all ready? Fanboys? Gamers? Elites? Newbies? :) It's time for...the enhanced...

Steve Illumina Speaks

Indeed it is so, the infamous and ever humorous commentary continues, to offer some educated levity, here on this the true beacon of intelligence on this overly fanboy dominated board.

And so it proceeds, with an elven semi-blowout here in round 2 in the "Ancient" Division

ROUND 2: Match XXXV

(6)Donkey Kong vs (3)Legend of Zelda

Steve's Prediction: Zelda by 78.8%
Steve's Bracket: Zelda
Newbie's Pick: Hums the Zelda theme...
Upset Chances: Back to the zoo with ya, ape!

Comments: Here we got yet another easy pickings 2nd rounder, as The Ape of DK takes on The Elf of Zelda.

The Great Apes near extinction more and more every year. While this is a pity, it is not a pity in the case of one ape in particular, our 'so dearly' beloved Donkey Kong.

DK is the laughingstock of this contest. He thinks he can go far with the Nintendites on his back...but these so called Nintendites often bail at the 1st sign of something better. Happens every time...and this time it will happen against Nintendo's elven wonder.

Young Link has dispatched 4 games thus far, and as he goes for his 5th, he draws his Wooden Boomerang and tosses it, catching the ape square in the bridge of his snout. He edges closer, Magic Wand in hand, and fires a fireburst! CRISPY!!! The ape is charred and left for dead...another 8 bit pretender! Link moves on, and toots his whistle...waiting for a real challenge to step forth...

Why Zelda Will Win: Voting blocks: Nintendites, Zelda fans, RPG gamers, and the fact this game is so loved and respected does not hurt.

Why DK Wont Win: Not enough Nintendite support, they favor Link 3 to 1. Old dated arcade game has no shot vs Nintendo's finest 8 bit gem.

Probable Results: The young elf will slay the beast, by a 3 to 1 margin...over 75% to set the benchmark for margin of victory here in Round 2 and stir up the elites.

Best Bosses: DK: Ummm...DK himself! Watch the barrels Jumpy! Zelda 1: 4 Headed Gleeok...was actually a semi-challenge...with the Wooden Sword!
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SCK24: 36/40 Trivia XIII: Diehards Forever
Steve Illumina: Standing tall against fanboys for over 20 years

Sorry to interrupt this lover`s quarrel between creativename and smitelf, but I would like to take this time to note that my life rules. Within 24 hours, I have discovered that I`m in the top 600 players in Madden 2004, saw A Perfect Circle, and won a Prophet Challenge. BOOYA!
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Little question here. LoZ sold 1.45 million in Japan, and I don't have North American numbers... do you think DK may have outsold it? I personally doubt it very much, because it was before the big gaming boom, but you never know.

And secondly, what do you think was more widely played, Pong or Tetris?
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 029/034 --- Matches: 28/33 --- Rank: ?????/????? --- Today's pick: FF1

Little question here. LoZ sold 1.45 million in Japan, and I don't have North American numbers... do you think DK may have outsold it? I personally doubt it very much, because it was before the big gaming boom, but you never know.

I vaguely remember Chichiri quoting a website on Zelda 1 being only the second game to break 1 million sales in America, but I`m not exactly sure. But he`ll see your post sooner or later and be able to provide you with the answer to that with ease.

And secondly, what do you think was more widely played, Pong or Tetris?

Tetris. The Game Boy was released during the gaming boom, and Tetris hasn`t put out 30 million units for nothing. I`d go as far to say that Tetris was the most widely played game in this division at its peak, to be honest.
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Lover’s quarrel?

Uh, anyway, Slow, I’d say definitely Tetris if you’re counting all its incarnations but I don't have any numbers to back that up.
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 33/34, Next Winner: Final Fantasy

Nor do I need numbers for that. It's ridiculously hard to gauge how many people played an arcade game. Especially Pong.
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 029/034 --- Matches: 28/33 --- Rank: ?????/????? --- Today's pick: FF1

Well even if you don`t need numbers, Tetris is the obvious choice I think.

smitelf: Sarcasm sweetie, sarcasm <3
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Numbers on Pong-Tetris would be interesting. I'd imagine tons of people have played some variant of Pong, but by the same token, how many Game Boys were sold with Tetris? An awful lot. Having said that, I first played Tetris on a NES, and I'd imagine that shifted a few (particularly those SMB/Tetris/World Cup Soccer carts that came with the Four Score set) on it's own.
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Jon Thomson - 27/33, 28/34 - today: FF (voting Contra), tomorrow: Zelda

Am I the only one here who voted for Final Fantasy purely out of recognition for 8 bit theater? I haven't played the original FF but I have played Contra...and I have to say that 8 bit theater > Contra.
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 33/34, Next Winner: Final Fantasy

Tetris. The Game Boy was released during the gaming boom, and Tetris hasn`t put out 30 million units for nothing. I`d go as far to say that Tetris was the most widely played game in this division at its peak, to be honest.

To quote Tony Hawk from the Video Game Documentary on GSN "Kids, ask your parents if they've ever played Tetris. And if they say they haven't, THEY'RE LYING."

Kinda funny how both games are very huge with the older generations. For this match, instead of the "Wait til the kiddies get home" rallying cry, this one should be "Wait til the adult get back from work"

Yeah, and Zelda was only the second game to top 1 million because Mario was sold as a pack-in. For stand alone sales Zelda was the first game to sell over 1 million in the US. Since DK came out long before Zelda we know whaat thta Implies.

Unfortunately since it has been so long since the days of the NES actual sales data is hard to come by. And while I'd absolutely love to see all that information from Nintendo power it is unfortunately not indicative of sales. If I remember their Top 30 charts well enough it is based on polling the readers, and only subscribed readers iirc, and since it was a limited group it's hard to say how accurate that info is. Also iirc they asked "pros" and "dealers" which are both such strange groupes because it's hard to tell what that means. Are the pros NP employees? Nintendo employees? A mix of both? People who play for money? Dealers, are they the ones who sell the games on the show room floor like a car (laughs)? Do they handle distribution? Do they base their numbers solely on what sold best for them, I mean if you're job is to sell games than you favorite is whatever sell right? Are deals from all businesses or just ones that were more friendly towards Nintendo? It's fun information to look at, but it's hardly indicative of how wide-spread AND enjoyed games were. According to one of the NES hardware faqs both games were in the same general area below Zelda and Mario and above Gauntlet and Kid Icarus. "The History of Nintendo" list both as being important games for the year they were released (which thend to be a list of 10 games or so out of the dozens released for each year). They are on a similar plane.
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ChichiriMuyo is officially the Discussion Guru Encyclopedia - UltimaterializerX
And I'm 23/24 myself. My loss was all part of Alucard's plan. - BigCow

When the first Pong machine came out, it broke down the very first day. The reason - it was so jam-packed with quarters, the coins were interfering with the electronics. That's how popular it was when it first came out, though I don't know how long it remained that popular. I'd still say Tetris will win by a lot, though.

Source: http://www.geekcomix.com/vgh/first/atpongarc.shtml
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Contest status: 35/36 points through Contra vs. Final Fantasy. Currently anticipating: Sonic 2 vs. Super Mario World

Little question here. LoZ sold 1.45 million in Japan, and I don't have North American numbers... do you think DK may have outsold it? I personally doubt it very much, because it was before the big gaming boom, but you never know.

It was the first game to break 1 million copies, and sold roughly 4.5 million copies.
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Nintendo® - The Beginning and the End
Booster, sir! There's a 70% chance that the object you're standing on is a cake...

Contra has 30%, how surprising. I must say that I'm glad, though. I think Contra > Final Fantasy. However, I am screwed in the Oracle Challenge, because I have now because among the farthest off for two matches in a row in that challenge...

Oh, and if SMB3 doesn't beat Final Fantasy with at least 69% (I would assume Metroid should beat Contra at least 60/40), I will be fully convinced that there was SFF in SMB3 vs. Metroid...

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"Ah, a party! We haven't had one of those. It could be fun! So...what is a party?"
"Well, you drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think."

It looks like my prediction of 70.11% is looking good right now.
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Nintendo® - The Beginning and the End
Booster, sir! There's a 70% chance that the object you're standing on is a cake...

and mine 10% higher isn't . . .

lol
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Silly Rabbit...Trix are for....kids.