I'm leaving for a day or so in about 5 minutes, so here's the new topic while I'm still around.

Stats websites:

Everything you could ever imagine:
http://www.sc2k4.com

Summer 2002 Contest:
http://solarshadow2002.tripod.com

Summer 2003 Contest:
http://solarshadow-stats.tripod.com/2003/index.html

Spring 2004 Contest: (not currently updating)
http://solarshadow-stats.tripod.com/sp2004/index.html

Stats topics:

Summer 2002 Contest:
http://solarshadow2002.tripod.com/page1.html

Summer 2003 Contest:
http://solarshadow-stats.tripod.com/archive/topic1p1.html
http://www.angelfire.com/games5/sum_contest/Page1.htm (See note)

2003-2004 Off-Season:
http://membres.lycos.fr/shindohikaru/stats1.htm (See note)
Note: Don't use the links in the topic to browse through the pages, change the page number in the URL.

Spring 2004 Pre-Season:
http://sc2k4.com/archive/04SpringPreSeason1.htm
http://sc2k4.com/archive/04SpringPreSeason2.htm
http://sc2k4.com/archive/04SpringPreSeason3.htm

Spring 2004 Contest:
http://sc2k4.com/archive/04SpringStats1.htm
http://sc2k4.com/archive/04SpringStats2.htm
http://sc2k4.com/archive/04SpringStats3.htm
http://sc2k4.com/archive/04SpringStats4.htm
http://sc2k4.com/archive/04SpringStats5.htm
http://sc2k4.com/archive/04SpringStats6.htm
http://sc2k4.com/archive/04SpringStats7.htm
http://sc2k4.com/archive/04SpringStats8.htm

!yawA tsoP
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Updated Guru List:

1 - UltimaterializerX
2 - Heroic Mario
3 - Sephirot1
4 - Ringworm
5 - Tnote827
6 - charmander6000
7 - DaruniaTheKing
8 - SteveIllumina
9 - Nightmare 45
10 - Krusty the Klown
11 - Red Sox 777
12 - Naye745
13 - Starion
14 - Yesmar
15 - swirldude
16 - King Morgoth
17 - jonthomson
18 - Z1mZum
19 - DomaDragoon
20 - Alanna82
21 - FastFalcon05
22 - andaca
23 - TyRaNuS
24 - Lieutenant Kettch
25 - Scoop Li
26 - FrostHarpy
27 - yoblazer33
28 - irriadin
29 - Haunter12O
30 - Aprosenf
31 - BeTheMan
32 - RamzaB
33 - Mac Arrowny
34 - Tai
35 - Cavemanbob
36 - Tarrot
37 - Phediuk
38 - TheCalmness
39 - nifboy
40 - WiggumFan267
41 - perdevious
42 - Haste2
43 - Yokel
44 - Qwaar
45 - MasterMage119
46 - arkenaga
47 - Shadowdude
48 - Tequilla Gundam
49 - Ziwei
50 - smitelf
51 - Heroic Knuckles
52 - StopPokingMe
53 - cyko
54 - Salient
55 - Sir Chris
56 - TheRye
57 - Rufus Shinra 18
58 - nh82
59 - Steinershocker
60 - Smurf Thy Legend
61 - BocaSE
62 - Garsha II
63 - A Hogasm IN POG FORM
64 - PregnantPrincess
65 - Bananaquest
66 - Lone Saiyajin
67 - Aeon Azuran
68 - Fett0001
79 - Fantusta
70 - Dilated Chemist
71 - BFitz310
72- ChichiriMuyo
73 - Lucid Faia
74 - HaRRicH
75 - MMXcalibur
76 - Captain Roy Falcon
77 - franmars
78 - Janus5000
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Nice thinking. =)
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Destiny Lies Beyond the Horizon
"Impossible is a word that people use so they don't feel bad when they quit." ~ Vyse

Frog is being totally overrated i tell you! MC has a chance.

A chance, yes. I wouldn't say a good one. =p
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

Creative I assume is still saving all the topics right?
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I dislike the SF series but Capcom > Square, so Ryu. ~Super Saiyan Gnome

Listen. Frog is Square, he's with Crono...there is nothing MC can do to counter that. End of Story. Bye Bye, MC. :-)
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Please visit this petition at: http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=7&topic=15026092

first time i got the 500th post. go me. ^_^

but, yeah, MC may not have a great chance, but he does have a chance. he will get a boost from Red vs. Blue; it just depends on how big of a boost he gets.

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you guys nominated the wrong Shadow..... =(
Through great Luck (and a bit of skill) ULTI pounded me in the Spring Contest!!

Frog is definitely the favorite, no doubt about that. However, I think Liquid has a better chance to take him out than Master Chief.
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My name is Reggie. I'm about kicking ass. I'm about taking names, and we're about making games.

If anyone will take out Frog before the Sweet 16, it's Liquid Snake. Master Chief has already proven he has very little support in his near-loss to Felix.
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Proud supporter of Kefka, Knuckles, Samus, Viewtiful Joe, and Zero for SC2k4!

Red vs Blue? [....] that,TV shows are not factors! This is a game board, not a TV board! MC is from Halo, an X-Box game...Frog is from Chrono Trigger, a Square Game.

Unless the X-Box Faithful help MC do victory and make up for what happened to Halo..Frog has just caught another fly!! XD

Yes yes...game over, MC. Go home, now....
---
Please visit this petition at: http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=7&topic=15026092

plus, Frog simply isn't proven yet. look at the hype Luigi and Kefka had and they fell flat on their faces.

not to mention Kingdom Hearts' underwhelming performance in Spring. even Square can't always live up to it's expectations.

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you guys nominated the wrong Shadow..... =(
Through great Luck (and a bit of skill) ULTI pounded me in the Spring Contest!!

I shoudl be on that Guru list...but alas

The only thing that is bothering me is Vivi and Frog...neither have been able to prove themselves yet and will likely become a bust like Tidus

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God gave men both the wang and the brain, sadly only enough blood to use one or the other.
Official Member of Country Club LUE Board 402

15th place is underwhelming?
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

Dude, Games =/= Characters. How many times do I have to tell you this?! KH sucks, we know. But Frog is from Chrono Trigger..and if you wanna talk games with characters, Chrono Trigger being the SP2CK4 runner-up, Frog is guaranteed a spot in the Sweet 16.

Liquid [....] nor MC have ANYTHING on that.
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Please visit this petition at: http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=7&topic=15026092

will likely become a bust like Tidus.

Huh? Say what?

...I'm doing an unusually high amount of Tidus defending tonight.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

I think Frog is being vastly overrated, but that's just me.

I do think that whoever takes the first match will make it to round three pretty easily though.

LordOfDabu
Believe the hype.

Well, a couple of my messages got drowned in the last topic shortly before it hit 500, so I'll post it all again. *hopes somebody cares*

Here's a thought: high vote totals might actually be a BAD thing for the winner. Think about it. If Cloud gets a lot of votes against a weak opponent, while Mario doesn't, perhaps all the fans of Cloud are much more enthusiastic about the tourney, while the fans of Mario don't really bother voting unless he's in a big match.

Mario did worse percentage-wise against Servbot than Cloud did against Fox, Fox got many more votes than Servbot. Cloud vs. Fox received a lot more votes than Mario vs. Servbot. Perhaps in that case, the raw number of votes for each loser could better indicate the loser's actual strength. In this case, Fox would beat Servbot with (18599/(18599+13777))%, or 57.44%.

Okay, so let's pretend all that is true. That means... "Cloud would beat Servbot with 78.38%...which means Mario had 4% of 'anti-votes'. Since Shadow vs. Mario wasn't SUPPOSED to be a big match, Mario did not get all those extra votes that he was supposed to draw. So...Crono himself probably would've gotten 59% against Shadow the Hedgehog, if you take out that 4% of 'anti-votes'." </advertising for Tidus' victory *runs*>

I wouldn't pay attention to SFF matches' vote totals (including ones that didn't alter the percentages). They probably do tend to have lower vote totals, for obvious reasons.

I almost forgot...will somebody (like Yesmar) be running a prediction percentage contest this year? We're getting close now, and I will take that task if nobody's going to do it.

---
"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."

15th place is underwhelming?

When you are considered to be able to make it to the Elite 8, yes

---
God gave men both the wang and the brain, sadly only enough blood to use one or the other.
Official Member of Country Club LUE Board 402

Frog is being totally overrated i tell you! MC has a chance.

A chance, yes. I wouldn't say a good one. =p

I think he'd have a better one than most would think, but that's not to say he'll win. Just depends if the X-Box/Halo hate is still strong...and if the Spring Contest is a sign of anything, despite Halo losing in the first round (Halo ranked #10 regardless), then MC might go places this year.

Master Chief has already proven he has very little support in his near-loss to Felix.

True, but then he did plenty respectable against Aeris. Again, if the Spring Contest is a sign of anything, then things could easily be better for Halo fans this year. Alot of people also mention Red VS Blue helping, though I don't really think so...but with Halo 2 coming near, I think the hype push will help him alot.

I still have Frog to the Sweet Sixteen.
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

Haste2, that is very true, and is one reason why the so called extrapolated ratings aren't as accurate as some people want to claim.

LordOfDabu
Believe the hype.

...who said Tidus would make it to the Elite 8? You can't base statistics on final bracket positions, since Tidus had to face Ganondorf in the first round. Tidus would've beaten a good portion of the other characters in the bracket, including several that made it much further, with ease.
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Proud supporter of Kefka, Knuckles, Samus, Viewtiful Joe, and Zero for SC2k4!

15th place is underwhelming?

it was underwhelming because Kingdom Hearts was the board's UNANIMOUS favorite to beat Soul Calibur and the heavy favorite to win it's 4-pack. instead, KH barely won a come from behind victory in the first round before losing in the second round.

considering the high hopes this board had for KH, yes, it didn't perform anywhere near it's expectations.

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you guys nominated the wrong Shadow..... =(
Through great Luck (and a bit of skill) ULTI pounded me in the Spring Contest!!

KH was supposed to put down Starcraft..but before we knew it, people were orgamsing over the possiblity of Starcraft winning the championship..

Anyways:

Pwn nothing; Cloud will be lucky to beat Seph this year, with the likely anti-votes and whatnot. I think Cloud'll be lucky enough to face Link in the Championship, but that's it.

Cloud and Seph are Square Characters. The FF7 fanbase lies with Cloud, because he won the title last year. Thank you..thank you..bye. :-)
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Please visit this petition at: http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=7&topic=15026092

I don't think anyone could have convinced me that Kingdom Hearts could possibly beat Starcraft or Halo. I remember spending some time debating about Kingdom Hearts and Soul Calibur before realizing that one point matches weren't really worth the time.

LordOfDabu
Believe the hype.

Kingdom Hearts underperformed in the contest as far as our expectations were, that's for sure. Yet considering it's strong enough to beat about 75% of the other games, I wouldn't call it underwhelming.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

When you are considered to be able to make it to the Elite 8, yes

Sweet Sixteen, I hope you mean; I don't believe many people thought KH would beat LoZ:WW or Metroid Prime.
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

I seriously doubt that Kingdom Hearts would beat 75% of the games from the Spring Contest, regardless of what the multiplication yields. If anything, Starcraft underperformed against Kingdom Hearts.

LordOfDabu
Believe the hype.

I don't believe many people thought KH would beat LoZ:WW or Metroid Prime.

*looks around and shamefully raises hand*

I actually had it facing Metroid Prime though, and Kingdom Hearts would beat it, for what it's worth.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

Cloud and Seph are Square Characters. The FF7 fanbase lies with Cloud, because he won the title last year.

Obviously, yes...last year. This year, the GameFAQs fanbase seemingly lies with having a new champion, and Link or Sephy would be the top two contenders for it. I think Cloud will beat Sephy again, but not Link.
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

If by underperformed you mean that there wasn't as much cheating from StarCraft fans, then yes it did.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

Bowser vs. Squall is one match that I never want to have to predict.

</random comment>
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"Thank you, Mario. But our princess is in another castle."
-Toad in Super Mario Bros.

I wouldn't have trouble putting Bowser down.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

*looks around and shamefully raises hand*

I actually had it facing Metroid Prime though, and Kingdom Hearts would beat it, for what it's worth.

I woulda done that too if Wind Waker wasn't in that set of eight games. =P Heh, I had KH over Halo though, then LoZ:WW over KH and SSBM. That division killed me, obviously.
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

Kingdom Hearts underperformed in the contest as far as our expectations were, that's for sure

that was my point, Leon. KH was hyped on this board as a lock to easily make the Sweet 16 without any previous performance, the same way Frog is being proclaimed an easy lock for the Sweet 16 without any previous performance. i'm not saying he's destined to fail, but Square has managed to not meet the board's hype before.

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you guys nominated the wrong Shadow..... =(
Through great Luck (and a bit of skill) ULTI pounded me in the Spring Contest!!

I would take Squall, but that's just me. ;)
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

I'm fairly confident that the cheating was kept to a minimum in the first three matches (as in, no more than any other standard match).

LordOfDabu
Believe the hype.

I'm fairly confident that the cheating was kept to a minimum in the first three matches (as in, no more than any other standard match).

I think KH is the only match with no cheating, personally. Seeing Starcraft make comeback-wins against Halo, LoZ:WW, and nearly SSBM is a lil' too suspicious.





Oh, and I'd pick Squall in a close battle.
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

that was my point, Leon. KH was hyped on this board as a lock to easily make the Sweet 16 without any previous performance, the same way Frog is being proclaimed an easy lock for the Sweet 16 without any previous performance. i'm not saying he's destined to fail, but Square has managed to not meet the board's hype before.

The thing is: Frog has easy opponents for the first two rounds. Liquid Snake he'll squeak by most likely and Master Chief is weak, (this is assuming MC can get over Crash, which he probably will).
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Today's subliminal thought is:

MC isn't weak; he's an oddball. I'd compare him to a weaker Mario, where he makes his fodder-opponents look better than they really are, then does better than expected against matches where he should be beaten badly. Felix's loss to MC reminds me of Servbot's loss to Mario...but much more extreme, due to MC being weaker than Mario. Mario can still pull out the big win against respectable opponents, while MC merely does better than expected against middle-class opponents.

All of that was 2002 and 2003; I keep pointing this out, but if the Spring Contest is a sign of anything, then 2004 could be a very good year for MC. If the X-Box/Halo hate is gone (at least much moreso than it was last year), then Master Chief can turn some heads this year. Add to it the Halo 2 hype, which dominates the hype of even MGS3 (assumption, not fact), and an untested Frog might have a very unexpected knock-down drag-out with MC.

We'll find out when MC faces Crash if the Halo-hate is gone or not.
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

Side-note: I don't want to come off as saying that Halo = MC and MC = Halo, but if that assumed hate really existed, then it is likely gone; it shouldn't only affect Master Chief.
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

Wait a minute. Did someone say Tidus is a bust? Whoa there. He may be, in the general opinion of the more vocal people, a bust in an attempt to make a cheerful FF lead, an annoying whiner who makes your ears bleed, the perfect punching bag for VGR, but HE'S STILL THE THIRD STRONGEST FF CHARACTER IN THE DAMN TOURNAMENT. Including Aeris.

I won't accept "Huh?", "HUH?" or "Huuuuuh?" for answers. That's how it stands, until it's shown otherwise.
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

Stating simply out of belief and not looking at the rankings, I'd believe that Auron, Aeris, and Squall would all be able to at least give Tidus a run for his money, and I'd predict that Aeris would beat Tidus anyways. I have barely played FF10 a year or two ago, and I have nothing against Tidus. Ranking-wise, yes, I think you're right, but I feel safe in saying that Aeris would be a good bet, and Auron/Squall wouldn't be too bad either.
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

I can't see Tidus beating Auron. Auron is well liked while Tidus is despised as a FF character. Tidus would beat Squall, but Aeris I'm not sure of either.
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Currently Playing: Skies of Arcadia and Zone of the Enders:FoM

Which is exactly why I want to see Tidus facing another near-elite FF character ASAP. IMO the match against Shadow is wasted potential... well, it would be if Mario didn't make Shadow so compelling a pick for many.
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

i hope by square you mean final fantasy character...
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If you're worried people are talking about you... you're probably right.

Shadow being Shadow is compelling enough for me.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

Shadow will beat Tidus.
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My luck works best when things are... random. Mat Cauthon from The Dragon Reborn

The main problem with Tidus being despised is that it just never showed. He held his own against Ganondorf for Pete's sake. He had more brackets winning that match than Ganondorf, the champion's arch-enemy!
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

If Shadow got 40% against Mario (what I'd expect him to do against Crono), would you still pick him?
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

If Shadow got 40% against Mario (what I'd expect him to do against Crono), would you still pick him?

yes, Mario is very popular, so 40% is very good.

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My luck works best when things are... random. Mat Cauthon from The Dragon Reborn

Would I still pick him? Yes. That aside, I don't believe the anti-votes would account that much of his percentage. Shadow is certainly able to get votes on his own, and being a "cooler looking Sonic" only helps him. He should be below Tidus in the extrapolated standings, but less than one spot below I couldn't see.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

Whew, I'm overkilled on Tidus-Shadow for right now.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

I just want to touch upon the Starcraft cheating comments from earlier.

There was heavy cheating in the Starcraft/Halo match, on both sides. Anyone who followed the 15 minute update topics could see this. Voting came in massive packs. There is no way that many people flocked in, for both games (almost equally), outside of any other match. Just because The Jesus did not catch cheating does not mean there was not any. All it means is said cheating was not as desperate as in the SSB:M match-up. As a result, Division 128 is thrown completely in disarray, making some games (Halo) appear stronger than we would be inclined they be. And other games (Super Metroid) weaker. Where am I going with this you ask?

Extrapolated statistics do nothing except prove a guideline for how things should play out. Numbers say that Tidus and Shadow is a coin flip. Well, my common sense says that Shadow has a better chance of hookin' up with Yuna than he does of defeating Tidus in a popularity contest on Gamefaqs. It is a one point match. Tidus will lose to Mega Man in the next round. It will not hurt anyone. But I really think you are wasting time thinking about this match. Now Mario/Crono... that IS a coin flip, not because the numbers say so, but because it has been proven to be a coin flip. Extrapolated numbers are nothing but theory. We do not live in theory, nor do we live in the vaccuum where these numbers reside. Worry more about real toss-ups, like Vivi/DK, or the ultimate toss-up, Liquid/Frog. Neither has been in the tourney before! Now throw your dart at the wall and pick a sweet 16 member, because Master Chief is gonna be treated like a virgin on prom night by whoever wins that match.
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7/9 Noms got into the contest... Semifinalists(at heart): CATS, Luca Blight, Tommy Vercetti, Frog, Cloud, Sephiroth, KOS-MOS, Gordon Freeman

Actually, I might be prone to take Master Chief over Liquid Snake should he beat Frog because he would need to be a flop of Kefka-esque proportions to lose, methinks.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

Poor Kefka... anyone who thinks match pictures have no affect on voting outcome need look no further than Kefka/Pacman. Gaming Icon in one corner, maniacal evil vegetable in the other. Lettuce rest my case.
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7/9 Noms got into the contest... Semifinalists(at heart): CATS, Luca Blight, Tommy Vercetti, Frog, Cloud, Sephiroth, KOS-MOS, Gordon Freeman

I dunno what reason there is to see someone like Frog flop. Obviously, he has two characters that have already done extremely well from the game, Chrono Trigger ranked 3rd in the contest, and he doesn't have the awful Lettuce picture. If anyone were to just completely bomb I would say that'd be Vivi as opposed to Frog.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

The caped crusader, i mean amphibian, is in my elite eight, so I assure you I will not be the person to expect him to flop. And if this pony comes in for me, I will be gloating on my high-frog all the way to the EBGames bank. And if not, eeeh, it's just video games, it's not like I can't buy them with my measely paycheck anyways... <runs into corner, crying>
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7/9 Noms got into the contest... Semifinalists(at heart): CATS, Luca Blight, Tommy Vercetti, Frog, Cloud, Sephiroth, KOS-MOS, Gordon Freeman

Being from Chrono Trigger doesn't guarantee winning though. And you could say that his picture helps him, but sorry, I don't know how compelled I would be to vote for a frog, even if it has armor and all. I mean we know Chrono Trigger is strong, but I'm not going to be surprised if Frog fails.
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If you work hard you can achieve great things in life...........and then you die. - from dilbert

Tidus would beat Auron, I'm sorry to say. Auron is not the lead character of his game and his name isn't Sephiroth. Sephy is the only character who has proven himself to be within range of defeating his game's protagonist.
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Married to UltimaterializerX on 5/21/04
Ulti pwned me so completely in the Sp2k4 contest that I won't be able to sit for a week.

I bet that both Aeris and Squall would beat Tidus, and that Squall could beat Aeris as well. Actually, if this were Squall vs Shadow, in my mind, I think it would be easier to call in Squall's favor. *sigh* just random comments at 1:45 am...
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If you work hard you can achieve great things in life...........and then you die. - from dilbert

Squall/Shadow is a match I NEVER want to have to predict.
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

The caped crusader, i mean amphibian, is in my elite eight, so I assure you I will not be the person to expect him to flop. And if this pony comes in for me, I will be gloating on my high-frog all the way to the EBGames bank. And if not, eeeh, it's just video games, it's not like I can't buy them with my measely paycheck anyways...

You will have to stand in line behind me, fellow Frog backer! :)
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Steve Illumina: The Official Satirical Commentator of GameFAQ's Contests
Frog over Snake...Believe it fanboys!

Squall/Shadow is a match I NEVER want to have to predict.

Ill take Squall by 52.2%...dirty match indeed!
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Steve Illumina: The Official Satirical Commentator of GameFAQ's Contests
Frog over Snake...Believe it fanboys!

Well that's true being from Chrono Trigger certainly isn't going to guarantee you a win. But with Crono and Magus both ranking incredibly high gives me quite the confidence in Frog at least ranking around Dante and Alucard. That would be able to get him to the Sweet 16 easily. Frog flopping on the other hand would be a surprise to me.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

Heh. Squall vs. Shadow, that'd be pretty tough but I'd be taking Shadow.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

That's pure bias in that pick. Squall wouldn't lose that match.
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Bias? What the hell makes you think Squall would win that match?
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

I think a lot of you are underestimating Tidus just because you personally don't like him.
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Married to UltimaterializerX on 5/21/04
Ulti pwned me so completely in the Sp2k4 contest that I won't be able to sit for a week.

HM: I'd think Frog is a little higher than that, say Ryu.
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

Probably.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

I'd actually go with Shadow over Squall, too, but I would pick Aeris over Shadow in a match-up of the two.
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

HM: I'd think Frog is a little higher than that, say Ryu.

Street Fighter's Ryu, I assume?
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

I think it would be fair to say that Frog is somewhere around the level of Squall or Aeris, myself.
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Married to UltimaterializerX on 5/21/04
Ulti pwned me so completely in the Sp2k4 contest that I won't be able to sit for a week.

Ryu would beat Frog without breaking a sweat.

Frog WILL flop. He's this year's Luigi.
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Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

You will have to stand in line behind me, fellow Frog backer! :)
Hell yes.

I think a lot of you are underestimating Tidus just because you personally don't like him.
I think that you're just whining because you're the only one who loves FFX more than VI and VII.
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I agree, it's like we spend 80% of the time fadding. ~ Heroic Tails
- Knight of the Second Frog Army -

He could easily flop but until he does I'm assuming that he's somewhere around...well, maybe Ryu would be a better comparison than any of the FF crew. It won't matter, anyway, because we don't need an accurate picture of his popularity to call his matches. Master Chief and Solid Snake are on completely different levels and I think it's fairly safe to say Frog is somewhere in the middle, which is all we need to know.
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Married to UltimaterializerX on 5/21/04
Ulti pwned me so completely in the Sp2k4 contest that I won't be able to sit for a week.

I think that you're just whining because you're the only one who loves FFX more than VI and VII.

I'm not the only one, believe me. And I've never said that I'm fond of Tidus, myself, I'm just not foolish enough to underestimate his ability.
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Married to UltimaterializerX on 5/21/04
Ulti pwned me so completely in the Sp2k4 contest that I won't be able to sit for a week.

Here's the problem with that statement. This is an RPG site. Chrono Trigger all but proved it is the 2nd (or 3rd) favorite RPG on this site. At worst, Frog is the 3rd most popular character from the game. Frog will not lose to some bit villain from a series that got pillaged by FFVII (and SSB:M and SMB3), nor will he lose to the Xbox mascot. The only really question is: is he close enough to Magus and Crono to take out Solid? Ladies and gentlemen, that is the only question that is even worth discussing as far as Frog goes. Against Shadow, Alucard, Ganondorf; fine, we can throw around ideas for those, but Liquid and Master Chief have nothing on those guys.


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7/9 Noms got into the contest... Semifinalists(at heart): CATS, Luca Blight, Tommy Vercetti, Frog, Cloud, Sephiroth, KOS-MOS, Gordon Freeman

At worst, Frog is the 3rd most popular character from the game

You mean "at best". He's a sidekick, which makes him by default inferior to the Hero (Crono) and the Villain (Magus).

And yes, LD DOES has a chance, and a very big one. MC won't win two rounds this year, either, for sure. But LS can't be discarded AT ALL.
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Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

Technically speaking, Magus isn't a villain... but I don't see how Frog can be as strong as him, either.

On the other side, I can't possibly see how he'd be weaker than Marle, Lucca, Robo, Ayla, Lavos, or Crono's mom.
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

Heh, I don't know Crono's mom could be a powerhouse. =p
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

Bias? What the hell makes you think Squall would win that match?

Because Squall is from Square, while Shadow is from Sega, and he's not strong enough a character to overcome the power that is Square. Game Over, Shadow. :-)

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Please visit this petition at: http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=7&topic=15026092

That's awful reasoning there Tai.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

Technically speaking, Magus isn't a villain...

*CT spoilers*

He is for quite a chunk of the game, and does the job much better than Lavos. And about the "joins your party" bit, you can choose to kill him, remember?

And about the others.. true, Lucca is the only one who stands a chance of being on Frog's level and even I doubt she is.
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Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

I suppose it's slightly biased, but I don't think Shadow has proven he can take on a big dog.

Let's see..if he can't beat Tidus, I don't think he could beat Squall, and I don't see Tidus losing. FFX is strong, and Tidus is the main character.

So if Shadow fails to beat Tidus, Squall will crush him.
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Please visit this petition at: http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=7&topic=15026092

I'm not going to bother.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

What the [....]? Are you saying Shadow will beat Tidus? NONSENSE!

I don't think so!
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Please visit this petition at: http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=7&topic=15026092

Finally caught up. You guys make great discussion. Fun read.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Moltar Fact 10: Moltar hangs out in the Summer Contest 2004 Chat frequently.

Can Tails beat V.J?

Still debating about that myself

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God gave men both the wang and the brain, sadly only enough blood to use one or the other.
Official Member of Country Club LUE Board 402

No. VJ is fresh, and Tails has failed constantly to get past the first round. He doesn't have a chance.
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Please visit this petition at: http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=7&topic=15026092

Can Tails beat V.J?

If there's a chance left for Tails to win a match, it's now.
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Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

Agreed. This is a nice chance for Tails to go to Round 2, but I still see Joe advancing.

Not by much though.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Moltar Fact 10: Moltar hangs out in the Summer Contest 2004 Chat frequently.

In the past two contests this is Tails best chance to win a match, I think it'll be Joe winning the match however.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

I think Tails will win. I think that V. Joe was overseeded for sure. In my bracket I have Tails beating Dante. II know for sure that Tails can veat V. Joe. Tails has a chance to beat Dante if he can beat V. Joe. It may be a small chance, but hey, who doesnt want a Sonic vs. Tails match-up!

More like who don't want a 80-20 slaughter...

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God gave men both the wang and the brain, sadly only enough blood to use one or the other.
Official Member of Country Club LUE Board 402

In my bracket I have Tails beating Dante

I can understand risking with Luigi over Yoshi, but this...
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Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

Bias? What the hell makes you think Squall would win that match?

I don't know. What the hell made anyone think that Squall could beat Jill Valentine in 2003? After all, she was 3% ahead of Squall in the extrapolated standings in 2002. Surely, Squall had no chance to win.

And I would assume that because Shadow is 2.5% ahead of Squall in the 2003 standings, that Squall would have no chance to win. I think that it's apparent that most big name Final Fantasy characters only get stronger in time on our site. Squall would be no exception, and even though I hate his game to death, I wouldn't take two seconds to pick him over Shadow, or even Knuckles.
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

I don't know. What the hell made anyone think that Squall could beat Jill Valentine in 2003? After all, she was 3% ahead of Squall in the extrapolated standings in 2002. Surely, Squall had no chance to win.

I never said Squall had no chance at all to win, however, I did have a problem with you for whatever reason calling my picked "biased". Squall obviously was one to benefit from KH from 2002 to 2003, and I wouldn't see a reason for him to go anywhere but where he's at from over the past year.

And I would assume that because Shadow is 2.5% ahead of Squall in the 2003 standings, that Squall would have no chance to win.

I wouldn't say that would secure him a win, either one.

I think that it's apparent that most big name Final Fantasy characters only get stronger in time on our site.

Given a reason they'll get stronger, what reason has Squall to get better from the past year?

Squall would be no exception, and even though I hate his game to death, I wouldn't take two seconds to pick him over Shadow, or even Knuckles.

I wouldn't think about putting Squall over Knuckles either, Shadow is an entirely different story however.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

Can Tails beat V.J?

MPNW (Miles Prower Never Wins).
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"Thank you, Mario. But our princess is in another castle."
-Toad in Super Mario Bros.

"Tidus would beat Auron, I'm sorry to say."

Prove it.
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

"What the hell made anyone think that Squall could beat Jill Valentine in 2003?"

As sad as it is, I used some of the same reasoning Tai has used... He's a Square character, and even though he's one of their crappiest heroes ever it still ammounts for more than being a washed up slut.

"And I would assume that because Shadow is 2.5% ahead of Squall in the 2003 standings, that Squall would have no chance to win"

Let's wait until Shadow faces Tidus to see if that math even holds up.
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

I had picked Squall over Jill in 2003, for the record. Although I turned around later that round and picked Felix over Master Chief and Wario over Shadow.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

"and picked Felix over Master Chief and Wario over Shadow."

Jesus man, stop copying my bracket!
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

After watching that llittle episode on Naughty Dog, I'd like to see Crash take down Master Chief, however that just isn't happening, sadly.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

I see you saw it too HM. :)
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Moltar Fact 10: Moltar hangs out in the Summer Contest 2004 Chat frequently.

That I did. =)
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

I don't think there's any way for a washed up character like Crash, to beat Master Chief, especially with Halo 2 being on the horizon.
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Official Supporter of Shenanigans for the Summer Contest 2004

I know Crash isn't going to be beating Master Chief, but I'd just like to see him do it for more of a personal preference.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

Oh how fun it would be to see.
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

Can Vivi and Frog become a complete bust?

I mean, L. Snake and D.K. aren't exactly fodder material

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God gave men both the wang and the brain, sadly only enough blood to use one or the other.
Official Member of Country Club LUE Board 402

The problem with DK is that he doesn't have a very loyal fanbase. Just look at the matches with Aya, Mario, Duck Hunt, and LoZ.
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"Delicious morsel! Let me get my bib...!" - Ultros
Proud member of the CATS and Vivi Armies!

Vivi and Frog can both flop, but that's just a risk people are willing to take. They can flop or be stronger than expected. Either way, people will lose some points because of them.
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My name is Reggie. I'm about kicking ass. I'm about taking names, and we're about making games.

Don't forget Joe.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Moltar Fact 10: Moltar hangs out in the Summer Contest 2004 Chat frequently.

Now if Donkey Kong Country were in the Spring Contest then we'd have some DK power.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

DKC would be halfway decent.
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

SFF aside, DKC would crush DK.
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Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

Would Joe vs Dante be considered SFF? they are both Capcom ;x
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Tidus may be realistic, but I know a lot of real people, and a lot of real people suck...just like Tidus. ~Nic64
Go Frog!

Maybe, but I severely doubt it.
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Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

I wouldn't consider it SFF. It doesn't make much sense for any non-nintendo character to feel SFF outside of bieng in the same genre as well.
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

I wouldn't imagine SFF would be in a match like Joe vs. Dante.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

Aren't they both in the PS2 VJ version? *Just asking, because I think they are*
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Moltar Fact 10: Moltar hangs out in the Summer Contest 2004 Chat frequently.

I didn't even know there was a VJ for PS2.... wasn't it GC exclusive?
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My name is Reggie. I'm about kicking ass. I'm about taking names, and we're about making games.

Even if Dante is on the PS2 version I imagine it is as a minor appearance, and it shouldn't make much difference.
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

Yea, I think it's just a cameo apperance.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Moltar Fact 10: Moltar hangs out in the Summer Contest 2004 Chat frequently.

The more I think about it, the less likely it seems that Tails will beat Viewtiful Joe... after all, VJoe is Capcom and Nintendo, whereas Tails is definitely just Sega, and even then only the hard-kore ones.
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Tidus may be realistic, but I know a lot of real people, and a lot of real people suck...just like Tidus. ~Nic64
Go Frog!

Dante will be in the PS2 version released later on in December as an unlockable character.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

What the hell is SFF?

Also, Discussion about this contest is making me feel like NCAA College Basketball analysts...we think too much and we usually end up eating our words.

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God gave men both the wang and the brain, sadly only enough blood to use one or the other.
Official Member of Country Club LUE Board 402

as far as vivi, dk and joe go in terms of expectations, I would say people expect the most out of vivi then dk then joe. does anyone think Joe has a chance at dante? and what would be the % he would need to get on tails, should he win, to scare dante.
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If you work hard you can achieve great things in life...........and then you die. - from dilbert

Viewitiful Joe was only released on GameCube? Well, there goes any confidence I once had in THAT match...*considers changing pick to Tails more than ever* Urgh...

Remember that Alucard beat Tails with only 54% in 2002. I could see Viewtiful Joe being weaker than Alucard, especially since 3rd party games don't sell superbly (super bly?) on the GameCube. I would appreciate seeing the numbers for the sales.

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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."

Er, apparently the PS2 version is coming out in about a month. Not enough time to make any difference, I don't think.

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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."

VJ would have to double Tails before he can beat Dante

Dante is slightly weaker the Auron
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LUE is a cancer, and if it can't be destroyed, it must be contained. - CjayC

Correction: 2 months.

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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."

267,000 copies were sold of Viewtiful Joe in Japan and North America. (200,000 for NA and 67,000 for Japan)
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

And it was the sequel to Viewtiful Joe that comes out for the PS2 and GCN in December, not the original.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the fantasy world of Hyrule.

Yeah, so even if he doens't do too well this time next year he'd be looking a lot better.
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

Thanks for the sales figures, Heroic Mario. *changes bracket over to Tails winning* Well, that's THREE picks against the BOP in the first round...

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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."

charmander6000:
VJ would have to double Tails before he can beat Dante

VJ will double Tails. Or if he doesn't, he should. Tails is third behind Yoshi and Kirby in my list of rubbish characters.
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Jon Thomson - final score : 138/192
Nominate Ridley for Summer Contest 2005

Sales figures don't mean that much. Symphony of the Night wasn't exactly an exceptional seller, and we know how popular Alucard is here.

Dante will actually be a playable character in the PS2 version on Viewtiful Joe, but I sincerely don't see any reason to believe that SFF will have any impact on that match.

Oh, and Squall Leonhart can only go up in popularity. As the Final Fantasy VIII hate continues to lessen (for whatever reason), people start to like him more. Plus, factor in a possible return in Kingdom Hearts II, and he has a lot of room to improve.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

I have a question for all those people who are picking Joe to beat Tails.

Do you think that Lloyd from Tales of Symphonia could beat Tails? I bet most of you would say "No."*

A) Lloyd is from a RPG.
B) TOS has been at the top of the FAQ list for almost a week. Viewtiful Joe, despite being quite difficult, never hit the number one spot, and if I recall correctly was only even in the Top 10 for a couple of days.

Lloyd has far more going from him than Joe does, but I'm guessing that most of the people picking Joe over Tails would also pick Tails over Lloyd without giving it a second thought.


*Personally, I think the order goes Lloyd > Tails > Joe which kinda contradicts what I'm saying, but hey, I also have Magus over Crono. I'm crazy. It doesn't take away from the point of the question anyway.
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I don't necessarily believe anything I read on an internet forum. But I still answer as though I do.--Sashanan

Yoshi and Kirby are not rubbish characters at all.
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If you work hard you can achieve great things in life...........and then you die. - from dilbert

Interesting news: MMAC sells less than 76746 copies on GCN, and even worse than that on PS2. That's even worse than the numbers for The Twin Snakes first month. Looks like Mega Man won't be beating Link any time soon...

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=213&topic=15242599

Jon Thomson may be witless, or even more likely, stupid.
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Tidus may be realistic, but I know a lot of real people, and a lot of real people suck...just like Tidus. ~Nic64
Go Frog!

Lloyd's game is brand new, not many have had a chance to experience it. Therefore, he isn't as well known as Joe. Plus, Lloyd doesn't have a game named after him. That always helps.
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My name is Reggie. I'm about kicking ass. I'm about taking names, and we're about making games.

I noticed that from NPD, it finished 22nd overall I believe. I didn't know the exact number though, nice to see.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the land of Hyrule.

...Heroic Mario's bracket just exploded if he still has Mega Man as his winner.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

I believe he changed his winner a while back. However, he's still going to honor his sig bets. Good man, HM, good man. ;)
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My name is Reggie. I'm about kicking ass. I'm about taking names, and we're about making games.

I prefer not to tell who I have winning in my bracket, yet.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the land of Hyrule.

Shdwdde:
Jon Thomson may be witless, or even more likely, stupid.

I needed a new quote, thanks. But to qualify my point, Yoshi is a sidekick to a good character who, in its first video game appearance was pretty useless. Tails is a sidekick to a good character who, in its first video game appearance was pretty useless. Kirby has been a pinball. No further questions.
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Jon Thomson - final score : 138/192
Nominate Ridley for Summer Contest 2005

Wait, I forgot what the Guru thing was about..what is it again? O_o
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**** you *****. Your not as mature as I am - xXxGamer3x
Xbox doesn't have any ports. Only GCN does - xXxGamer3x

Kirby has been a pinball. No further questions.

So I guess Sonic is also on your list of rubbish characters then.

Besides, Kirby did much better as a "golf ball." Kirby's Dream Course rocked.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

...I think I know who HM has winning.

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The shiny farhead is the pruf of justis! Stop the njections, yew quack.

As do I, but I'm not saying anything.
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My name is Reggie. I'm about kicking ass. I'm about taking names, and we're about making games.

So I guess Sonic is also on your list of rubbish characters then

Yeah, but he's further down the pecking order.
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Jon Thomson - final score : 138/192
Nominate Ridley for Summer Contest 2005

I can see HM having Link or one of the FFVII characters winning

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God gave men both the wang and the brain, sadly only enough blood to use one or the other.
Official Member of Country Club LUE Board 402

Heroic Mario will either have Mega Man or Link as his winner. I'm almost positive of that. He hasn't shown any indication that he believes Cloud or Sephiroth could beat Link.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

I thought he picked FFVII to win the Spring Contest.

He might have tricked us all...

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God gave men both the wang and the brain, sadly only enough blood to use one or the other.
Official Member of Country Club LUE Board 402

He hasn't shown any indication that he believes Cloud or Sephiroth could beat Link.

Same here. Link's only hope of losing this year is if he faces Seph, which I don't see happening, and if Cloud gets to the final..I don't think people will want Cloud winning two years in a row. Nope.

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Please visit this petition at: http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=7&topic=15026092

I don't know... I bet you could poll 100 random GameFAQs posters who don't go to the SC board, and at least 10 of them wouldn't be able to tell you who won last year's contest. And that's being conservative. I'm not saying that anti-voters don't exist - after all, I'm one of them (no more Mario/Crono!). But perhaps they aren't as big as you'd think.
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Ulti pulled a Damage Split on my bracket. Go Guru Ulti!
Smart Ask! National Champion (2003) www.rpgdl.com

Heroic Mario picked Mario 3 to win, if I recall correctly. He definitely didn't pick Final Fantasy VII at least, since he had Ocarina of Time beating it.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

anti-votes aren't that influencial
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

10/100 visitors couldn't tell you who won last year? I would think that the number would be much higher. More like 80/100. Anti votes are severely overrated, and the only character to truly suffer from them has been Mario. If Cloud does lose this year, either to Seph or Link, it will be due to the KHF wearing off, not anti votes. And personally, I don't see that happening.
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Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

To add to that last comment, I bet half of the visitors wouldn't know there was a contest last year.
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Jon Thomson - final score : 138/192
Nominate Ridley for Summer Contest 2005

Yeah, but in this case, they could be more influential than usual, since the finals is probably going to be a rematch of Cloud vs. Link from last year, it might be different than usual in terms of anti-voting. I don't think it will be, although it would be nice. Anything that helps Link is good.

And HM...That's not an exact figure. I just extrapolated it from Pokemon Coliseum's sales, and PC is right above in on the sales list.

What evidence of a large amount of anti votes against Mario are there? Keep in mind that his battle with Servebot had very few voters (compared to other matches), so the few anti votes that were there would have a much greater impact on the percentage.

And to think that such anti votes (if they truly exist in large numbers) would simply disappear when he faces Crono doesn't really make much sense.

LordOfDabu
Believe the hype.

Don't forget about Morrigan and possibly Shadow.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

The evidence of his anti votes comes from his very underwhelming performances against Servbot, Morrigan, and (to a much lesser extent) Crono in 2k2, as well as Shadow in 2k3. I'll touch on a few matches.

Servbot: Yeah, the vote total was low, but Mario getting 74% against Servbot just doesn't compute.

Morrigan: Mario got 67% against her, making Morrigan 19th overall. She didn't even make it back the next year.

Cloud: The Mario/Cloud match had enough outside voters to overcome the anti vote, and the vote total was so insane it just didn't matter.

Crono(1): If you don't believe that Mario got anti voted here, you believe Crono is stronger than Cloud.

Shadow: 55% doesn't make sense to me. Shadow nearly as strong as Sonic doesn't make sense to me. Take this as you will, but I think anti votes helped out Shadow here.

DK/Olimar: The only two opponents Mario has ever blown out are also Nintendo characters. *coughSFFcough*

That's why I think Mario gets anti voted.
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Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

Yoshi never was and never will be rubish, ever, despite sucking enough to classify him as such, which he will never do, and that's my yoshi fanboyism defense.

do you think there's going to be a summer contest next year? I think that there will be one, but maybe that they're shouldn't. Maybe just shift the spring contest to summer and give the summer one a year off. I doubt that'll happen cause this site doesn't run on the love of its users, but giving the contest a year off could make its returning year more exciting, and perhaps more predictable.
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If you work hard you can achieve great things in life...........and then you die. - from dilbert

Yes there will be a Summer Contest next year, but Ceej really needs to change something and make it more unpredictible. Like a Tag-team Character battle or something.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Moltar Fact 10: Moltar hangs out in the Summer Contest 2004 Chat frequently.

Like a Tag-team Character battle or something.

Tha would ****ing rule! Pairs could be either game related (Mario and Luigi vs Cloud and Aries, for example) or seed related (1 and 16, 2 and 15).

The second way is considerably more balanced. Even though I'd expect the team of Shadow and Tidus to have no trouble winning it if it were done with the current bracket.
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Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed. -Blaise Pascal

I think the team of Link/CATS would pwn everyone.
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My name is Reggie. I'm about kicking ass. I'm about taking names, and we're about making games.

Yeah, it'd be fun, sorta, but I just don't see it working.
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

Oh noes! Link and CATS . . .

The strongest and third strongest characters in the contest on the same team . . .

Looks like it's game over . . .

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Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed. -Blaise Pascal

And let Gordon Freeman team up with Cloud.
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Lonely Angel
Summer 2004 Contest Stats: N/A

Tidus and Ganondorf from last year would also be a very strong team.

The strongest possible, though, would without a doubt be Squall and Solid Snake from 2k2. That would be ridiculous to beat.
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Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed. -Blaise Pascal

Lloyd's game is brand new, not many have had a chance to experience it.

Well, I meant "Who thinks Lloyd could beat Tails in a couple months or so?", even though I think he would have a pretty good shot right now.
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I don't necessarily believe anything I read on an internet forum. But I still answer as though I do.--Sashanan

I'm not sure the whole team idea would work to well. It'd be cool though.
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Another journey of ultimate challenge in the land of Hyrule.

Not to mention it'd **** the extrapolated standings.
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

Link/CATS
Ganon/Alucard
Tidus/Shadow
Frog/Liquid Snake
Knuckles/Kefka
Ryu/Jill

^^Sexy picks for a tag-team tourney if we used this bracket.
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

Don't forget KOS-MOS/Ryu.
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Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed. -Blaise Pascal

Not to mention it'd **** the extrapolated standings.

Which would be a good reason for there to be a tag-team tourney next year; do it as a one-time thing. Then, after that year, have this year's format follow up. That way, we'd both have something new and unpredictable AND give the character-contest a year-break, which would lead to be less predictable than if we had it again next year.
---
Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

Don't forget KOS-MOS/Ryu.

Don't worry, I didn't when I made that list.
---
Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

A Cloud/Sephiroth team would absolutely dominate if it was based on games =/. But a Cloud/Link team would confuse fanboys XD. "I love Link!! But I can't vote for Cloud!!! Oh noes!!!"
---
WTF is OoS? Ocarina of Sex? ~ Stop Fundamentalists

A Cloud/Sephiroth team would absolutely dominate if it was based on games =/.

Solution: Give them pics from Ergheiz. Or in Cloud's case, FFT. FFT Cloud/Ergheiz Sephy vs. Adventure of Link Ganon/Link's Awakening Link would be the best sprite pic match ever. Bwa ha ha! >_>
---
Ulti pulled a Damage Split on my bracket. Go Guru Ulti!
Smart Ask! National Champion (2003) www.rpgdl.com

Tag-team tourney... me likey. If the characters' strength is averaged out, Tidus/Ganondorf would be absolutely unbeatable among those seen so far... second strongest would be... gasp... Tidus/Shadow! (Shows you how Tidus is constantly screwed. This is his story.) And just behind you'd have Snake/Squall. If the strongest character takes precedence, any team with Link, Cloud or Sephiroth would own the **** out of everything, boring. And in the event that the team members have to be related, just imagine a Cloud/Sephiroth pairing for a minute.

The obvious advantage of this is a 128-character field, while keeping the contest 2 months long. Me likey.

Hey, this talk about pics makes me think. Would be gold if the final pic were Zelda 10 Link vs. AC Cloud, or better yet, AC Sephiroth. That would rival FF10/SSBM in sheer unfairness. ;)
---
SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

Hah, AC Sephiroth vs. Zelda 10's Link. That'd be great. =)
---
Another journey of ultimate challenge in the land of Hyrule.

Shows you how Tidus is constantly screwed. This is his story.

I fell off my chair laughing when I read that. Zing!

A tag team tourney would be cool, but how would the pairing by done? If it's by game, Cloud/Seph wins. No question. If it's by seeding, Gordon Freeman could win a match, and we couldn't have that. Well, unless you use this bracket. Max/GF is probably the weakest of the bunch. Any other ideas?

Wow, we have really run out of things to talk about.
---
Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

No way. Serious Sam/Mr. Driller and Max/Dirk would suck much worse. Maybe Ness/Jak and Vyse/Laharl too.
---
SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

in my currently unhappy mindset I don't think that a tagteam tourney would really work, cause it would basically just be who the top contenders get paired up with. well, actually though, just it being a tag team tourney would make the majority of the matches more unpredictable, so yeah, it would be worth putting the summer contest on hold for a year.

a good indication of if something like this should happen will be how predictable this bracket turns out to be, and how that "should there be another..." poll turns out. Last year, if anyone's curious it was:

Should there be another Character Battle next year?
No, and never speak of it again 8.59% 8919
Probably not, unless changes are made 10.65% 11057
I don't care, do what you want 9.12% 9472
Why not, it was entertaining 30.54% 31705
Yes, I can hardly wait! 41.1% 42673
TOTAL VOTES 103826

I'm hoping this changes, because unless things are radically different in the summer contest this year, I would like to see a new variation, and tag team isn't that bad. Just something to give the standard character battle a break to make the next year better, while keeping the site visitors happy.


---
If you work hard you can achieve great things in life...........and then you die. - from dilbert

You definitely couldn't do a tag-team pairing by game because Final Fantasy VII would still dominate, whether it's Cloud-Sephiroth, Cloud-Aeris, or Sephiroth-Aeris.

Then again, just imagine if they grouped the KH ones together. A Cloud-Squall team would own everything.

</dreaming>

Either way, you could end up with some really intriguing pairs if you grouped by game (Sonic-Shadow and Crono-Magus), but it's painfully obvious who would win.
---
Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

10/100 visitors couldn't tell you who won last year? I would think that the number would be much higher. More like 80/100. Anti votes are severely overrated, and the only character to truly suffer from them has been Mario.

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

It's more like 50+% can tell you (likely more) who won the previous year. After all, 43% of the brackets had Link winning the S2003 Contest.

---
"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."

Not to mention it'd **** the extrapolated standings.

Good. They're the worst thing to happen to the contest, and I love it when people like you and Smurf give the standing the middle finger and go your own way on your bracket. And guess what? In the end, the person who wins will have gotten lucky by sticking with a favorite against the odds.
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Can I get a amen?!
---
My name is Reggie. I'm about kicking ass. I'm about taking names, and we're about making games.

"In the end, the person who wins will have gotten lucky by sticking with a favorite against the odds. "

Yeah right...

LordOfDabu
Believe the hype.

It's more like 50+% can tell you (likely more) who won the previous year. After all, 43% of the brackets had Link winning the S2003 Contest.

Maybe 50% of the people that enter brackets. But certainly not 50%, or even close to that amount, of the people that vote in this contest. I have no idea how many brackets were entered last year in comparison to the average vote total, but I would imagine somewhere around 20-25%.
---
Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

Well you have to pick the right upset, Dabu ~_^
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

They're the worst thing to happen to the contest

Maybe. But preventing them from happening is like preventing a river to flow with beaver dams.

And in case you didn't notice, I used them an awful lot this spring. The only case where they really failed me was SF2. Sure, so the one who WINS will have predicted the weird stuff correctly, but I'm trying to achieve the highest ranking position possible, not a win.
---
SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

I don't know if a tag team would work. Would people vote Tidus/Shadow over Cloud/Mr Driller?
---
-----
-------

THAT would be the X-factor that makes such a tourney unpredictable, and therefore, viable.
---
SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

Cloud/Duke Nukem if anything.
---
Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

Damn, I must be the only person who likes it just fine. ;x
---
Tidus may be realistic, but I know a lot of real people, and a lot of real people suck...just like Tidus. ~Nic64
Go Frog!

Well-planned pairings would make such a tournament viable. At first, I thought that no matter what, Cloud/Mr Driller would beat Tidus/Shadow any day of the week, but now I'm not so sure.

I like it, now.
---
-----
-------

Good. They're the worst thing to happen to the contest, and I love it when people like you and Smurf give the standing the middle finger and go your own way on your bracket. And guess what? In the end, the person who wins will have gotten lucky by sticking with a favorite against the odds.

Thats me!!! Loyal to my bracket and my own way of thinking and oh how I love to also bash these nearly biblical to some people extrapolated standings. And this summer's satires will have their share of bashing of them! Along with users...and games...and characters...and fads...and anything else I feel like bashing.

And it will be so...8 more days til I can bash Link and CATS. Oh joy joy joy!
---
Steve Illumina: The Official Satirical Commentator of GameFAQ's Contests
Frog over Snake...Believe it fanboys!

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

Don't you find it weird is that every time Ulti makes a statement a lot of people thinks it's true true, yes I do believe that you can't go by stats all the time and you will have to make your own upsets and yes I've made my own upsets

Yet for a long time most of us thought the Exploated stats was a good way to find the rankings of characters

Also when we introduced that WDF everyone thought is was true yet a few days latter Ulti makes a post about it not really being a factor and a lot of people bashed the WDF like there was no tomorrow.

---
LUE is a cancer, and if it can't be destroyed, it must be contained. - CjayC

Yeah, that's because Ulti has a legion of fanboys who follow him around everywhere and take his word as absolute.
---
"Thank you, Mario. But our princess is in another castle."
-Toad in Super Mario Bros.

Yeah, that's because Ulti has a legion of fanboys who follow him around everywhere and take his word as absolute.

SECOND'D
---
I dislike the SF series but Capcom > Square, so Ryu. ~Super Saiyan Gnome

Yup I wonder what the kid with Zero in the Final 4 is doing right now?
---
LUE is a cancer, and if it can't be destroyed, it must be contained. - CjayC

It's true that the extrapolated standings aren't the absolute law, but I don't care what Ulti says they are a good method to use for matches. Yes, it's always good to go against them and not make a bracket based solely on what they say but using them as a reference I don't see a problem with.
---
Another journey of ultimate challenge in the land of Hyrule.

"Also when we introduced that WDF everyone thought is was true yet a few days latter Ulti makes a post about it not really being a factor and a lot of people bashed the WDF like there was no tomorrow."

Even CN is highly skeptical of that theory. Frankly there is no absolute proof, just a great deal of circumstantial evidence. You'll have fewer nay-sayers if all of the 2k2 west characters go relatively unchanged this year, yet you'll still have to face the facts that the WDF can't be proven for certainty. Besides, assuming it is true, there is still no logical explanation for it. And don't give me Sephiroth over performing BS, 'cause that makes no sense at all.
---
True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

Sephiroth overperforming still makes absolutely no sense to me, but on the same note Samus going down from 2002 to 2003 makes no sense to me either.
---
Another journey of ultimate challenge in the land of Hyrule.

As far as I'm concerned, Samus decreasing from 2002 to 2003 is unshakable testimony to the existence of a WDF.
---
"Thank you, Mario. But our princess is in another castle."
-Toad in Super Mario Bros.

Why? Because you expected the opposite? There was no guarantee that Samus's new games would cause her to increase at all. We just assumed it would be the case since she hadn't had her own game for nearly a decade. Perhaps Super Smash Brothers did more than just sustain her popularity.
---
Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

Like I said, it doesn't make any sense that Samus wouldn't rise with a new game. Much less, decrease after getting one. However, Sephiroth overperforming is just the same, logically.
---
Another journey of ultimate challenge in the land of Hyrule.

Was SFF taken into account when Samus lost to Link? If it was, and she still got weaker, then.... whoa.
---
My name is Reggie. I'm about kicking ass. I'm about taking names, and we're about making games.

"unshakable testimony"

It's words like those that compel people to argue against such theories.

"Perhaps Super Smash Brothers did more than just sustain her popularity."

I've tried hinting at that for a long time now, people.

"Was SFF taken into account when Samus lost to Link?"

No, it's assumed that there was none. Of course if there was then Squall would have increased more than shown, which in turn makes him line up better with everyone else that appeared in KH... and it makes Luigi a lot stronger, strong enough to possibly beat Yoshi, depending upon how much SFF the dino faced. It would also counteract the loss in % that Jill faced. I mean, if you look at it... Samus and Jill DID lose almost the exact same ammount. It's all circumstantial, of course, but so is the evidence in favor of the WDF.
---
True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

That makes more sense to me. I have no problem believing Squall increased by that amount, and I always believed there was SFF in the Link/Samus match. If Super Metroid got TRIPLED by LttP in the Spring Contest, we'd have to expect at least some SFF between the characters as well.
---
My name is Reggie. I'm about kicking ass. I'm about taking names, and we're about making games.

Yeah, that's because Ulti has a legion of fanboys who follow him around everywhere and take his word as absolute.

If only those fanboys knew the truth...right Ulti? *winks*

Truth is, I know I got a closet sect of "Illuminites" who love my satirical words, but are afraid to say so publicly for fear they will be bashed by the Ulti Army or Steve haters or other fringe groups.

Also the fact that a board user here has a large cult of fanboys and it is such a common fact...well that is something that is just ripe for me to ridicule...and believe me I shall, in a few certain matches where I know Ulti has leanings or favorings in one way or the other...

But worry not peeps, it is all in good fun, and solely to mock the fact that "users have fanboys too!!!!"
---
Steve Illumina: The Official Satirical Commentator of GameFAQ's Contests
Frog over Snake...Believe it fanboys!

I love that tag-team idea that was mentioned a few pages back. The problem would be picking the right tag-teams. Cloud/Sephiroth would be ridiculous.
---
Married to UltimaterializerX on 5/21/04
Ulti pwned me so completely in the Sp2k4 contest that I won't be able to sit for a week.

If there were teams it'd need to be at least balanced somewhat. For example, not allowing any of the 'elite' characters to pair up with one another.
---
Another journey of ultimate challenge in the land of Hyrule.

If this Tag-Team thing happens, I'm going to be expecting some moolah from Ceej. =P
---
Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Moltar Fact 10: Moltar hangs out in the Summer Contest 2004 Chat frequently.

i know i didn't spell this right but

Ganadorf/Alacurd ? who;s going to win that one
---
I have the power to channel my imagination
into ever-soaring levels of suspicion and paranoia.

You should ask Ulti. He'll steer you in the right direction.
---
Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Moltar Fact 10: Moltar hangs out in the Summer Contest 2004 Chat frequently.

Ganondorf with no trouble.
---
Another journey of ultimate challenge in the land of Hyrule.

mmm... bump....
---
"Shut Up! Talking makes you die!" -Haschel in The Legend of Dragoon

Ganondorf and Alucard are both badly underseeded, but Ganon is moreso. He will win.
---
Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

How many characters would we have in a hypothetical tag team tournament? 64 would make the contest far too short, but I can see Ceej having trouble coming up with 128 characters that would keep the contest interesting. There's some obvious snubs this year, but not 64 of them.
---
Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

With 128, there would be a lot of fodder for sure, but it might even out if paired up with the right partner.
---
Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

"Was SFF taken into account when Samus lost to Link?"

No, it's assumed that there was none.

I can't imagine that being a fact, seeing as how Link and Samus are two of the three major players that Nintendo leans on. I'd figure that Samus could have done a lil' better in the rankings if he would have faced, say, Cloud instead. I think we'll see where Samus should really rank at this year.
---
Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

The ultimate team of hard choices would be Gordan Freeman/Cloud. Does GFNW come into play? Does Cloud's power overcome that rule? The brain explodes at such concepts.
---
I'm far from stupid. Right. you passed "stupid" a long, long time ago. ~ The Perfect K (Cool Jerk) to Kanecain

Dude, GFNW, regardless.
---
Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

I doubt there was much sff in Link vs Samus, but in a LttP vs SM, perhaps more voteres played lttp than sm, or didn't play sm at all, and it was more just a vote on name recognition.
---
If you work hard you can achieve great things in life...........and then you die. - from dilbert

There are two possible explanations for WDF.

1. Sephiroth going over his head against Link.
2. Sonic, Samus, Ken, Ryu and Megaman all going down big time.

One anomaly is better than five, if you ask me.

Now why would Sephiroth do that? The most plausible explanation isn't even plausible in the first place: last-Square-standing factor. It only happened during that match, EVER, since all the other finals were intra-Square, so we can't confirm or infirm that with 100% accuracy.

Though if it IS true, then Link's shot at the championship is a little more bleh.
---
SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=8&topic=15296391

For anyone who wants to relive history.
---
I dislike the SF series but Capcom > Square, so Ryu. ~Super Saiyan Gnome

I'm inclined to believe option 1. Perhaps that's why I have Cloud repeating this year.
---
Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

Last Square character standing factor? Not only is that a pain to make into an abbreviation but something that I find way to out there to believe. Both of them, number one and two, make no sense either way though.
---
"Video Games are bad for you? That's what they said about Rock 'N' Roll." - Shigeru Miyamoto

Well Slowflake did say that the only plausible explanation isn't even plausible in the first place...
---
WTF is OoS? Ocarina of Sex? ~ Stop Fundamentalists

That he did.
---
"Video Games are bad for you? That's what they said about Rock 'N' Roll." - Shigeru Miyamoto

I'd still love to know where my army of followers is. If they actually do exist, get the **** over here and rub my feet.
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

I might have blown up your army with a bomb while they were hiding in a trench.
---
I'm far from stupid. Right. you passed "stupid" a long, long time ago. ~ The Perfect K (Cool Jerk) to Kanecain

It's more like an army of people who are upset because they think that you have an army of followers. ^^

There's nothing wrong with being popular; most people who are gained their popularity for a reason.

LordOfDabu
Believe the hype.

What 1st round match do you guys think will be the closest? I'm guessing Vyse-Laharl, just because I don't really know either one and most of the other battles are easier to see a winner for.

There don't look to be many first round matches that will be all that close. Probably Tidus-Shadow or Ness-Jak, if I had to guess.
---
Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

Maybe the WDF was caused by a people not wanting an all Nintendo finals. My guess on why it didn't happen in 2003 was Megaman lost to Sephiroth in 2002 and people had given up. But this heavily relies on the voters being aware of the contest results.

Another possbility is Sephiroth recieved numerous cheated votes in his match against Link. I don't think Sephiroth ever got close to Link in 2k2 so there was no reason for CjayC to remove the votes. Especially since it was just after Mario vs Crono.
---
"Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts..."
"All dreams are but another reality. Never forget..."

Maybe the WDF was caused by a people not wanting an all Nintendo finals

This is SquareFAQs, so this comment sounds pausible.
---
Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

And for that matter, I predict Sephiroth will beat Sly Cooper 82-18.

Hey, he's in the same spot, it could happen!
---
Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

SLY COOPER, EIGHTEEN PERCENT?!?

Please. He's going to have trouble doing better than Gabe Logan.
---
SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

It's more like an army of people who are upset because they think that you have an army of followers. ^^

Exactly. A lot of people around here troll the hell out of for that exact reason. And you never see an army of people come to my aid when it goes on, either. Now if we were on the FFT board, this would actually go on. Those people have been obsessed with me ever since the Calc SCC, and I have answered a load of e-mail from them ever since then for various reasons. But around here, winning the contest didn't mean much to anyone. The people that already like me still like me, while the people that already disliked me had a new reason. Big deal. The problem with people is that there is a subconscious necessity to tear down that which is on display. Everyone who experiences success goes through it, be it the president, celebrities, or sports figures. If popular people weren't criticised, we would have nothing to talk about. So in the end, I let myself laugh at everyone when they speak ill of me, for it is nothing more than a subliminal way of these people thinking I'm better than them.

There's nothing wrong with being popular; most people who are gained their popularity for a reason.

That's one of the smarter things I've read. But you're Dabu, so I would expect no less =)
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Maybe the WDF was caused by a people not wanting an all Nintendo finals. My guess on why it didn't happen in 2003 was Megaman lost to Sephiroth in 2002 and people had given up. But this heavily relies on the voters being aware of the contest results.

That paragraph just proves that our board is the only group on gamefaqs who honestly care about past results. Like I've been saying forever, people simply pick their favorites and move on. When you factor in spamming and all of that, there is no evidence (save Starcraft) to suggest that spamming for votes has any effect on the overall final percentage. I think it all remains constant to what the percentages would be if you remove all 'cheated' votes. I'm willing to bet anything that if you take all cheated votes away from the Sephiroth/Link match, that the percentages would be similar. Sephiroth may lose one or two percent, but it's just my experience that the people who are told to vote are constant with the percentages in the end.

On a side note, Dabu must love that Starcraft is the one game that is the exception to everything =)

Another possbility is Sephiroth recieved numerous cheated votes in his match against Link. I don't think Sephiroth ever got close to Link in 2k2 so there was no reason for CjayC to remove the votes. Especially since it was just after Mario vs Crono.

Sephy didn't just never get close. That match was 55-45 at the beginning, and it gradually got worse for Sephy. He was utterly destroyed from the beginning in that match.
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

There don't look to be many first round matches that will be all that close. Probably Tidus-Shadow or Ness-Jak, if I had to guess.

Easily Ness/Jak, and Tidus/Shadow isn't too far away as second place for me...VJ/Tails is a hard one, too, as well as Ryu/Jill.
---
Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

The odd thing is that DK/Vivi will most likely be the closest of them all.
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

If I know DK that's probably going to be true
---
"You do not applaud when someone runs the "Stupid Answers" category. That says more about you than it does about him." Alex Trebek

But Sephy won't be destroyed this year...this year is Sephiroth's year!
---
Married to UltimaterializerX on 5/21/04
Ulti pwned me so completely in the Sp2k4 contest that I won't be able to sit for a week.

Oh? I thought this year was Snake's year?

Surprisingly, I haven't seen a whole lot of crazy Snake fans predicting that, but of course they're all defending Snake against Frog and Mega Man.
---
Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

Sephiroth is too strong to be destroyed anymore, but he'll still lose to Cloud.
---
Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

Heh. They've been having trouble defending Frog and Mega Man, like you said. I've seen them doing more of the former than the latter however.
---
"Video Games are bad for you? That's what they said about Rock 'N' Roll." - Shigeru Miyamoto

Frog will have his hands full with Liquid, he's a goner against Solid.

And yes, Sly Cooper is getting 18%. 15-seeds in the South always do quite well for whatever reason (I know, I know... and a 4 has never defeated a 5, I know...)
---
Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

I think he'll take care of Liquid and Master Chief without trouble.
---
"Video Games are bad for you? That's what they said about Rock 'N' Roll." - Shigeru Miyamoto

But Sephy won't be destroyed this year...this year is Sephiroth's year!

But you think FFIX is rubbish ?_?. Dammit Cloud is gonna win aint he?

But anyway after researching through the 2002 and 2003 stats. (can your extrapolated stuff this are the REAL stats) I noticed something alarming

--2002--

1.Link (100%)
2.Sephiroth (76.53%)
3.Megaman (72.05%)
4.Samus (68.85%)
5.Sonic (68.79%)
6.Mario (59.91%)
7.Cloud (59.65%)
8.Crono (58.41%)
9.Snake (51.93%)

--2003--

1) Cloud (100.00%)
2) Link (93.75%)
3) Sephiroth (92.70%)
4) Mega Man (58.82%)
5) Mario (57.79%)
6) Crono (57.67%)
7) Samus (57.31%)
8) Snake (51.13%)
9) Sonic (51.04%)

Sonic dropped 17% which is a lot but he is taking his fair share to talk downs.

Megaman however dropped 14% which is not even taking into account all the anti-ff7 votes megaman gained in the final 4.

Samus also fell a hefty 11%.

What I'm getting at is that if those 3 suffer a similar drop they will be chucked out of the "noble nine"!

--2004?--

10)Magus (50.32%)
11)Ganon (49.72%)
12)Tidus (48.37%)
13)Shadow (47.09%)
14)Zero (46.47%)
15)Aeris (45.22%)
16)Bowser (42.80%)
17)Squall (41.16%)
18)Auron (38.51%)
19)Ryu (38.17%)
20)Zelda (38.00%)
21)Alucard (35.56%)
22)Yoshi (33.17%)

If the same happens again that would put Sonic around Yoshis strength, Megaman around Zero/Aeris's strength and Samus of about equal power with those 2 as well.

Having said that those characters have an equal chance of regaining the popularity they lost. Hell if Sonic beat Cloud in year 1 whats to say he cant do it again? All I'm saying is that this contest won't be as easy to predict as people think.

---
"The sly eagle doesn't always kill at whim" - Zidane Tribal FFIX

As far as close matches go... I'm bored, so I'll analyze what we've got for round 1, see if anything looks exciting.

Link vs. CATS - This one will be close for the first five minutes. Then, well, Link dominates. Sorry, CATS fans.

Ganondorf vs. Alucard - This one could be close. It's unlikely that this one will be much of a match, seeing as Alucard has been taken down twice in the last two contests versus the first threat he faced. But we know that both of these characters are fairly strong contestwise, so anything could happen. I'm inclined to think that this one will be close, but won't stir up any excitement on the boards, and won't have lead changes. This'll probably end up between 55-45 and 60-40.

Yoshi vs. Ryo Hazuki - Who the hell nominated Ryo? I think Hazuki's stale by now, guys...

Luigi vs. Pac-Man - This one could be closer than a lot of people expect... I don't think Pac-Man will get blown out. But Luigi should be strong enough to take down Pac-Man, whatever old-school factor the yellow guy's got. Maybe 60-40, 65-35, somewhere around there?

Magus vs. Luca Blight - Suikoden=Cult hit. Cult hit=Blowout. Bye bye, Luca.

Crono vs. Conker - This is the only easy match that Crono will have for the entire tourney... That's a bit odd, for a noble nine character. Crono always gets screwed over in bracketing, poor guy.

Bowser vs. Guybrush - *weeps for Guybrush*

Mario vs. JC Denton - Wow. If Luigi vs. Pac-Man isn't a lot more exciting than we think it will be (which is possible), this'll be the sixth straight blowout. Pity.

Mega Man vs. Earthworm Jim - Mega Man's always performed well in round one. That won't change now.

Tidus vs. Shadow - I can't help thinking that one of these characters is being vastly overestimated. However, it's also very possible that BOTH of these characters are being vastly overestimated. So either way, I think this'll be a close one, but I doubt this match will be the closest in the whole first round, as so many have guessed. No idea where this one ends up percentwise.

Vercetti vs. Max Payne - Dream come true for da fanfic, but this won't be a close match.

Zero vs. Protoman - You know... I have no idea. I'm not that well versed in Protoman, so I'm not sure just how these two rank in Mega Man's fanbase. I'm inclined to think Zero will probably win handily, though. SFF has never made a match close before, and while it will sometime in this tourney, this won't be it.

Frog vs. Liquid Snake - This will be close, probably. But it's hard to judge, since they're both newbies. No idea what the percent will be on this one.

Master Chief vs. Crash - Yes, MC has many, many anti-votes from people who can't stand XBox. But Crash isn't exactly an appealing choice to most voters as the alternative to someone they hate. I look for low vote totals, but I don't think Crash will challenge as much as Felix did. MC is lucky... Jill and Scorpion would have stood a chance against him. But Crash is the weakest 14 seed.

Kefka vs. Knuckles - This will be close. I doubt either character will break 55, as FF, even if it's old school, is a force to be reckoned with. Knuckles did beat Yuna, he's beaten FF before, but I think Kefka may be a little stronger... This will be close, but I doubt this will be THE close match of round 1.

Snake vs. Tanner - This could be the biggest blowout in round 1.

More later. Hmm... Just thinking over to MC. Could Scorpion or Jill have beaten him?
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http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~newheims/ffproj.htm
The Summer Contest 2003 Fanfiction Project.

Link vs. CATS - This one will be close for the first five minutes. Then, well, Link dominates. Sorry, CATS fans.

I wonder if CATS will take the lead again?

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"The sly eagle doesn't always kill at whim" - Zidane Tribal FFIX

Knuckles shouldn't have a problem getting over 55% in that match.
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"Video Games are bad for you? That's what they said about Rock 'N' Roll." - Shigeru Miyamoto

Knuckles will not beat The Lettuce.

MC against Scorpion or Jill would be interesting, but MC did crap against someone like Felix. Scorpion got through Pac-Man who would probably beat Felix by a larger margin. Jill is stronger than Scorpion because of their performances against Link.
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Lonely Angel
Summer 2004 Contest Stats: N/A

Yoshi vs. Ryo Hazuki - Who the hell nominated Ryo? I think Hazuki's stale by now, guys...

Hello. (I lurk this topic)
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Yes, I'm only posting in your topic so that you go vote for me in the next user tournament.
Please Vote in the User/Character Tourney! '_'

I'd probably put Scorp or Jill over MC. I don't think XBox hate has gone away yet.

Luigi's performance against Pac Man will tell us how badly Knux will beat Kefka. If Luigi struggles, Kekfa might have a chance, but if it's 60% plus (and there's no reason to believe it won't), Kefka is going to get slaughtered. Poor, poor lettuce.
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Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

I wouldn't put Jill or Scorpion of Master Chief, myself.
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"Video Games are bad for you? That's what they said about Rock 'N' Roll." - Shigeru Miyamoto

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

I still don't get how creative's formula doesn't yield 'the real stats'. All you're really doing there is an archaic version of the formula that winds up doubling the numbers on average. To be blunt, that system is dated and worthless.
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Well I'm bored of talking about this contest so let's talk about the Spring Contest we had.

Starcrafts perfromance.

People have been accusing Starcraft for cheating in LoZ: WW match, but if look at his score against KH it's really not that different, but Starcraft did cheat against SSBM even CJayC made a post saying that votes 76k-79k had signs of cheating in them and he may have to through the whole block of votes out, but he didn't, but if he did

2050 were for Starcraft
950 were for SSBM

So that would mean that Starcraft would've lost a total of 1100 vote and if nothing else funny happened Starcraft would've only got 49.15% of the vote and making the explote ranking look like this

Starcraft - 36.93%
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - 36.86%
Halo - 36.80%
Kingdom Hearts - 34.29%
Soul Calibur - 33.88%
Metroid Prime - 33.01%
Half-Life - 28.94%
Skies of Arcadia - 18.64%

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"You do not applaud when someone runs the "Stupid Answers" category. That says more about you than it does about him." Alex Trebek

Jill Valentine and Scorpion would give Master Chief a run for his money. I'd feel inclined to take Scorpion but not Jill over MC, but that's just me.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

I mean no offense by this, but is English your first language?
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

On a side note, I haven't paid much attention to the rankings in D128. Starcraft ****ed that division up so bad that it's not even funny. Never in my life would I pick Soul Calibur/2 to beat Metroid Prime. It's Metroid ****ing Prime!
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Either way, StarCraft messed up the extrapolated rankings for division 128 beyond measure. I would never put Halo over Final Fantasy X for whatever reason, but that's what the rankings give us. StarCraft's performance against Kingdom Hearts was probably the most accurate gauge of its strength, as there was probably minimal interference.

However, with those SC-adjusted rankings, Final Fantasy X is ahead of Halo and dead even with Wind Waker. Interesting.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

D128 also ****ed up my bracket

OH THE HORROR.
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"I would, and I have." Ulti speaking in "Would you pass up sex for a game?"

I wouldn't either.
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"Darn... your optimism led... to your own... demise..." - Zero

Is it just that one night of cheating on SSBM that screwed the whole rankings over?
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The topic is dead. Not the kind of dead that can be cured with a Phoenix Down. I'm talking FMV sequence dead.- The King in Teal

Well, that's the one time we know for sure that StarCraft had cheat votes. The comeback against Wind Waker is suspicious, but there's nothing concrete. It may have just happened against Melee, or it may have happened in 3 out of its 4 matches. There's no way of telling.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

I should say a large number of cheat votes there since every match has them, but they're usually minimal and even out.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

Starcraft got almost the exact same votes against KH as it did against Windwaker. Unless people cheated against KH to make it seem like they didn't cheat later, there wasn't really big cheating in the WW match. SC vs SSBM yielded 6K more votes for SC so... ya...
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The topic is dead. Not the kind of dead that can be cured with a Phoenix Down. I'm talking FMV sequence dead.- The King in Teal

I was the first one to claim that Starcraft was constant in those two matches, but no one listened to me.
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

I mean no offense by this, but is English your first language?

If that was to me, nope. I didn't even learn english until I was 5. 10 years later and it's still my weakest subject
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"You do not applaud when someone runs the "Stupid Answers" category. That says more about you than it does about him." Alex Trebek

StarCraft cheat votes probably wouldn't even be in question in that match if it weren't for the fact that such a large margin was overcome in a short matter of time against a Zelda game, even if it is Wind Waker.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

I always figured Wind Waker was absolutely safe in that margin.
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"Darn... your optimism led... to your own... demise..." - Zero

I was the first one to claim that Starcraft was constant in those two matches, but no one listened to me.

That's pretty funny since they needed to go no farther than the list of all the polls and click two links.

For anyone who is curious and doesn't wanna go looking, these are the results of the SC matches:

Halo: Combat Evolved 49.83% 56258
Starcraft 50.17% 56631
TOTAL VOTES 112889

Many votes probably due to the fact that the layout change didn't occur yet.

Starcraft 53.57% 40698
Kingdom Hearts 46.43% 35274
TOTAL VOTES 75972

Why would anyone cheat here?

Starcraft 50.1% 41480
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker 49.9% 41309
TOTAL VOTES 82789

SC got 782 more votes than against KH.

Starcraft 49.73% 48548
Super Smash Bros. Melee 50.27% 49082
TOTAL VOTES 97630

SC got 7850 more votes than against KH... Yeah...

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The topic is dead. Not the kind of dead that can be cured with a Phoenix Down. I'm talking FMV sequence dead.- The King in Teal

It was 18:00 when every update in the SC vs. WW was a gain for SC (Except for when SC took the lead) at that time SC had a vote total of 31 511, but in SC vs. KH, SC had a total votes of 33 491
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"You do not applaud when someone runs the "Stupid Answers" category. That says more about you than it does about him." Alex Trebek

That could just mean people voted later that day... It was on Saturday right?
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The topic is dead. Not the kind of dead that can be cured with a Phoenix Down. I'm talking FMV sequence dead.- The King in Teal

I thought so. I didn't mean that in an offensive way, either. I just doubt that someone as smart as you would post like ertyu on purpose.

Just keep at it, and you'll learn it just fine. English and Finnish are the two most difficult languages in the world to learn, but thankfully you're still young enough to squeeze a lot more time into it.
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

I did a small study on Bnet, and maybe Dabu can back me up on this. Every day, I looked at Bnet throughout the day for a week. The pattern seen on Saturday matched the pattern seen on every other night of the week. There were around 200,000-250,000 users logged on throughout the day, and 330,000+ logged on during peak hours. But this was every day for a week, not just on Saturday night. Is there any merit to this?
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

I thought we discovered a good while back that Saturday nights peaks truly were higher than weekdays. That is how it always looks to me when I go on to play anyway. I would check to see the peak tonight but I left my CD at my mom's house.
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The topic is dead. Not the kind of dead that can be cured with a Phoenix Down. I'm talking FMV sequence dead.- The King in Teal

And did you do this in the summer or while school was still going? Cause the difference is BOUND to be affected by that. Many people don't go to camp.
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The topic is dead. Not the kind of dead that can be cured with a Phoenix Down. I'm talking FMV sequence dead.- The King in Teal

I believe Starcraft did not cheat in its first 3 matches (at least not too much), but I do believe there was massive cheating in the Starcraft vs. SSBM cheat. Just my two cents.
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http://bishounen.info/link/link02.jpg - WANTED! This is the criminal who kidnapped Zelda. Call a soldier if you see him!

I thought so. I didn't mean that in an offensive way, either. I just doubt that someone as smart as you would post like ertyu on purpose.

lol, I get a lot of that

Just keep at it, and you'll learn it just fine. English and Finnish are the two most difficult languages in the world to learn, but thankfully you're still young enough to squeeze a lot more time into it.

I know, English is so backwards compare to my language
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"You do not applaud when someone runs the "Stupid Answers" category. That says more about you than it does about him." Alex Trebek

There WAS cheating in the Starcraft/SSBM match.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Moltar Fact 10: Moltar hangs out in the Summer Contest 2004 Chat frequently.

Starcraft 49.73% 48548
Super Smash Bros. Melee 50.27% 49082
TOTAL VOTES 97630

SC got 7850 more votes than against KH... Yeah...

Don't forget that the vote total in SC vs. KH was 21k less then this poll

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"You do not applaud when someone runs the "Stupid Answers" category. That says more about you than it does about him." Alex Trebek

On a side note, I want to thank Slowflake for the videogamerecaps link a couple stat topics back. (Yeah, I'm kinda slow.) I think the Final Fantasy VII recap should be mandatory reading for all rabid fanboys of that game.
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Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

What now? Video Game Recaps?
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Fight, Mega Man! For everlasting peace!

www.videogamerecaps.com

If you like making fun of RPGs, especially popular ones, that's your site. It's hilarious.

And I, too, think that Starcraft screwed up the Div128 results. Between the site change (Halo/SC was pre, everything else was post), the cheating, and the spamming, some odd stuff happened there.
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Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

I believe Starcraft's huge performances against WW and SSBM are not only due to the Saturday night factor in WW's case, but the spamming seemingly hit its peak there, and not only that, a lot of the major Starcraft sites had links here. Seems not as many of them were as hostile as the actual Battle.net forums (Halo winning because of these forums would've been priceless if you ask me).

And IMO, KH still bombed quite bad, while I'm at it. It could NEVER threaten Wind Waker like the rankings show, and it would probably get beaten bad by Prime as well.
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

Actually, I gotta give Ulti credit for helping me find that site.

And "especially" RPGs? Hehe, say "almost only". The only non-RPG that's covered there is Wind Waker. Even though FF10's recap is the only one completed, it's a masterpiece, I say.
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

SC spamming didn't "peak" at all. I frequent many of the SC community sites and every single time there was a match, g-faqs was linked. Even against KH. The votes should have been the same in every match (except against Halo since a lot of people are too lazy to scroll). Against KH and against WW got almost the exact same number of votes and SSBM probably did too, just with a lot of cheating.
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The topic is dead. Not the kind of dead that can be cured with a Phoenix Down. I'm talking FMV sequence dead.- The King in Teal

I wouldn't be surprised if Soul Calibur did match or even beat Metroid Prime...MP received 56% against Half-Life, remember?

Besides, Soul Calibur 2 wouldn't do any better than Soul Calibur...saying Soul Calbur 2 > Soul Calibur is like saying Ms. Pac-Man > Pac-Man, or Street Fighter II > Street Fighter. Most don't know the difference, unlike FF or Mario games.

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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."

saying Soul Calbur 2 > Soul Calibur is like saying Ms. Pac-Man > Pac-Man, or Street Fighter II > Street Fighter.

In other words, you mean it's to the extreme opposite.

Most don't know the difference, unlike FF or Mario games.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=968

I beg to differ.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

I don't think its fair to say that Kingdom Hearts really failed in expectations, or well, maybe expectations, but mabye everyone had unrealistic expectations for it. Just because it supposedly, and it can't actually ever be proved it did, gave the necessary boost to the sc2 characters, didn't really have to mean the game was that strong. I mean, you probably could have loved squall, sephy, cloud, and aeris in that game and disliked the game itself. What I think kh did was just open up the ff characters to more people, gaining more votes for them. And KH didn't even fail, and why should the rankings count against it, yet be trusted for everyone else? Kh WW wouldn't be a blowout, I mean despite not making the elite 8, or even sweet 16 for that matter, it still is strong. I think they're just some hate against it, because in people's minds it shouldn't have fallen to sc, a game that was fluked through into the second round. but starcraft was strong, and halo wasn't weak.
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If you work hard you can achieve great things in life...........and then you die. - from dilbert

Oh KH definitely failed expectations when it had a close encounter with Soul Calibur and then the icing on the cake was losing to StarCraft. Did it do horribly in the overall picture? I wouldn't say it did, but certainly wasn't the strength we all figured it would.
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"Darn... your optimism led... to your own... demise..." - Zero

As far as the standings go, KH is actually higher than I expected. But Starcraft makes it really dubious. I wouldn't know what to pick in a match against Half-Life, for instance.
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

Actually, I gotta give Ulti credit for helping me find that site.

Actually, you gotta give Seijun credit for helping you find that site. I linked you there when I quoted Seijun's sig =)
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

NM. We gotta stop before I give credit to everyone on the planet short of Bush.

Screw Maddox, THIS is the best damn page in the universe.
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

English and Finnish are the two most difficult languages in the world to learn
Now Ulti, you surely don't speak french! =)

And am I the only one who thinks that the Frog/Liquid Snake/Master Chief 4-pack is going to screw up many people? I mean it's not like there is any obvious winner out there... all sings point to Frog winning but couldn't Master Chief be this year's Starcraft?
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SpC2k4 - Triple Crown Winner! (Spread Betting, Betting, Oracle),
yet UltimaterializerX, King of the gurus, pwned me badly

Given the amount of people who had Master Chief actually winning the entire thing I wouldn't put it past them to take him to the Sweet 16, or worse division finals. Of course, Chrono Trigger making the finals might have a lot of people taking him into the Sweet 16. Either way considering all of the people there have something going for them I would imagine many people screwing up. However, the only way most people here would screw up is if Frog flops.
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"Darn... your optimism led... to your own... demise..." - Zero

The links from web sites, in general, were there during all matches - if anything, that source of votes was fairly constant.

Plus, considering the hype of the match, and the comparison to votes on the nearby days, SC vs SSBM did not generate an undue amount of votes at all. There likely was some cheating, but i think that the one chunk of 1100 votes was the only thing we can throw serious suspicion on.

Even if you pull 1500 votes from SC's total, it still takes 48 percent of the vote. This whole buisness of Starcraft completely screwing up the 128 rankings seems to be nonsensical - it likely shifted its half of the division a percentage point or so, but nothing absolutely earth shattering. I think most of the results we were surprised about came more as a result of our own incorrect assumptions about the games in the division rather than whatever impact starcraft had.

And in order for the 128 division to NOT end up coming out as the strongest division in terms of overall depth, starcraft would have to have had something in the area of 12-15 thousand cheat votes in the SSBM match. So i think that if nothing else, that is still a fair assumption to make.
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2k4 - The Summer of Sephiroth.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if the majority of brackets have MC going to the Sweet 16. Crono had terrible prediction percentages in the first contest, and Magus had terrible predictions in the last contest. Maybe Crono did too, but I don't remember. Chances are, Frog will be underestimated as well. And, like you said, the sheer number of people that had characters like MC or Vercetti or even Snake winning last year was mind numbing, and proof that even bracket makers don't know too much about the makeup of this site. Plus, MC is easily the most recognizable character in the four pack. Crash is a washed up wannabe icon, Liquid is a villain from a 6 year old game, and Frog is the 3rd most popular character from an 8 year old Square RPG. I think the average bracket maker is going to pick MC, with Halo still in their memories and Halo 2 coming up shortly.
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Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

Probably so. Halo 2 around the corner is probably way to appetizing for those bracketeers who love MC. Which reminds me, I fully expect Mega Man to be the underdog in overall brackets yet again during the Vercetti match. Unless people have learned their lesson or something.
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"Darn... your optimism led... to your own... demise..." - Zero

Wait, scratch that I just remembered Vercetti has to get through my good friend Zero. Not like they'll have him [Zero] winning.
---
"Darn... your optimism led... to your own... demise..." - Zero

Frog is assumed to be the third most liked character from Chrono Trigger, we have seen nothing from him yet, and laugh at master chief all you want, he didn't get nearly 40% on Aeris by luck. And if there were a Magus/Aeris matchup (or any Aeris matchup this contest actually......) I wouldn't be so quick to give it to Magus. I'm really hoping Frog flops, and if the majority has Master Chief winning, well, I'm not going to condemn them for it.
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If you work hard you can achieve great things in life...........and then you die. - from dilbert

I wouldn't know what to pick in a match against Half-Life, for instance.


GFNW, even in game form.
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Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

Kefka vs. Knuckles - This will be close. I doubt either character will break 55, as FF, even if it's old school, is a force to be reckoned with. Knuckles did beat Yuna, he's beaten FF before, but I think Kefka may be a little stronger... This will be close, but I doubt this will be THE close match of round 1.

Kefka finished below the likes of Crash in 2003. Knux should be able to get around 65%. This won't be close at all

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"The sly eagle doesn't always kill at whim" - Zidane Tribal FFIX

I've finally done it. My Solar-style archive of the last three contests is complete. Took a whole hell of a lot longer than I expected, but it was fun. I have the first three contests archived singularly, as well as all three of them archived in a giant mess. Coming in a few minutes is a series of Top 25 lists. I would do the contests individually, but everyone has seen those already; plus, it's old news.

Give me a second here...
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

[This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

Top 25 Largest Vote Gaps (by vote total)

Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (3) The Legend of Zelda [92894] vs (14) Adventure [4686] - 88208
Summer 2003 - North Round 1 - (1) Link [92998] vs (16) AiAi [8802] - 84196
Summer 2003 - West Round 1 - (2) Mega Man [91905] vs (15) Mr. Resetti [11400] - 80505
Summer 2003 - East Round 1 - (1) Cloud [94086] vs (16) CATS [14168] - 79918
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (6) Link to the Past [86690] vs (11) Gunstar Heroes [8418] - 78272
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (1) Mario [89189] vs (16) Captain Olimar [11678] - 77511
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 1 - (1) Final Fantasy 7 [91749] vs (16) Suikoden II [15401] - 76348
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (4) Final Fantasy [86938] vs (13) Pitfall! [12256] - 74682
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (4) Crono [88469] vs (13) Tom Nook [14631] - 73838
Summer 2003 - South Round 2 - (10) Max Payne [18786] vs (2) Sephiroth [89595] - 70809
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (2) Sephiroth [90364] vs (15) Raziel [19838] - 70526
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 1 - (2) Ocarina of Time [82903] vs (15) Fallout 2 [13150] - 69753
Summer 2003 - West Round 1 - (1) Solid Snake [84638] vs (16) Raiden [17480] - 67150
Summer 2003 - North Round 2 - (1) Link [81148] vs (9) Fox [17261] - 63887
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (4) Super Mario World [79257] vs (13) The Simpsons [18028] - 61229
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (5) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 [78387] vs (12) Shining Force [18739] - 59648
Summer 2003 - South Round 2 - (12) Kefka [21373] vs (4) Crono [79999] - 58626
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (6) Mega Man [63039] vs (11) Ms. Pac Man [5257] - 57782
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 1 - (7) Super Mario 64 [69209] vs (10) NiGHTS [12375] - 56834
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (3) Super Metroid [70520] vs (14) Phantasy Star IV [14144] - 56376
Summer 2002 - West Round 2 - (6) Mega Man [60914] vs (3) Serious Sam [5414] - 55500
Summer 2003 - North Round 1 - (2) Samus [81123] vs (15) Isaac [25650] - 55473
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 2 - (6) Donkey Kong [9559] vs (3) The Legend of Zelda [64193] - 54634
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (1) Chrono Trigger [71697] vs (16) Secret of Mana [18610] - 53087
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (7) Sephiroth [61367] vs (10) Gabe Logan [8602] - 52765
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

[This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

Top 25 Smallest Vote Gaps (by vote total)

Summer 2002 - West Round 3 - (1) Sonic [41939] vs (5) Samus [41973] - 34
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 2 - (5) Final Fantasy Tactics [40292] vs (4) Metal Gear Solid [40330] - 38
Summer 2002 - Final Four - (1) Mario [53831] vs (5) Crono [53716] - 115
Summer 2003 - South Round 3 - (1) Mario [66571] vs (4) Crono [66434] - 137
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (6) Donkey Kong [48587] vs (11) Duck Hunt [48444] - 143
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 3 - (16) Starcraft [41480] vs (5) The Wind Waker [41309] - 171
Summer 2002 - North Round 4 - (1) Mario [64990] vs (2) Cloud [64713] - 277
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 4 - (1) Chrono Trigger [49494] vs (6) Link to the Past [49132] - 362
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 1 - (1) Halo [56258] vs (16) Starcraft [56631] - 373
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 4 - (16) Starcraft [48548] vs (2) SSBM [49082] - 534
Summer 2003 - North Round 2 - (12) Ganondorf [54529] vs (13) Magus [55179] - 650
Summer 2003 - West Round 2 - (6) Donkey Kong [50457] vs (3) Tommy Vercetti [51425] - 968
Summer 2002 - West Round 3 - (6) Mega Man [48185] vs (7) Sephiroth [49172] - 987
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 1 - (8) Soul Calibur [44532] vs (9) Kingdom Hearts [45620] - 1088
Summer 2002 - North Round 2 - (12) Aya Brea [30478] vs (4) Donkey Kong [31798] - 1320
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 3 - (3) Final Fantasy X [40253] vs (2) SSBM [41798] - 1545
Summer 2003 - North Round 1 - (5) Tidus [57078] vs (12) Ganondorf [58660] - 1582
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (5) Pac Man [45905] vs (12) Kefka [47678] - 1773
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (7) Strider [30662] vs (10) Raziel [27661] - 3001
Spring 2004 - Final Four - (1) Super Mario Brothers 3 [41605] vs (1) Chrono Trigger [45488] - 3883
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 3 - (6) Link to the Past [42628] vs (2) Final Fantasy 6 [38326] - 4302
Summer 2003 - South Round 2 - (6) Alucard [53328] vs (3) Kirby [48818] - 4510
Summer 2003 - East Round 2 - (7) Zero [47261] vs (2) Sonic [51903] - 4642
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (3) Jill Valentine [37539] vs (14) Kirby [32837] - 4702
Summer 2003 - Finals - (1) Cloud [64578] vs (2) Sephiroth [59865] - 4713
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

[This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

Top 25 Largest Vote Gaps (by percentage)

Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (3) The Legend of Zelda [95.2%] vs (14) Adventure [4.8%] - 90.4%
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (6) Mega Man [92.3%] vs (11) Ms. Pac Man [7.7%] - 84.6%
Summer 2002 - West Round 2 - (6) Mega Man [91.84%] vs (3) Serious Sam [8.16%] - 83.68%
Summer 2003 - North Round 1 - (1) Link [91.35%] vs (16) AiAi [8.65%] - 82.70%
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (6) Link to the Past [91.15%] vs (11) Gunstar Heroes [8.85%] - 82.3%
Summer 2003 - West Round 1 - (2) Mega Man [88.96%] vs (15) Mr. Resetti [11.04%] - 77.92%
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (1) Mario [88.42%] vs (16) Captain Olimar [11.58%] - 76.84%
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (7) Sephiroth [87.71%] vs (10) Gabe Logan [12.29%] - 75.42%
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (4) Final Fantasy [87.64%] vs (13) Pitfall! [12.36%] - 75.28%
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 2 - (6) Donkey Kong [12.96%] vs (3) The Legend of Zelda [87.04%] - 74.08%
Summer 2003 - East Round 1 - (1) Cloud [86.91%] vs (16) CATS [13.09%] - 73.82%
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 1 - (2) Ocarina of Time [86.31%] vs (15) Fallout 2 [13.69%] - 72.62%
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (4) Crono [85.81%] vs (13) Tom Nook [14.19%] - 71.62%
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 1 - (1) Final Fantasy 7 [85.63%] vs (16) Suikoden II [14.37%] - 71.26%
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 1 - (7) Super Mario 64 [84.83%] vs (10) NiGHTS [15.17%] - 69.66%
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (2) Link [84.31%] vs (15) Little Mac [15.69%] - 68.62%
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (3) Super Metroid [83.29%] vs (14) Phantasy Star IV [16.71%] - 66.58%
Summer 2003 - West Round 1 - (1) Solid Snake [82.88%] vs (16) Raiden [17.12%] - 65.76%
Summer 2003 - South Round 2 - (10) Max Payne [17.33%] vs (2) Sephiroth [82.67%] - 65.34%
Summer 2003 - North Round 2 - (1) Link [82.46%] vs (9) Fox [17.54%] - 64.92%
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (1) Sonic [82.44%] vs (16) Pitfall Harry [17.56%] - 64.88%
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (1) Super Mario Brothers 3 [82.3%] vs (16) Metal Gear [17.7%] - 64.6%
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (2) Sephiroth [82%] vs (15) Raziel [18%] - 64%
Summer 2002 - North Round 3 - (1) Mario [81.98%] vs (4) Donkey Kong [18.02%] - 63.96%
Summer 2002 - West Round 2 - (7) Sephiroth [81.52%] vs (2) Crash Bandicoot [18.48%] - 63.04%
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Top 25 Smallest Vote Gaps (by percentage)

Summer 2002 - West Round 3 - (1) Sonic [49.98%] vs (5) Samus [50.02%] - 0.04%
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 2 - (5) Final Fantasy Tactics [49.98%] vs (4) Metal Gear Solid [50.02%] - 0.04%
Summer 2003 - South Round 3 - (1) Mario [50.05%] vs (4) Crono [49.95%] - 0.1%
Summer 2002 - Final Four - (1) Mario [50.05%] vs (5) Crono [49.95%] - 0.1%
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (6) Donkey Kong [50.07%] vs (11) Duck Hunt [49.93%] - 0.14%
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 3 - (16) Starcraft [50.1%] vs (5) The Wind Waker [49.9%] - 0.2%
Summer 2002 - North Round 4 - (1) Mario [50.11%] vs (2) Cloud [49.89%] - 0.22%
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 1 - (1) Halo [49.83%] vs (16) Starcraft [50.17%] - 0.34%
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 4 - (1) Chrono Trigger [50.18%] vs (6) Link to the Past [49.82%] - 0.36%
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 4 - (16) Starcraft [49.73%] vs (2) SSBM [50.27%] - 0.54%
Summer 2003 - North Round 2 - (12) Ganondorf [49.7%] vs (13) Magus [50.3%] - 0.6%
Summer 2003 - West Round 2 - (6) Donkey Kong [49.52%] vs (3) Tommy Vercetti [50.48%] - 0.96%
Summer 2002 - West Round 3 - (6) Mega Man [49.49%] vs (7) Sephiroth [50.51%] - 1.02%
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 1 - (8) Soul Calibur [49.4%] vs (9) Kingdom Hearts [50.6%] - 1.2%
Summer 2003 - North Round 1 - (5) Tidus [49.32%] vs (12) Ganondorf [50.68%] - 1.36%
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 3 - (3) Final Fantasy X [49.06%] vs (2) SSBM [50.94%] - 1.88%
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (5) Pac Man [49.05%] vs (12) Kefka [50.95%] - 1.9%
Summer 2002 - North Round 2 - (12) Aya Brea [48.94%] vs (4) Donkey Kong [51.06%] - 2.12%
Summer 2003 - Final Four - (1) Link [48.39%] vs (1) Cloud [51.61%] - 3.32%
Summer 2003 - Finals - (1) Cloud [51.89%] vs (2) Sephiroth [48.11%] - 3.78%
Summer 2003 - South Round 2 - (6) Alucard [52.21%] vs (3) Kirby [47.79%] - 4.42%
Spring 2004 - Final Four - (1) Super Mario Brothers 3 [47.77%] vs (1) Chrono Trigger [52.23%] - 4.46%
Summer 2003 - East Round 2 - (7) Zero [47.66%] vs (2) Sonic [52.34%] - 4.68%
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (7) Strider [52.57%] vs (10) Raziel [47.43%] - 5.14%
Summer 2002 - West Round 4 - (5) Samus [47.36%] vs (7) Sephiroth [52.64%] - 5.28%
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Top 25 Most Popular Polls (by vote total)

Summer 2003 - Final Four - (1) Link [71438] vs (1) Cloud [76199] - 147637
Summer 2003 - South Round 3 - (1) Mario [66571] vs (4) Crono [66434] - 133005
Summer 2002 - North Round 4 - (1) Mario [64990] vs (2) Cloud [64713] - 129703
Summer 2003 - Finals - (1) Cloud [64578] vs (2) Sephiroth [59865] - 124443
Summer 2003 - Final Four - (2) Sephiroth [75979] vs (2) Mega Man [48213] - 124192
Summer 2003 - South Round 4 - (1) Mario [47458] vs (2) Sephiroth [76129] - 123587
Summer 2003 - West Round 4 - (1) Solid Snake [55322] vs (2) Mega Man [63639] - 118961
Summer 2003 - North Round 2 - (6) Squall [69958] vs (3) Luigi [46232] - 116190
Summer 2003 - North Round 1 - (5) Tidus [57078] vs (12) Ganondorf [58660] - 115738
Summer 2003 - West Round 1 - (7) Lara Croft [42940] vs (10) Zelda [70941] - 113881
Summer 2003 - North Round 1 - (7) KOS-MOS [34246] vs (2) Samus [78948] - 113194
Summer 2003 - East Round 2 - (1) Cloud [81716] vs (8) Auron [31470] - 113186
Summer 2003 - West Round 3 - (3) Tommy Vercetti [37456] vs (2) Mega Man [75551] - 113007
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 1 - (1) Halo [56258] vs (16) Starcraft [56631] - 112889
Summer 2003 - East Round 1 - (7) Zero [70885] vs (10) Scorpion [41916] - 112801
Summer 2003 - North Round 3 - (6) Squall [47103] vs (2) Samus [65582] - 112685
Summer 2003 - South Round 3 - (6) Alucard [30891] vs (2) Sephiroth [80539] - 111430
Summer 2003 - East Round 3 - (1) Cloud [77991] vs (5) Bowser [33381] - 111372
Summer 2003 - North Round 3 - (1) Link [72188] vs (13) Magus [38747] - 110935
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (2) Sephiroth [90364] vs (15) Raziel [19838] - 110202
Summer 2003 - North Round 2 - (12) Ganondorf [54529] vs (13) Magus [55179] - 109708
Summer 2003 - East Round 1 - (8) Auron [70199] vs (9) Tails [38685] - 108884
Summer 2003 - South Round 2 - (1) Mario [59756] vs (9) Shadow [48694] - 108450
Summer 2003 - North Round 4 - (1) Link [67294] vs (2) Samus [41139] - 108433
Summer 2003 - South Round 2 - (10) Max Payne [18786] vs (2) Sephiroth [89595] - 108381
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Top 25 Least Popular Polls (by vote total)

Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (4) Max Payne [38707] vs (13) Dirk the Daring [12109] - 50816
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (1) Pac Man [32607] vs (9) Kyo Kusanagi [19282] - 51889
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (6) Bomberman [40943] vs (11) Kane [11476] - 52419
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (4) Donkey Kong [32602] vs (13) Bub [20016] - 52618
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (3) Duke Nukem [33160] vs (14) Iori Yagami [19714] - 52874
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (1) Mario [39436] vs (16) Servbot [13777] - 53213
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (8) Abe [22760] vs (9) Kyo Kusanagi [31160] - 53920
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (3) Serious Sam [32301] vs (14) Mr. Driller [22696] - 54997
Summer 2002 - East Round 1 - (8) Ryo Hazuki [39574] vs (9) Guybrush Threepwood [15818] - 55392
Summer 2002 - East Round 1 - (3) Gordon Freeman [22560] vs (14) Tina Armstrong [33801] - 56361
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (7) Pikachu [30711] vs (10) PaRappa The Rapper [25736] - 56447
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (5) Terry Bogard [19929] vs (12) Aya Brea [36637] - 56566
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (1) Pac Man [41150] vs (16) Goemon [15839] - 56989
Summer 2002 - West Round 2 - (1) Sonic [33602] vs (8) Tidus [23516] - 57118
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (8) Spyro the Dragon [18186] vs (9) Morrigan Aensland [39173] - 57359
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (2) Crash Bandicoot [36305] vs (15) Ulala [21111] - 57416
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (4) Ryu [46869] vs (13) CATS [11145] - 58014
Summer 2002 - East Round 1 - (4) Dante [40745] vs (13) Q*Bert [17453] - 58198
Summer 2002 - North Round 2 - (6) Alucard [35864] vs (3) Duke Nukem [22445] - 58309
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (7) Strider [30662] vs (10) Raziel [27661] - 58323
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (5) Scorpion [42327] vs (12) Kazuya Mishima [17282] - 59609
Summer 2002 - South Round 2 - (5) Scorpion [39171] vs (4) Max Payne [20754] - 59925
Summer 2002 - East Round 1 - (6) Kasumi [22688] vs (11) Aeris [38190] - 60878
Summer 2002 - East Round 2 - (1) Lara Croft [36308] vs (8) Ryo Hazuki [24834] - 61142
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (6) Alucard [33516] vs (11) Tails [28190] - 61706
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Top 25 Largest Individual Vote Totals (by vote total)

Summer 2003 - East Round 1 - (1) Cloud - 94086
Summer 2003 - North Round 1 - (1) Link - 92998
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (3) The Legend of Zelda - 92894
Summer 2003 - West Round 1 - (2) Mega Man - 91905
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 1 - (1) Final Fantasy 7 - 91749
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (2) Sephiroth - 90364
Summer 2003 - South Round 2 - (2) Sephiroth - 89595
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (1) Mario - 89189
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (4) Crono - 88469
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (4) Final Fantasy - 86938
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (6) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - 86690
Summer 2003 - West Round 1 - (1) Solid Snake - 84638
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 1 - (2) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 82903
Summer 2003 - East Round 2 - (1) Cloud - 81716
Summer 2003 - North Round 2 - (1) Link - 81148
Summer 2003 - North Round 1 - (2) Samus - 81123
Summer 2003 - South Round 3 - (2) Sephiroth - 80539
Summer 2003 - South Round 2 - (4) Crono - 79999
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (4) Super Mario World - 79257
Summer 2003 - North Round 2 - (2) Samus - 78948
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (5) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - 78387
Summer 2003 - East Round 3 - (1) Cloud - 77991
Summer 2003 - Final Four - (1) Cloud - 76199
Summer 2003 - South Round 4 - (1) Sephiroth - 76129
Summer 2003 - Final Four - (2) Sephiroth - 75979
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Top 25 Smallest Individual Vote Totals (by vote total)

Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (14) Adventure - 4686
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (11) Ms. Pac Man - 5257
Summer 2002 - West Round 2 - (3) Serious Sam - 5414
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (11) Gunstar Heroes - 8418
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (10) Gabe Logan - 8602
Summer 2003 - North Round 1 - (16) AiAi - 8802
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 2 - (6) Donkey Kong - 9559
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (15) Little Mac - 11076
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (13) CATS - 11145
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (16) Pitfall Harry - 11292
Summer 2003 - West Round 1 - (15) Mr. Resetti - 11400
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (11) Kane - 11476
Summer 2002 - North Round 3 - (4) Donkey Kong - 11507
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (16) Captain Olimar - 11678
Summer 2002 - East Round 1 - (10) Akira - 12057
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (13) Dirk the Daring - 12109
Summer 2002 - West Round 2 - (2) Crash Bandicoot - 12235
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (13) Pitfall! - 12256
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 1 - (10) NiGHTS into dreams... - 12375
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 1 - (15) Fallout 2 - 13150
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (16) Metal Gear - 13197
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (16) Servbot - 13777
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (14) Phantasy Star IV - 14144
Summer 2003 - East Round 1 - (16) CATS - 14168
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 2 - (9) Xenogears - 14445
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

So... who would win, Adventure or Mr. Driller (The character, not the game)?
---
Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

Top 25 Least Impressive Winners (by vote total)

Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (7) Strider - 30662
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (7) Pikachu - 30711
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (9) Kyo Kusanagi - 31160
Summer 2002 - North Round 2 - (4) Donkey Kong - 31798
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (3) Serious Sam - 32301
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (4) Donkey Kong - 32602
Summer 2002 - South Round 2 - (1) Pac Man - 32607
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (3) Duke Nukem - 33160
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (6) Alucard - 33516
Summer 2002 - West Round 2 - (1) Sonic - 33602
Summer 2002 - East Round 1 - (14) Tina Armstrong - 33801
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (8) Tidus - 35004
Summer 2002 - North Round 2 - (6) Alucard - 35864
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (2) Crash Bandicoot - 36305
Summer 2002 - East Round 2 - (1) Lara Croft - 36308
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (12) Aya Brea - 36637
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 2 - (5) The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - 36909
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 2 - (2) Super Smash Brothers Melee - 37031
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (3) Jill Valentine - 37539
Summer 2002 - South Round 2 - (3) Jill Valentine - 37828
Summer 2002 - East Round 1 - (11) Aeris - 38190
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (4) Max Payne - 38707
Summer 2002 - South Round 2 - (5) Scorpion - 39171
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (9) Morrigan Aensland - 39173
Summer 2002 - West Round 2 - (5) Samus - 39293
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Top 25 Most Impressive Losers (by vote total)

Summer 2003 - Final Four - (1) Link - 71438
Summer 2003 - South Round 3 - (4) Crono - 66434
Summer 2002 - North Round 4 - (2) Cloud - 64713
Summer 2003 - Finals - (2) Sephiroth - 59865
Summer 2003 - North Round 1 - (5) Tidus - 57078
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 1 - (1) Halo: Combat Evolved - 56258
Summer 2003 - West Round 4 - (1) Solid Snake - 55322
Summer 2003 - North Round 2 - (12) Ganondorf - 54529
Summer 2002 - Final Four - (5) Crono - 53716
Summer 2003 - West Round 2 - (6) Donkey Kong - 50457
Summer 2003 - East Round 3 - (11) Aeris - 50241
Summer 2003 - East Round 1 - (14) Felix - 50231
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 4 - (6) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - 49132
Summer 2003 - South Round 2 - (3) Kirby - 48818
Summer 2003 - South Round 2 - (9) Shadow - 48694
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 4 - (16) Starcraft - 48548
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (11) Duck Hunt - 48444
Summer 2003 - Final Four - (2) Mega Man - 48213
Summer 2002 - West Round 3 - (6) Mega Man - 48185
Summer 2003 - South Round 4 - (1) Mario - 47458
Summer 2003 - East Round 2 - (7) Zero - 47261
Summer 2003 - North Round 3 - (6) Squall - 47103
Summer 2002 - East Round 4 - (2) Solid Snake - 46697
Summer 2003 - North Round 2 - (3) Luigi - 46232
Summer 2002 - West Round 4 - (5) Samus - 46047
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

That's right Ulti...

But should 2002 be counted for least impressive winners???

As if you look at the average voting per match for each contest it's steadily risen...
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(•• ) ( ••) (•• ) ( ••) ( ••) (•• )
CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE

Top 25 Easiest Matches to Predict (based on percentage of entrants choosing the winner)

Summer 2003 - North Round 1 - (1) Link vs (16) AiAi - 99.12%
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (3) The Legend of Zelda vs (14) Adventure - 99.02%
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (1) Mario vs (16) Captain Olimar - 97.99%
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (6) Link to the Past vs (11) Gunstar Heroes - 97.75%
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 1 - (1) Final Fantasy 7 vs (16) Suikoden II - 96.76%
Spring 2004 - Division 8 Round 1 - (4) Final Fantasy vs (13) Pitfall! - 96.46%
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (2) Link vs (15) Little Mac - 96.39%
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 1 - (2) Ocarina of Time vs (15) Fallout 2 - 96.32%
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (4) Super Mario World vs (13) The Simpsons - 95.91%
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (1) Mario vs (16) Servbot - 95.87%
Summer 2003 - West Round 1 - (2) Mega Man vs (15) Mr. Resetti - 95.61%
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (1) Sonic vs (16) Pitfall Harry - 95.59%
Summer 2003 - North Round 2 - (1) Link vs (9) Fox - 95.42%
Summer 2003 - East Round 1 - (1) Cloud vs (16) CATS - 94.91%
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 1 - (7) Super Mario 64 vs (10) NiGHTS - 94.65%
Summer 2002 - North Round 1 - (4) Donkey Kong vs (13) Bub - 94.18%
Summer 2002 - West Round 1 - (6) Mega Man vs (11) Ms. Pac Man - 94.08%
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (2) Sephiroth vs (15) Raziel - 93.91%
Summer 2003 - North Round 1 - (2) Samus vs (15) Isaac - 93.8%
Summer 2003 - South Round 1 - (4) Crono vs (13) Tom Nook - 92.8%
Spring 2004 - Division 32-64 Round 1 - (3) Goldeneye vs (14) Panzer Dragoon Saga - 92.61%
Summer 2003 - West Round 1 - (1) Solid Snake vs (16) Raiden - 92.56%
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 1 - (3) Final Fantasy X vs (14) Shenmue - 92.24%
Spring 2004 - Division 16 Round 1 - (1) Chrono Trigger vs (16) Secret of Mana - 92.2%
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 1 - (5) The Wind Waker vs (12) Skies of Arcadia - 92%
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

But should 2002 be counted for least impressive winners???

Yes, considering these are all-time stats.

As if you look at the average voting per match for each contest it's steadily risen...

No they haven't. They were at their lowest in the summer of 2002, and at their peak in the summer of 2003. The spring of 2004 falls in the middle.
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Top 25 Hardest Matches to Predict (based on percentage of entrants choosing the winner)

Summer 2003 - Finals - (1) Cloud vs (2) Sephiroth - 6.04%
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 4 - (16) Starcraft vs (2) SSBM - 7.16%
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 3 - (16) Starcraft vs (5) The Wind Waker - 7.91%
Summer 2002 - Finals - (1) Mario vs (2) Link - 12.77%
Summer 2003 - Final Four - (1) Link vs (1) Cloud - 13.37%
Summer 2003 - West Round 4 - (1) Solid Snake vs (2) Mega Man - 14.53%
Summer 2002 - East Round 4 - (5) Crono vs (2) Solid Snake - 14.63%
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 3 - (3) Final Fantasy X vs (2) SSBM - 14.83%
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 2 - (16) Starcraft vs (9) Kingdom Hearts - 15.62%
Summer 2002 - South Round 2 - (1) Pac Man vs (5) Scorpion - 17.33%
Summer 2003 - Final Four - (2) Sephiroth vs (2) Mega Man - 21.73%
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 2 - (7) Vice City vs (2) SSBM - 22.03%
Spring 2004 - Division 128 Round 1 - (1) Halo vs (16) Starcraft - 24.09%
Summer 2003 - North Round 2 - (12) Ganondorf vs (13) Magus - 24.25%
Spring 2004 - Final Four - (1) Super Mario Brothers 3 vs (1) Chrono Trigger - 24.63%
Summer 2002 - North Round 2 - (6) Alucard vs (3) Duke Nukem - 28.78%
Summer 2002 - Final Four - (2) Link vs (7) Sephiroth - 30.63%
Summer 2002 - Final Four - (1) Mario vs (5) Crono - 30.96%
Summer 2003 - West Round 3 - (3) Tommy Vercetti vs (2) Mega Man - 31.11%
Summer 2002 - West Round 3 - (1) Sonic vs (5) Samus - 31.75%
Summer 2002 - South Round 2 - (6) Bomberman vs (3) Jill Valentine - 32.45%
Summer 2003 - South Round 4 - (1) Mario vs (2) Sephiroth - 32.76%
Summer 2002 - East Round 3 - (1) Lara Croft vs (5) Crono - 33.05%
Summer 2002 - South Round 1 - (5) Scorpion vs (4) Max Payne - 33.62%
Summer 2003 - East Round 3 - (11) Aeris vs (2) Sonic - 33.76%
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

Yes, considering these are all-time stats.

Ok... sure... That's fine..

No they haven't. They were at their lowest in the summer of 2002, and at their peak in the summer of 2003. The spring of 2004 falls in the middle.

Three reasons why Spring 2004 is probably lower than 2003...
1. Spring is different to Summer... I'm not in the US so I can't tell if that would have any effect on the voting but maybe...
2. Poll placement... For some matches the poll was placed much lower than previous years...
3. Spring 2004 was a game tournament... People identify more with characters than a certain game... Mario is more popular then his games...

Those reasons aren't in any particular order... just the order I typed them...
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CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE

(1) Link vs (1) Cloud - 13.37%
lol at the percentage

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Currently Playing: Skies of Arcadia and Zone of the Enders:FoM

Nice Stats, Ulti. :-)
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GameFAQs can gain justice from this petition! Please visit it at: http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=7&topic=15026092

I think the big reason for the decline in voting is the fact that video game sites as a whole have been on a massive decline. You simply don't see titles like Super Metroid, Super Mario 3, Final Fantasy 7, Doom, and Half-Life anymore. There isn't as big a need for gaming sites as there used to be, and everyone is suffering financially (and in site traffic) as a result.
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Good point... I agree with it...
However I can argue against it because if you look at all the titles you listed (there are many other such titles like them I know) they were released before the 2002 contest...
If you looking at the stature of titles released this new gen... I'd say GTA 3 and VC is one... Halo is another one (as much as I think the game is overrated it's still popular)... Final Fantasy X (to an extent)... Super Smash Bros: Melee (perhaps... maybe???)... Oh and Metroid Prime...
Those games are probably the most recognisable this gen...
So I agree video gaming has been on the decline....
However again those games were released prior to 2002 in the US (where alot of the traffic for GameFAQs would come from)... So if these blockbuster hits were all released prior to 2002 (Vice City and Metroid Prime are the exceptions) what would explain the job in votes from 2002 to 2003???
As 2002 also had Planet Gamecube providing a link on the main page... Yet in 2003 they did not...
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CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE

PGCN did that for one match. That doesn't swing the overall average one way or the other.
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

However I can argue against it because if you look at all the titles you listed (there are many other such titles like them I know) they were released before the 2002 contest...
If you looking at the stature of titles released this new gen... I'd say GTA 3 and VC is one... Halo is another one (as much as I think the game is overrated it's still popular)... Final Fantasy X (to an extent)... Super Smash Bros: Melee (perhaps... maybe???)... Oh and Metroid Prime...

Not one of those games is going to cause people to flock to the internet in swarms to go off and get help. Those are mainstream titles that mean nothing to the internet one way or the other, like Tony Hawk or the Madden series. They're big sellers, but our average age group doesn't care about those titles much. You have to remember that outside of the internet, our age bracket is one of the smallest for gaming.

Those games are probably the most recognisable this gen...
So I agree video gaming has been on the decline....
However again those games were released prior to 2002 in the US (where alot of the traffic for GameFAQs would come from)... So if these blockbuster hits were all released prior to 2002 (Vice City and Metroid Prime are the exceptions) what would explain the job in votes from 2002 to 2003???

Um, the contest itself. 2002 was so damned exciting that it was the catalyst for the summer of 2003. The 2003 contest was the personification of hype, and the games themselves had little to do with it.
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

And if there were a Magus/Aeris matchup (or any Aeris matchup this contest actually......) I wouldn't be so quick to give it to Magus.

I'd be one to choose Magus in a heartbeat, and I like Aeris more.
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"Darn... your optimism led... to your own... demise..." - Zero

Aeris is from FF7. Game over. :-)

Yes, I know it sounds like blind logic..but people will go "OMG SHE"S FROM FF7! THE RULE!"

Sometimes I've got to think like that...
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Your always thinking like that. If everyone thought that then why aren't Cloud, Sephiroth, and Aeris the top 3 characters in the contest?
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"Darn... your optimism led... to your own... demise..." - Zero

Oh and nice work there Ulti.
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"Darn... your optimism led... to your own... demise..." - Zero

Sonic beat Aeris by quite a few thousands, so I don't see why Magus wouldn't be able to at least win, even if it's by one vote.

Of course, Sonic being the absolute king of the morning vote is irrelevant to the overall picture.
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

As of now..Cloud and Seph. are two of the top 3, so that fact actually is two thirds true, but don't worry, I know what you mean.

To tell you the truth, I really don't know.
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I know they are, and I don't really have a problem with them being there but I couldn't imagine Aeris beating Magus. Regardless of vote gap, percentage gap, whatever Magus should be able to win the match.
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"Darn... your optimism led... to your own... demise..." - Zero

Oh yeah, and this is between Magus and Aeris, who I think are two evenly matched players. I think Aeris being in FF7 would help her.
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I don't think Magus would have too tough of a time against Aeris. He probably might be able to beat her by more then Sonic did.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Moltar Fact 10: Moltar hangs out in the Summer Contest 2004 Chat frequently.

CT is one of two games that can really give FF7 a run for its money. It led for a full hour in their match, remember?
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

Magus would beat Aeris, and with ease. You'd have to be pretty out there to think otherwise, assuming that Magus is equal to Sonic in strength.
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Tai's logic is the same as the logic I used for considering Aeris as a potential winner in a contest without Link/Cloud/Sephiroth/Mario. The idea that she should be able to get the majority of the FFVII vote.

Unfortunately for her, it's not true. Aeris lost to Sonic. Would anyone here ever put Sonic over Cloud or Sephiroth? Would anyone even expect either to be close? Nope.
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Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed. -Blaise Pascal

That logic is also among the worst that you can use. A character being related to other popular characters doesn't mean that they will be able to do well on their own. The characers still need something to make the fans vote for them, but unfortunately for characters like Tails, Donkey Kong, Aeris, Luigi, Ganondorf, Zelda, and Ken Masters, the popularity of their leads doesn't mean anything to them in terms of strength.
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

PGCN did that for one match. That doesn't swing the overall average one way or the other.

Ok it doen't swing the overall average that much... However if PGCN did not do that, wouldn't you agree that the vote tally would have been lower (speculation but take PGCN's votes off and it's lower... hey, presto MAGIC)...Which would lead to a decrease in the average votes per match albeit very small... It's still a change...

Not one of those games is going to cause people to flock to the internet in swarms to go off and get help. Those are mainstream titles that mean nothing to the internet one way or the other, like Tony Hawk or the Madden series. They're big sellers, but our average age group doesn't care about those titles much. You have to remember that outside of the internet, our age bracket is one of the smallest for gaming.

Well I don't see why you broke my argument up... (paragraphs sure... but there was no real argument in my first paragraph... it was just listing the titles that would be sort of like the FF7s of this gen) Amyway... thamk you that you did...
Because if I look back at what was originally being discussed it was the reason why 2003 had more votes than 2002 and then in 2004 it dropped off...
Because ok I agree with your paragraph... but that still not going to explain the difference in votes from year to year...
Don't use the hype argument... because look below that... ^_^

Um, the contest itself. 2002 was so damned exciting that it was the catalyst for the summer of 2003. The 2003 contest was the personification of hype, and the games themselves had little to do with it.

It was exciting no doubt... yet how exactly is that going to suddenly generate a mass influx of voters to obtain a higher vote per match average for 2003 and the lowering for 2004... After all it was exciting for who?? The people on the message boards, that make up a small percentage of the overall vote...
Outside the internet, moreso outside this site these little competitions don't mean anything to anyone so even with all this hype surrounding the summer 2003 contest, who outside of the board members are going to know of this hype??? Better yet the tournament itself...
Sure account creations are going to rise naturally from year to year which is going to increase the amount of votes (ie more accounts would generally lead to more brackets which would lead to an increase in votes)... but on that note shouldn't Spring 2004 should have had a higher overall average votes per match then 2003, as there is going to be more accounts... obviously...
And about this hype surrounding the 2003 contest... Wouldn't Spring 2004 have quite a bit of hype itself??? After all there's been 2 contests held before but they were character tournaments... 2004 was a games tournament (which is new)... Something new would generate hype which would lead to more votes...
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CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE

That.... is the stupidest argument I ever heard. Ulti is completely right on this. The 2003 contest was massively anticipated, while the 2004 contest fell within a layout change and the fall of gaming sites. It is common sense, which you seem to not possess.
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Bling bling yo!

Really now, the last part wasn't needed.
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"Darn... your optimism led... to your own... demise..." - Zero
SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man

Oooh no, not common sense again! You would be shocked at how few people actually possess it. And with a week left before the contest, my bracket is all but set, with only one match remaining up in the air... oooh Frog, why must you tempt me so???
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7/9 Noms got into the contest... Semifinalists(at heart): CATS, Luca Blight, Tommy Vercetti, Frog, Cloud, Sephiroth, KOS-MOS, Gordon Freeman

Frog vs. Solid Snake?
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Darn... your optimism led... to your own... demise..." - Zero

From: Garbling | Posted: 7/25/2004 10:55:06 AM | Message Detail
That.... is the stupidest argument I ever heard. Ulti is completely right on this. The 2003 contest was massively anticipated, while the 2004 contest fell within a layout change and the fall of gaming sites. It is common sense, which you seem to not possess.

I say that if you looked back a few pages I already argued that... It was Ulti who disagreed... I'll post the messages for you... It's users like you who make me dislike board 8 sometimes...

From: Pavel Nedved | Posted: 7/25/2004 8:39:36 AM | Message Detail
Yes, considering these are all-time stats.

Ok... sure... That's fine..

No they haven't. They were at their lowest in the summer of 2002, and at their peak in the summer of 2003. The spring of 2004 falls in the middle.

Three reasons why Spring 2004 is probably lower than 2003...
1. Spring is different to Summer... I'm not in the US so I can't tell if that would have any effect on the voting but maybe...
2. Poll placement... For some matches the poll was placed much lower than previous years...
3. Spring 2004 was a game tournament... People identify more with characters than a certain game... Mario is more popular then his games...

Those reasons aren't in any particular order... just the order I typed them...

Ulti replied with this

From: UltimaterializerX | Posted: 7/25/2004 8:45:30 AM | Message Detail
I think the big reason for the decline in voting is the fact that video game sites as a whole have been on a massive decline. You simply don't see titles like Super Metroid, Super Mario 3, Final Fantasy 7, Doom, and Half-Life anymore. There isn't as big a need for gaming sites as there used to be, and everyone is suffering financially (and in site traffic) as a result.

See.... If you can't put link to what Ulti means... he's trying to say the drop off in the amount of votes between 2003 and 2004...

If you actually read earlier messages you would see that I was first to point that out but Ulti disagreed with it...

I mean duh!!!

Please read before you post such nonsense...
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CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE

You got it... why, did you think I was going to have him taking down your S2K4 Tournament Champion? I am not that eccentric =)
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7/9 Noms got into the contest... Semifinalists(at heart): CATS, Luca Blight, Tommy Vercetti, Frog, Cloud, Sephiroth, KOS-MOS, Gordon Freeman

Heh. If Frog did beat Solid Snake it'd surely payoff for you. =p
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Darn... your optimism led... to your own... demise..." - Zero

Well, you of all people should know that you have to make a calculated risk if you hope to find the top 10, and I feel that Frog has the best chance of performing at a level that brackets will not reflect. If he flops, I am screwed, however I truly believe a Frog flop still gets him to the sweet 16.
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7/9 Noms got into the contest... Semifinalists(at heart): CATS, Luca Blight, Tommy Vercetti, Frog, Cloud, Sephiroth, KOS-MOS, Gordon Freeman

...what's going on again?
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

Frog has always been considered the top SC2K3 snub, and by far.

Who was considered the biggest snub in 2002 before 2003 rolled around? ...Magus. Which 2003 newcomer did best? Magus.

I'm confident enough in Frog to make the Sweet 16. Beating Snake just doesn't compute. Not that I like that or anything.
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

The problem with Frog and Solid is that two things have to occur:

1. Snake has to decrease in popularity. Possible, but not entirely probable. He did have a new game this year, even if no one except me bought it.

2. Frog has to perform on near Magus levels. I have no problem seeing the hardcore CT fans liking Frog as much as Magus, but I don't think the casual fans will go for a frog with a cape and a sword over Solid Snake.

I've got Frog to the Sweet 16 an no further, though I'll be voting for him against Solid and I'll be delighted if he wins.
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Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

I'll be voting for Frog over Solid Snake as well, and it would be great to see him win.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Yay. Looks like we all want Frog to win this one... sadly, the only way he has a shot is if CJayC decides to run Frog's theme on the front page, compelling the voters to choose him.
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

1. Spring is different to Summer... I'm not in the US so I can't tell if that would have any effect on the voting but maybe...

Certainly in the old days of the internet (early 90's), you'd have seen a big drop-off in activity because nobody was at college. Nowadays it's certainly the reverse as everyone has t'internet at home and the kids aren't at school, so they're enjoying the good weather by spending more time on their computer.

Whether that has any difference in the voting, I don't know, and seriously doubt it.
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Jon Thomson - final score : 138/192
Nominate Ridley for Summer Contest 2005

Frog beating Snake...ha...haha...HAHAHAHAHA!!!
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Married to UltimaterializerX on 5/21/04
This year is Sephiroth's year!

Yes; much as Frog is my favorite character evar, his music is his strongest trait. =P
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Tidus may be realistic, but I know a lot of real people, and a lot of real people suck...just like Tidus. ~Nic64
Go Frog!

Yay. Looks like we all want Frog to win this one...

ppfftttt...... no. no we don't all want Frog to win. i will cheer when he flops against Snake, assuming he makes it to Snake.

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you guys nominated the wrong Shadow..... =(
Through great Luck (and a bit of skill) ULTI pounded me in the Spring Contest!!

Come now you know you want Frog to win, cyko. ;p
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

The problem with Frog and Solid is that two things have to occur:

1. Snake has to decrease in popularity. Possible, but not entirely probable. He did have a new game this year, even if no one except me bought it.

Don't forget the upcoming MGS3 hype to boost it some, too. Snake will NOT go down in popularity this year, and we'll have our proof of it when he faces (and sadly defeats again) Knuckles.

2. Frog has to perform on near Magus levels. I have no problem seeing the hardcore CT fans liking Frog as much as Magus, but I don't think the casual fans will go for a frog with a cape and a sword over Solid Snake.

I can see Frog doin' a lil' worse than Magus, but still comparable. The casual fans surely won't vote for him, as you said, but I mean it in every match he's in. Liquid Snake, Master Chief, and Solid Snake are all much more capable of stealing the casual voters from Frog.

I've got Frog to the Sweet 16 an no further, though I'll be voting for him against Solid and I'll be delighted if he wins.

I've got him in the Sweet Sixteen and will likely vote against him in every match (it's not that I don't like him though), unless his match with Liquid is close. I'm very tempted to go for the upset of having Master Chief beat Frog though.
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

Ahh but what if Frog goes on to beat both Snake and Megaman?

It is unlikely but possible. Frog may well be considered as the best of the CT characters.

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"The sly eagle doesn't always kill at whim" - Zidane Tribal FFIX

Well, Solid's performance against Knuckles also depends on what the echidna does. If Snake does worse, then it's probably safe to assume that Knuckles went up instead of Snake going down.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

But why would a Sonic character increase? They should be decreasing, as they haven't had a well received game since S3&K. I'd be more willing to say Snake fell than Knux increased if Solid struggles.
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Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

Bad publicity is better than no publicity. Either way, maybe there actually were a few people who liked Sonic Heroes.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

I think Megaman will drop a lot in popularity and lose aganist Tidus/Shadow. I think he is vastly overrated.

Looks like we all want Frog to win this one...

No, not all of us ¬_¬
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Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

Ahh but what if Frog goes on to beat both Snake and Megaman?

It is unlikely but possible. Frog may well be considered as the best of the CT characters.

*dies laughing*

As someone who knows more about Square fans than most people, I can assure everyone in this topic that Frog can't hold a candle to Magus or Crono among the CT circle. The only things he have going for him are his musical theme and his way of speaking. But you don't see enough of him in the game to get attached to him with his constant inner battle of whether or not he should join the party. Such inner turmoil helps to popularize a villain (Magus), but not an actual party member. Frog has no chance to beat Solid Snake, and he might even lose to Master Chief.
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

I think Megaman will drop a lot in popularity and lose aganist Tidus/Shadow. I think he is vastly overrated.

Congrats on losing 14 easy points.
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Because how could I not do this forbidden thing, when it feels so good!

Wow -18 karma... that is a new low.. even for me! You must be very proud of yourself Ulti.

Alas I have no choice but to withdraw. The better user won Ulti!

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*Is Red XII

Would you still put Ryu H. over Jill if CJayC used DoA pics instead?
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"You do not applaud when someone runs the "Stupid Answers" category. That says more about you than it does about him." Alex Trebek

Who do you guys think is the most popular character that has never been in a character contest? I've got to go with Vincent on this one. He's pretty much the only missing character that I'm fairly sure could be Top 20 Material.
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I don't necessarily believe anything I read on an internet forum. But I still answer as though I do.--Sashanan

Who do you guys think is the most popular character that has never been in a character contest? I've got to go with Vincent on this one. He's pretty much the only missing character that I'm fairly sure could be Top 20 Material.

Mewtwo

<_<

>_>

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"You do not applaud when someone runs the "Stupid Answers" category. That says more about you than it does about him." Alex Trebek

I was thinking Mewtwo as well.

In fact, I noticed he was missing from the bracket before I even realized that neither Zelda nor Aeris was there.
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"Thank you, Mario. But our princess is in another castle."
-Toad in Super Mario Bros.

I think Megaman will drop a lot in popularity and lose aganist Tidus/Shadow. I think he is vastly overrated.

Mega Man isn't going down, if anything my good friend is going up. MM won't even come in danger of losing until he meets Link.

And I'd probably say Vincent as well.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Vincent, Yuffie, Cid, Red XIII, Barret...

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The shiny farhead is the pruf of justis! Stop the njections, yew quack.

...and Tifa. >,>

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The shiny farhead is the pruf of justis! Stop the njections, yew quack.

I have an undeniable hate for Yuffie.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

I think Megaman will drop a lot in popularity and lose aganist Tidus/Shadow. I think he is vastly overrated.

Heh. I'd like to hear the logic for this one.

I have an undeniable hate for Yuffie.

God bless you. I didn't wanna be the only one.
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

Oh, and about the current question...perhaps Vincent or Geno? That's a tough one to even narrow down.
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

8 vs. 9 match - Aeris vs. Tifa... >,>

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The shiny farhead is the pruf of justis! Stop the njections, yew quack.

I think Vincent could surpass Aeris and I doubt Geno could manage that. And whenever he gets his new game that'll be the ticket.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

I think Megaman will drop a lot in popularity and lose aganist Tidus/Shadow. I think he is vastly overrated.

What size casket do you want for your bracket? :-)
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Petition: From [This message was deleted by a moderator or administrator] to [This message was deleted by a GameFAQs Moderator]
http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=7&topic=15026092 (592 Signs, 13 Anti-Signs)

Aeris/Tifa would be a pretty sweet match to see, actually. I'd vote for Tifa, but I'd have no clue of who to put in my bracket...probably Aeris, but still, it'd be a toss-up, especially if it was an 8vs9-seed match.

And whenever he gets his new game that'll be the ticket.

I missed something here...is Vincent gettin' a new game or something?
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

I like Tifa more than Aeris so... probably Aeris. ><

And yeah Square has announced three different things featuring Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (Movie, 2005 NA release)
Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis (Cellphone title, prequel to FFVII featuring the Turks)
Final Fantasy VII (A brand-new game featuring Vincent, no platform or release date mentioned)
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

First of all, Vincent would beat Aeris, fairly well. He's by far the strongest character to be excluded so far. Mewtwo would be lucky to barely beat Pikachu, and even as a long time fan of Pokemon I can't see why so many people think differently.

Second, since we're only retreading old ground anyway, I wish to go back to the WDF discussion. I wasn't here to put all my thoughts in on this one. It was brought up that 5 characters had to drop and each would need one of 5 explanations. This is false. If you can explain why Seph dropped you explain why MM dropped, you explain why Sonic dropped you explain why Ken dropped.

1. Cloud was on a real tear, it peaked with Sonic. Cloud performed to a much higher level against Sonic than he would have otherwise if he remained consistant. This does several things; shows why Sonic dropped, shows why Aeris didn't improve as much as her fellow KH buddies, and makes Zero closer to MM's strength.

2. Sephiroth faced SFF against Cloud. It's highly plausible, and until Cloud faced Sonic, and greatly over performed, nobody thought Seph would lose to Cloud even if Cloud was bigger and badder than ever before. In fact, it still doesn't make sense, really. This shows why the following characters dropped: Seph, MM, Ryu, and Knux. In addition, it also explains why Seph gained less than Cloud, which most people find unreasonable.]

3. Samus faced SFF against Link. Also highly plausible, especially since it happens more in NvN matches than any other. It would explain why Samus dropped instead of gaining, it explains why Squall gained less than Cloud (whihc doesn't make much sense, if you play KH), gives Luigi the edge over Yoshi (which is why the WDF conspiracy is so highly supported), explains how KOS-MOS got a higher seed than Ryu (she's more popular that we were previously capable of accoutning for, due to SvL ssf) and reminds us that Issac and Ratchet still suck.

Yes, merely theories, and ones I don't necessarily buy into myself, but somewhat reasonable nonetheless.
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

"Final Fantasy VII (A brand-new game featuring Vincent, no platform or release date mentioned)"

We WILL be seeing Vincent, and soon, and he's gonna rock the house.
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

We WILL be seeing Vincent, and soon, and he's gonna rock the house.

Damn straight. =)
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

you know what would suck.... if you never got vincent and beat ff7 and just read this board and was wondering wtf is going on...i don't know... just a thought
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If you're worried people are talking about you... you're probably right.

Well yeah, because then everybody would be pointing and laughing at said person.

In addition they would be asked questions such as "You bought an N-Gage, didn't you?" which would then be morphed into "You played FF7 without Vincent, didn't you" and they'll be forever known as the butt of a knock-off fad...

You played FF7 without Vincent, didn't you?
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

Wait, better yet...

"You forgot to get Vincent, didn't you?"

Yeah, that's better.
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

my thoughts exactly... well.... sort of
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If you're worried people are talking about you... you're probably right.

As someone who knows more about Square fans than most people, I can assure everyone in this topic that Frog can't hold a candle to Magus or Crono among the CT circle.

... It appears that I don't count...

The only things he have going for him are his musical theme and his way of speaking. But you don't see enough of him in the game to get attached to him with his constant inner battle of whether or not he should join the party. Such inner turmoil helps to popularize a villain (Magus), but not an actual party member. Frog has no chance to beat Solid Snake, and he might even lose to Master Chief.

About three weeks ago, you were talking about how much Crono beat Snake by and how Frog had a chance...
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Tidus may be realistic, but I know a lot of real people, and a lot of real people suck...just like Tidus. ~Nic64
Go Frog!

"About three weeks ago, you were talking about how much Crono beat Snake by and how Frog had a chance..."

Do you have a point or are you just trying to make an observation?
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True love is a fairy tale. I'm damaged, so how would I know? - Plummet: Damaged

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

Bad, that would mess up the Contest, the stats, and everything.

Though it would give CATS a better chance....
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Moltar Fact 10: Moltar hangs out in the Summer Contest 2004 Chat frequently.

Strongest character that never made it into a contest? For some reason I can only think of Tifa or Red XIII. But that's easily debatable, now that Frog and Magus are there. However, this year's strongest snub is definitely Aeris. No way another FF7 character short of the other two would be able to challenge a Noble Nine character like she did.

...so, how would Terra do in a summer contest?
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

Sadly, I got Vincent as early as possible but I never used him. I always used Cloud/Aeris/Barret for disc 1 and Cloud/Cid/Barret for discs 2 and 3, except for the brief periods where Tifa or Cid are the leader (Tifa/Cid/Barret for the former, and Cid/Red XIII/Barret for the latter (Hey, I know Red XIII kinda sucks but I liked his character)).

Red XIII is the only other character, than Vincent, who I would see doing exceptionally well. And rightfully so, Red freakin' rocks. =)

As for Terra I really can't see her, or anyone from that game, doing really well.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

so, how would Terra do in a summer contest?

I don't think Terra would be Top 20 material, but I think that she could definitely turn a few heads and possibly make the Sweet Sixteen with luck seeding.

I could see her being on the level of Knuckles and Yoshi.

How about a Shadow Vs. Ryu H. match?
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I don't necessarily believe anything I read on an internet forum. But I still answer as though I do.--Sashanan

...so, how would Terra do in a summer contest?

One win, tops. Most likely a first round loss, although possibly a respectable one.
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Ulti pulled a Damage Split on my bracket. Go Guru Ulti!
Smart Ask! National Champion (2003) www.rpgdl.com

Shadow vs. Ryu Hayabusa? Shadow would win, easily...I don't think the Ninja Factor is THAT powerful.

No, imagine this...what is Shadow won the freakin' division?! O-o That would make Starcraft's upsets look obvious. Shadow would need another big boost to do that, though, which I don't see happening.

If Ryu Hayabusa had a DoA pic against Jill, I think Ryu would be screwed. I think he's obscure enough to the point that pictures can make a difference...

For the heck of it, how well do you think Cait Sith could do? :P

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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."

Ryu was hot in DOA, he would get the girl vote... oh wait, your right that he would be screwed... very few girls come to game faqs....
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Anyone but Cloud for Summer Contest 2004!
Chrono Cross points: 160

For the heck of it, how well do you think Cait Sith could do? :P

Cait Sith would give Gordon Freeman a fighting chance to get out of the first round.
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Supporting both Earthworm Jim AND Mega Man in 2004
Spring Contest Score: 151/192

Amen.

GFNW

But it is Cait Sith...
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DEFENCE, DEFENCE
"Alas, History is nothing but a lie agreed upon" - Napoleon Bonaparte.

I meant FFVI Shadow.
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I don't necessarily believe anything I read on an internet forum. But I still answer as though I do.--Sashanan

If you took a slipper, drenched it in raw dog ****, then slapped it on a picture opposite Gordon Freeman and called it Fluffy the Tuna, Gordon Freeman would still lose.
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Winner of the Spring 2004 'Best. Game. Ever.' Contest
*Married to smitelf on 5/21/04*

If you took a slipper, drenched it in raw dog ****, then slapped it on a picture opposite Gordon Freeman and called it Fluffy the Tuna, Gordon Freeman would still lose.

...I disagree!

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The shiny farhead is the pruf of justis! Stop the njections, yew quack.

Okay, then it'd be tough...if Ryu Hayabusa beats Jill, then probably Ryu. If Ryu loses first round in a non-nailbiter, I might have to side with Shadow (FFVI).

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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 can assure everyone in this topic that Frog can't hold a candle to Magus or Crono among the CT circle.

Frog is still better than both of them.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

I can assure everyone in this topic that Frog can't hold a candle to Magus or Crono among the CT circle.

Frog is still better than both of them.

Seconded.
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Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

Frog is still better than both of them

Magus > Frog >>> Crono
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Currently Playing: Skies of Arcadia and Zone of the Enders:FoM

I'll probably be the only one in here who liked Magus the least of those three.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Frog > Magus > Crono
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I dislike the SF series but Capcom > Square, so Ryu. ~Super Saiyan Gnome

Nah, you're not the only one, HM. For me, it's Frog > Crono > Magus

By the way, I don't think Red XIII would do all that well. Even if he is from FFVII, he's a mid-tier at best, I think. He's just a sidekick, and after Cosmo Canyon, he sorta starts to fade.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

I think he's a lot better than mid-tier.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

I really doubt it. After Tifa, Cid, and Vincent, I'd expect a significant drop-off in popularity for the rest of the crew.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

Magus > crap > Frog > Crono

Seriously, I don't like Frog or Crono at all. Neither of their theme songs are even that great, being ridiculously short and repetitive. True, so is Magus' theme song, which is why I don't like it that much either, but at least it works well in his battle.

And whoever mentioned people who played FFVII not getting Vincent...they're probably right. I'm sure that tons of people that played the game didn't get Vincent, and a substantial portion of those that did probably didn't even use him that much, thanks to his uselessness in battle.

As for Red XIII doing good...why would he? He's too much of a wuss to do very good in the contest.

And why do you hate Yuffie, HM? She's the most amusing character in FFVII, although Palmer would be better if he had more lines.

He's too much of a wuss to do very good in the contest.

Rebuttal: TIDUS.
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

That's also why I have doubts as to whether Vincent could do all that well either. He can easily be passed up, and there are no scenes where you absolutely have to use him even if he's in your party.

Other than Tifa and Cid, none of the others have that significant of a role in the story, which would probably relegate them to mid-tier fan favorites at best (and probably much worse for Cait Sith).
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

Vincent should have been forced in your party when...




*Spoilers*
















You had to fight Hojo at the end of Disc 2. Vincent's past with him was depressing.







*End Spoilers*

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Lonely Angel
Summer 2004 Contest Stats: N/A

He's too much of a wuss to do very good in the contest.

Rebuttal: TIDUS.

Ouch! It burns! Yeah, there's some good counter-evidence. But Tidus has Main Character Factor in his favor. Red XIII's a lot less important to FFVII's plot than Yuna is to FFX's, so I can't see him doing as well as she did.

Yeah, the only time when Vincent must be in your party is during a sidequest, so it's possible to never use him at all even if you do get him. I think his lack of a role could seriously hurt him.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

There's nothing worse than a fan-favorite... except a mere tag-along fan-favorite. This gives Vincent the ouchies.
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

He seems to have a large role in Advent Children, even if he was a secret character in the game. If you paid attention to the storyline with Vincent, he had more importance to most of the characters. But it was only a sidequest.
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Lonely Angel
Summer 2004 Contest Stats: N/A

To the clown who does not like Frog's theme song (otherwise known as the greatest 15-20 seconds in video gaming sound history): Are you deaf broa?
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7/9 Noms got into the contest... Semifinalists(at heart): CATS, Luca Blight, Tommy Vercetti, Frog, Cloud, Sephiroth, KOS-MOS, Gordon Freeman

I really doubt it. After Tifa, Cid, and Vincent, I'd expect a significant drop-off in popularity for the rest of the crew.

I wouldn't say Cid would be stronger than Red XIII at all. In fact, the only one out of those who I would imagine would be stronger is Vincent since he's easily the strongest FFVII character not in the contest. Him being in the new game helps too.

Seriously, I don't like Frog or Crono at all. Neither of their theme songs are even that great, being ridiculously short and repetitive. True, so is Magus' theme song, which is why I don't like it that much either, but at least it works well in his battle.

And whoever mentioned people who played FFVII not getting Vincent...they're probably right. I'm sure that tons of people that played the game didn't get Vincent, and a substantial portion of those that did probably didn't even use him that much, thanks to his uselessness in battle.

He wasn't useless first of all, and it's one of those point and laugh scenarios when people at this point don't have Vincent.

As for Red XIII doing good...why would he? He's too much of a wuss to do very good in the contest.

Red XIII > You. He owned my friend.

And why do you hate Yuffie, HM? She's the most amusing character in FFVII, although Palmer would be better if he had more lines.

If by amusing you mean the most irrating, then yes.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Vincent will likely get some help from Advent Children and definitely from having his own game. As of right now though, I wouldn't expect him to do that great.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

There's no way of telling for sure that Vincent is the strongest character never to appear in the contest. That's just guesswork and a large assumption due to his huge fan favorite status. I'd personally bet on Tifa myself.

Oh, and Cid > Red XIII. That's just how it would work out, even though I dislike it.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

Yuffie isn't irritating. She's awesome.

Cloud. HE is irritating.

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Solstice (NES), Super Mario World (SNES) World Record Holder
"Those who can't, emulate." - MegaPowerNinja

Nah, you've got that backwards. I used to avoid going to Wutai at all because Yuffie stealing my materia ticked me off so much. Plus, she made it even worse when she just randomly re-arranged them when she gave it back.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

Oh, and Cid > Red XIII. That's just how it would work out, even though I dislike it.

I disagree completely. You act as if Red XIII was someone who just didn't have anything to do with the game.

Yuffie isn't irritating. She's awesome.

She was anything but 'awesome', 'cool', etc.

Cloud. HE is irritating.

He's actually my favorite Final Fantasy character.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

You act as if Red XIII was someone who just didn't have anything to do with the game.

And you act as if he really had a large role. Outside of scenes in Cosmo Canyon, Red XIII doesn't play an active role in the game. He's a sidekick.

Cid had a much larger part in the game, and the FFVII fanboys love him. I prefer Red over him, but I just couldn't see Cid losing a direct matchup.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

And you act as if he really had a large role.

I know his role wasn't positively large, however, his role was n't anything small.

Outside of scenes in Cosmo Canyon, Red XIII doesn't play an active role in the game. He's a sidekick.

He isn't the center of attention, no, but he still was there more than plenty of time.

Cid had a much larger part in the game, and the FFVII fanboys love him. I prefer Red over him, but I just couldn't see Cid losing a direct matchup.

I know a lot of people love Cid too, but that's not to say they don't like Red XIII. I don't believe he'd lose to anyone who isn't in short of Vincent.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

You're really overestimating Red XIII if you think he'd stand a chance of beating Tifa.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=845

Would that poll matter?
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Lonely Angel
Summer 2004 Contest Stats: N/A

I find it sad that it's possible that multiple of the strongest snubbed characters are all FF7. Alas.
...I never got Vincent or Yuffie. It's really not obvious without a guide, ya know?
*hates himself*.
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"All in all, sometimes it's a wonder that pesants[sic] actually live long enough to learn how to farm....."-mysterygilgamesh4
{34}

Would the poll Yoshi won and Luigi was second matter as well...?
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SC2K4 Status - Elite 8: LINK, Mario, MEGAMAN, Snake, CLOUD, Sephiroth, Sonic, SAMUS

It wouldn't provide any insight into what a direct matchup would yield if that's what you mean, as the Bowser-Yoshi match proved last summer.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

It's possible I could be, just because of the fact we don't have an idea how he or the others would perform. I would love to see Red in a matchup between any of the aforementioned characters though.

And I wouldn't put any stock into those polls.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Vincent though I wouldn't need to see him do anything to know that he's on a big rise soon. The movie delves deep into his past and he has a game coming out featuring him, that's about all I'd need.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Yuffie and the Wutai Quest are great, I think.

I personally enjoy her duel with Godo...a great battle, and one of my favs in the game.
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Steve Illumina: The Official Satirical Commentator of GameFAQ's Contests
Frog over Snake...Believe it fanboys!

I'm sure that tons of people that played the game didn't get Vincent, and a substantial portion of those that did probably didn't even use him that much, thanks to his uselessness in battle.

Vincent isn't so bad in battle. Then again, I made an effort to use him, just because he’s so damn cool. You can definitely beat the game without him but you can say that of most of the characters.

I don’t see any of the other Final Fantasy VII characters doing as well as Aeris could. The rest of the supporting cast may never make it into the contest because there isn’t a clear favorite between them, meaning the nomination base gets split. Red XIII wouldn't be at the top of my list as the most likely to get in, either. Vincent would take that, being a fan favorite, or maybe Tifa if her melons have enough fans.
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Married to UltimaterializerX on 5/21/04
This year is Sephiroth's year!

Reeve and Palmer are my fav characters in FF7..and I am sure I am the only one on this site who will say it.

And yes I am being serious.

FFVI will always be the best...
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Steve Illumina: The Official Satirical Commentator of GameFAQ's Contests
Frog over Snake...Believe it fanboys!

One more I. ;)
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Nah, he had it right with VI. To add to the inane FFVII conversation, I would think that Tifa > Cid > Vincent > Red XIII. Tifa is very important to the story, plus she has TJF, Cid leads the party for a short while along with being cool, Vincent, while the obvious fan favorite, is obscure enough to lose to the other two, and Red really doesn't do a whole lot outside of Cosmo Canyon. Barret is too much like Mr. T do well, Cait Sith sucks, and Yuffie is as annoying as hell (like most Square comic relief characters). So I'd say the most snubbed character is Tifa.

Of course, I'm very happy keeping the current limit of FFVII characters (2), though I'm kinda wondering why Ceej decided to limit the overall number of Square characters at 11. Seems like an odd number.
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Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

I think the fact that Tifa has not been nominated in three years, despite arguably benefitting the most out of all video gaming from TJF (or a close second to Lara Croft) speaks volumes for the non-existent nature of TJF. Put it to bed ladies and gentlemen. There is probably a greater coorelation between giant swords garnering more peripheral votes than ridiculously proportioned breasts.
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7/9 Noms got into the contest... Semifinalists(at heart): CATS, Luca Blight, Tommy Vercetti, Frog, Cloud, Sephiroth, KOS-MOS, Gordon Freeman

Of course, I'm very happy keeping the current limit of FFVII characters (2), though I'm kinda wondering why Ceej decided to limit the overall number of Square characters at 11.

Because CJay used the Sora is teh Disnee excuse to get his beloved little guy in the contest.
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I dislike the SF series but Capcom > Square, so Ryu. ~Super Saiyan Gnome

That would be because Sora actually is property of Disney. Also, just for the record, Geno belongs to Square and not Nintendo.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

I don’t see any of the other Final Fantasy VII characters doing as well as Aeris could.

For this year, the only one I would give a chance is Vincent. Next year, however, Vincent should have no problem surpassing anything Aeris did. He's going to be more prominent in Advent Children and by that time new Final Fantasy VII game with him should have more than plenty of information on it.

Red XIII wouldn't be at the top of my list as the most likely to get in, either.

If there continues to be a limit I, sadly, don't think Red XIII will be able to get in unless AC just makes everyone nominate the FFVII cast, unlikely I'd say.

Nah, he had it right with VI.

I wouldn't have said something if he had it right. ;) (just messing around)

To add to the inane FFVII conversation, I would think that Tifa > Cid > Vincent > Red XIII.

Again, Vincent should clearly break away from the rest of the group within the coming year and onward. After he gets his game we are looking at a new elite character.

Vincent, while the obvious fan favorite, is obscure enough to lose to the other two,

He shouldn't have a problem winning.

and Red really doesn't do a whole lot outside of Cosmo Canyon.

Red still contributes throughout the entire game and constantly remains the smartest of the group. Sure, his main focus is during Cosmo Canyon and it was a great part of the game.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Red XIII is just a sidekick. He's not hated, but he's not exactly a favorite of many either. He's not as popular as you think he is, HM. It doesn't matter if he's there all the time since he doesn't do all that much.

I really hope Vincent doesn't become an elite character, personally. Not that I have anything against the guy, but Cloud and Sephiroth are enough. Right now, I don't think he's anywhere close, but within the next year or two, that might change.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

Vincent elite is only if Advent Children gives him a large role, (which is already happening) and if his game makes a huge impact.
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Lonely Angel
Summer 2004 Contest Stats: N/A

A new Final Fantasy VII game. That's about all I need to be convinced he'll be into the 'elite' set of characters, that game will sell like mad.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Yes, well it might be the fact that he's one of my favorite characters and everyone else is just pushing him aside or something...

Maybe he'll get in someday or something... >>
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Red still contributes throughout the entire game and constantly remains the smartest of the group. Sure, his main focus is during Cosmo Canyon and it was a great part of the game.

Being the smartest member of the cast of Final Fantasy VII (or most any Square RPG) doesn't require a whole lot. I think you are vastly overestimating Red XIII. I'd say he's borderline fodder, and think he would make it to the 2nd round at best, barring any Alucard style lucky seeding.
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Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

Being the smartest member of the cast of Final Fantasy VII (or most any Square RPG) doesn't require a whole lot.

Agreed. He still owns. <<

I think you are vastly overestimating Red XIII. I'd say he's borderline fodder,

I'll disagree even moreso than before on the idea of him being fodder. He is in no way that low on the chain, I wouldn't have a problem putting him over more than half of the bracket.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Red XIII is mid-tier. No more, no less.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Championship
First round: (13)Bomberman

And putting him over more than half the bracket still gets him to the second round, at best. I did say borderline fodder.
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Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

Fodder is in the lower half of the bracket with stuff like Vyse. I'd actually put him in area of mid-20's myself.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

And I'd stick him in the low-mid 30's, along with Luigi, Wario, and Yuna, other sidekicks that don't get any respect.
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Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

I'd rank Red in the mid to low twenties myself. The high teens if he out does himself.
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Theifenburg Uncertainty Principle - Without any witnesses, who's to say what happened?
Proud warrior of THE LUCA BLIGHT ARMY

Well, if he has any sort of bigger role of Advent Children that could help him. And the problem with all of those you listed is I think he'd take care of them without trouble, that's why I'm reluctant to put him that low.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Well, I guess we'll never know, since I doubt that he will ever make it into this contest. We're stuck with Tanner and JC Denton instead.
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Supporter of Frog in SC2k4!

just caught up again, mostly ffvii discussion it seems, which is fine. And, I'm not going to look back for it, but thinking that Aeris stands a chance against Magus doesn't make me "out of it" or whatever you said ulti, she would put up a good battle, and a win isn't at all farfetched.

And I don't know how much of an impact Advent Children will have on the contest, it would really have to be groundbreaking and attract new fans to FFVII, which would be hard to do, because how many people are going to buy/see advent children if they haven't played FF7, and if they haven't played FF7 what would inspire them to do it now?
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If you work hard you can achieve great things in life...........and then you die. - from dilbert

This comes a little late, but...

Cloud. HE is irritating.

He's actually my favorite Final Fantasy character.

You haven't played other FFs much, then. :P

Seriously though, I liked most of the characters from FF7, particularly Vincent and Red XIII, but I just can't stand Cloud. I wish Sephiroth would have killed him...

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Solstice (NES), Super Mario World (SNES) World Record Holder
"Those who can't, emulate." - MegaPowerNinja

I could see it affecting characters who aren't already big powerhouses in the contest (Cloud, Sephiroth) such as Vincent, the movie will dwelve into his past. Possibly those characters who weren't such main focuses in the first game. Then you have how easily accessible that movie will be, since a few days after it's released in Japan someone will have subbed it and put it up for download.

I don't know how it would draw in new fans unless Square really puts some advertising behind it to gather interest. It'll be a launch movie for the PSP and release on DVD at the same time. (Spring 2005) I really don't think Cloud or Sephiroth will benefit much from it though.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

You haven't played other FFs much, then. :P

Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX, and a little of Final Fantasy X. =)

Seriously though, I liked most of the characters from FF7, particularly Vincent and Red XIII, but I just can't stand Cloud. I wish Sephiroth would have killed him...

Looking back on it the main two characters who I always like were Cloud and Red XIII. Though if I really, really got into it I could probably come out with Zack over Cloud. *shrug*

I liked him though, at first I wasn't thrilled about his attitude but as the game progressed I liked him more.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX, and a little of Final Fantasy X. =)

Right. We all know your standards for "having played" an RPG. Did you make it past Narshe, Coneria, and Balamb? :P

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Solstice (NES), Super Mario World (SNES) World Record Holder
"Those who can't, emulate." - MegaPowerNinja

I didn't "hate" any of those, so yes. My first one was Final Fantasy on the NES too.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

And that only applies to games in which I just honestly can't stand to go on any further. I rarely run into such a situation.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Same here. That was a LONG time ago, playing FF1 for the first time. :)

By the way, you once told me that you "weren't crazy" about RPGs as a whole, yet hear you are talking about Final Fantasy, having played the best games in the series, you're giving EarthBound another shot and liking it better, you had a Vyse quote in your sig, and pretended to support Chrono Trigger last Spring. Not crazy about RPGs? My ass.

You and I are examples of gaming vets with different tastes. It seems like we're always debating. O_o


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Solstice (NES), Super Mario World (SNES) World Record Holder
"Those who can't, emulate." - MegaPowerNinja

Meh. Typos...

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Solstice (NES), Super Mario World (SNES) World Record Holder
"Those who can't, emulate." - MegaPowerNinja

can anyone link me to ulti's spring contest analysis? i know its been archived and all.. we're discussing a point in chat, and i wanted to use it. better yet, the entire topic (first topic of it, at least) would be even better.
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http://diabloii.net/columnists/a-b-a-l-a-n-c-e.shtml -- my article
5/24/04 6:56-6:57 PM #5 I helped LUE count to 10!!!

http://sc2k4.com/archive/04SpringUltiPostAnalysis1.htm
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

To the clown who does not like Frog's theme song (otherwise known as the greatest 15-20 seconds in video gaming sound history): Are you deaf broa?

Heh, it's not a bad song, I just think that it's way too over-rated. Not to my taste, is all.

He wasn't useless first of all, and it's one of those point and laugh scenarios when people at this point don't have Vincent.

Why's that? Without using outside sources, it would be very easy to miss Vincent. Sure, it may seem funny when we're constantly exposed to it, but different people live in different circumstances, and I prefer to acknowledge people like that instead of simply dismissing them as fools.

And yes, he was useless. Worst Limits in the game = worst character in the game. The Limits are the only thing that really distinguish characters, in the end. I suppose that people might use him in battle though, I believe that I did in my first playthrough, oh so long ago.

And HM, could I get a link to some of your sources on Vincent playing a major role in Advent Children? I haven't really seen much to indicate this so far, outside of this topic.

Why's that? Without using outside sources, it would be very easy to miss Vincent. Sure, it may seem funny when we're constantly exposed to it, but different people live in different circumstances, and I prefer to acknowledge people like that instead of simply dismissing them as fools.

Why? They don't vote for Final Fantasy VII to be proclaimed the "Best. Game. Ever." and not know of Vincent and or not get him in the game. It's been eight years since Final Fantasy VII was released and if people still do not know of Vincent by this point in time or have not gotten him then they have either never played the game before, and obviously don't play many RPGs. None of that criteria would match GameFAQs. Vincent by no means is unknown to people here, I can say that with the utmost of confidence.

And yes, he was useless. Worst Limits in the game = worst character in the game.

As far as limits go, yes, but it's not like you're using a limit break every other fight.

The Limits are the only thing that really distinguish characters, in the end. I suppose that people might use him in battle though, I believe that I did in my first playthrough, oh so long ago.

I sometimes switch him up with Tifa just for the sake of playing as him. By now I don't need to have the greatest party in the world to beat that game so having my favorite(s) is what I tend to do over battle prowess. And regardless his stats can be brought up to the level of the other characters, so I wouldn't call him useless in battle.

And HM, could I get a link to some of your sources on Vincent playing a major role in Advent Children?

- There's mention of an chance meeting with Sephiroth.

- (Images of Cloud vs. Kadaj, and Cloud vs. Yazoo) If you look closely, you can see Cloud's weapons have changes. We can confirm that there are materia slots, but they are not equipped. (*Note: In other magazines they mentioned that there are no materia slots, but here is says there are. There are materia slots in the Buster Sword, and in the sword he uses against Yazoo it looks there are things that look like slots, but it's not known if they are materia slots or not.)

- It will delve into Vincent's past. Is there a connection with the [current] events?

I haven't really seen much to indicate this so far, outside of this topic.

It was in a very recent interview with Tetsuya Nomura on Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. The movie will go deeper into Vincent's past, something we didn't see a whole mess of in FFVII. That coupled with his new game should be enough to convince anyone he'll be a strong case when he enters into the contest. (I suspect next summer)
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Oh and if you need a link: http://adventchildren.net
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

Yeah, I found that before you posted. It doesn't necessarily mean he has a major role, though. After all, Yuffie's going to be included in the movie, and why bother unless giving her at least a bit of attention?

I agree that the game will help Vincent lots, but I can't be too sure about the movie.

[This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

I think if anyone got helped from that movie it'd be Vincent. Right now, we know that the movie will go deeper into his past and background and possibly that could play a role in the current events. Looking at the trailers he comes off as someone who knows an awful lot about what's going on and seems to appear more often than not. I do suppose it's to early to say for sure, but I figure he'd be one to get affected the most unless someone else plays an even bigger role who didn't have one in FFVII.

*yawn* Well, with that I'll be off and check on the new topic tomorrow. Later.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

I would have been a little angered if I wasn't able to get that last post in.
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SC2k4 Winner: Mega Man
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." - Tifa

HIJACK'D!
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"Half of what he said meant something else and the other half didn't mean anything at all."
Guess the quote, and you win nothing.