Get ready to rumble in GameFAQ's fourth annual summer contest! Can you guess who will come out on top?

Sounds like a ploy to get more brackets. I doubt that a big news site like GameSpot is going to keep that link up and waste valuable space.
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"The strong men take everything and the weak men die." ~ Luca Blight, Suikoden II

People are really putting that much behind GameSpot? Honestly, their link, which can be found far down the page and mixed in with nearly every other ad known to man, only links to the bracket.

There's really no guarantee that the link will still be there, much less change outcomes like people are talking. At best, GameSpot could generate a few thousand extra votes that won't really be that much different from how GameFAQs votes. After all, it isn't as though the contest was completely unknown to them before.

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Mario's Path to Victory: Round 1 - (8) Joanna Dark

I know I'm really late with this, but I just got home.

**** YOU GAMESPOT, **** YOU, EAT ****, SUCK ****S, AND GET RAPED BY ****ING MULTIPLE AIDS CARRYING GORILLA'S, BECAUSE YOU ****ING SUCK HUGE DONKEY ****.

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It's a Pinball Masquerade
Cheer up Emo kids. ~This sig was pimped by Icon's sig~

Oh, and I realize that this won't have a major effect but any chance of an upset that Kefka had of a few hundred to maybe even a thousand votes is pretty much gone, making that much more predictable... that is if it stays up.

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It's a Pinball Masquerade
Cheer up Emo kids. ~This sig was pimped by Icon's sig~

I have to change Dante over Terra now...
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Shut up, make me a sandwich. That is all.

About GameSpot linking: In the eternal words of Will Ferrel on The Daily Show, ahem, "oh, ****balls". It'll definitely have an effect, but how much? I don't know...wouldn't count on anything huge though.

About Mario/Samus: there was a poll less than a year ago on GameSpot asking something about which Nintendo character deserved a movie most (I think that was the question)...Link reigned as #1, and I believe both Mario and Samus had an exact tie for second. Take it for what it's worth, and keep in mind that's just from distant memory.


If there's one match that the linkage could screw us over with, methinks it's be Sonic/Mega Man. I wonder how MC/DK and Revolver/Pac turn out percentage-wise if the link stays, too.....
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Serious Reminder: Vote for Knuckles
Serious Reminder: Vote for Tifa Lockheart, too

Also, for what it's worth, Ryu Hayabusa got a ninja-pic of him in the banner.
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Serious Reminder: Vote for Knuckles
Serious Reminder: Vote for Tifa Lockheart, too

I wonder: Does GS favor Starcraft?
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Shut up, make me a sandwich. That is all.

Probably not more so than anywhere else
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"Why would the boost from AC be bigger than those?" - Mac Arrowny
"Because (Heroic Mario) just replayed Final Fantasy VII." - Lucid Faia

If I were to guess, methinks they'd favor FF7 more than Starcraft.
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Serious Reminder: Vote for Knuckles
Serious Reminder: Vote for Tifa Lockheart, too

I also wonder if they'd favor Mario over Samus.
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Shut up, make me a sandwich. That is all.

Board 8 not loving CT in 2002 has nothing to do with my statement. GameFAQs has always loved Crono, since then Board 8 has joined them.

It has nothing to do with loving a character, Board 8 is still largely anti-Crono. But there was no way of knowing that Crono would be popular...there wasn't anything that said he would do better against Mario than Cloud did...or even anything that said he was more popular than Pikachu.

And you didn't mention Mega Man at all, who's been loved by B8 since the beginning. But nobody expected him to almost beat Sephiroth.

Oh, and I realize that this won't have a major effect but any chance of an upset that Kefka had of a few hundred to maybe even a thousand votes is pretty much gone, making that much more predictable... that is if it stays up.

WTF? That link makes an upset by Kefka far more likely. Did you not notice the post a couple pages ago about how Kefka got into the GS villains contest by write-ins alone? FFVI is very popular at Gamespot, and if this link is up during the contest, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Terra knock out Dante.

But there was no way of knowing that Crono would be popular...there wasn't anything that said he would do better against Mario than Cloud did...or even anything that said he was more popular than Pikachu.

That's not true. He's the main character of a popular Squaresoft RPG. That alone gives potental to be a very strong competitor and the reasoning I used for taking Crono all to way to Mario in 2k2.
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"Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts..."
"All dreams are but another reality. Never forget..."

FFVI is very popular at Gamespot

Oh really? Can I see how?
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Shut up, make me a sandwich. That is all.

FFVI is very popular at Gamespot

Oh really? Can I see how?

Write-ins got Kefka into their Villains Contest, as mentioned twice before.

That's not true. He's the main character of a popular Squaresoft RPG. That alone gives potental to be a very strong competitor and the reasoning I used for taking Crono all to way to Mario in 2k2.

So what? Pikachu's the star of Pokemon, and he was relatively strongly supported to win the contest. I'm not seeing Crono's advantage, especially since practically nobody expected the absolute dominance of Square RPGs.

And you still haven't addressed Mega Man, by the way. I don't think anyone expected him to be stronger than Mario.

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

XD @ swirldude. Wrong copy and paste?

~*The Metal Gear Master*~
---<3---
Women come and go, but Metal Gear is forever.
The Author of Metal Gear Solid: Dawn of the Concealed

And you still haven't addressed Mega Man, by the way. I don't think anyone expected him to be stronger than Mario.

Do remember you are dealing with a character who lost to Sephiroth, the villain of math everywhere.
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This sig avaliable for rent.

Is Gamespot more towards Nintendo or Square?

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"Life...Dreams...Hope...Where'd they come from? And where are they headed...? These things...I'm going to destroy!!" -Kefka

Gamespot seems not to love either.
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This sig avaliable for rent.

I'd say Square, they seem so anti-nintendo.
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Shut up, make me a sandwich. That is all.

Would anybody think Dante beating Vincent, or perhaps even taking the Devil Division, is much more likely if GameSpot were to continue their linkage during the contest (at, say, the same spot with the same ad)?
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Serious Reminder: Vote for Knuckles
Serious Reminder: Vote for Tifa Lockheart, too

I have Dante over Vincent as is, but I don't think he'd take Magus (or Squall for that matter), link or not.

until we see evidence of gamespot's population (ie a random 5% jump in the x-stats or something), I'm going to assume that there's no difference at all. trying to guess what people on gamespot like is an inexact science at best.

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Unless you're familiar with GameSpot's taste and population, like, well...probably few/none of us.
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Serious Reminder: Vote for Knuckles
Serious Reminder: Vote for Tifa Lockheart, too

I have one more question before I go to bed, and I think I already know the answer...but, I'll throw it out there: assuming pics can affect a match like Mario/Joanna, would Joanna have a better shot at performing well by using a N64 pic or a 360 pic?
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Serious Reminder: Vote for Knuckles
Serious Reminder: Vote for Tifa Lockheart, too

I would say the hotter the picture is, the better she'll do. same with KOS-MOS - she'll probably do better if she gets an episode I picture as opposed to episode II.
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"Um, before SC2k2, nobody here had a clue that Chrono Trigger was so popular on GameFAQs"

This is entirely false. I knew CT was highly popular on Gamfaqs. I took Mario to beat Cloud without much effort and agonized over Crono beating Mario for several whole minutes before deciding he at least had a better shot than Cloud (no thoughts of anti-voting even crossed my mind). Now, while Cloud proved to be much stronger (a year late) I still knew then that CT was the golden child of GameFAQs... as per me eventually taking Crono for the gold.
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"Have you missed me? Was I there? I was dreaming... someone cared" - Iio "Give it Up"

Did GameSpot have any links to the Villains Contest? If so...
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Think fast. Click faster.

So what? Pikachu's the star of Pokemon, and he was relatively strongly supported to win the contest. I'm not seeing Crono's advantage, especially since practically nobody expected the absolute dominance of Square RPGs.

Popularity off of GameFAQs is not the same as popularity on GameFAQs. Pikachu is dispised by the vast majority of Pokemon fans. While there are tons of Pokemon fans, none of them will vote for it and thus Pikachu does poorly.

I never understood why people didn't expect Square to dominate along with Nintendo. The only guess I could make is that people thought that GameFAQs popularity is similar to Worldwide popularity. This site is heavily biased towards RPGs and Squaresoft is king of RPGs in North America. It's not a new concept to GameFAQs:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=36
http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=532
If you didn't see the Square dominance coming you were either out of touch with the minds of the average GameFAQs or second guessed yourself into thinking it wasn't true.
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"Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts..."
"All dreams are but another reality. Never forget..."

Damn, Gamespot steps in? Well, everything was said on the subject... let's just hope it's just a ploy for more brackets and not something permanent. Looks like it, if you ask me... I doubt they're keeping this on the "Spotlight" section for two months. I'd love to know the common userbase between the two sites though.

Though, ouch for Kefka. And I don't think GSers are the Mario-voting type... Samus suddenly looks even better in their match.
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SC2K5 bracket: Samus over Snake, Crono over Megaman, Samus over Crono; Link over Sephiroth

I don't think GS will do much. As said, many of their readers probably already come here and for those who don't few will be lured here simply because if they cared about a character battle they'd probably already be here... oh, and it's not a huge link or anything.
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"Have you missed me? Was I there? I was dreaming... someone cared" - Iio "Give it Up"

They are only linking to the bracket!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is not like the poll is now on Gamespot too. The rules have not changed, and if they put the poll there without changing the rules CJay could be sued.

I highly doubt they will keep it up once the contest starts.
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"Heh Heh... The wind... It is blowing..."--Ganondorf Dragmire

It looks a lot like a typical ad to me. I probably wouldn't notice it if I weren't a GameFAXer.
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SC2K5: Mario, Frog, Snake, Tidus, Crono, Knuckles, Sonic, Ocelot
I wouldn't be surprised if Mario doubled Zero. ~maplejet

Here's to hopin' lots of people notice it; I could stand for some excitement.
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Serious Reminder: Vote for Knuckles
Serious Reminder: Vote for Tifa Lockheart, too

Bold Prediction:

There will be no matches that are undecided by half-way through the match this year.

You heard it here first, folks!
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SC2K5: Mario, Frog, Snake, Tidus, Crono, Knuckles, Sonic, Ocelot
I wouldn't be surprised if Mario doubled Zero. ~maplejet

That prediction's a lil' too bold, heh.
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Serious Reminder: Vote for Knuckles
Serious Reminder: Vote for Tifa Lockheart, too

Shadowdude's breakdown:

Vivi/Zelda
Zelda has this match 53% at 3:00p.m. EST, and Vivi will close the gap a little, but it won't be enough.

DK/Sam Fisher
It'll be a 55/45 affair.

Kefka/Vercetti
Don't kid with me. Vercetti will have a solid though narrow lead on Lettuce all day.

Kerrigan/Vincent
Unless SC fans can close a 35K+ vote gap for Kerrigan and not Starcraft, this'll be a done deal as well.

Kratos Aurion/Diablo
Diablo 52+.

Leon Kennedy/Gordon Freeman
Sorry, couldn't resist.
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SC2K5: Mario, Frog, Snake, Tidus, Crono, Knuckles, Sonic, Ocelot
I wouldn't be surprised if Mario doubled Zero. ~maplejet

Sora/Alucard? Tidus/Bowser? Bowser/Ryu? Ganon/Auron?
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Serious Reminder: Vote for Knuckles
Serious Reminder: Vote for Tifa Lockheart, too

Shadowdude's breakdown, cont'd

Samus/Frog
Easy 65%+ victory here for Samus. He's pretty much unstoppable.

Ganondorf/Auron
Ganondorf will look respectable all day, but he'll never actually usurp the lead.

Alucard/Sora
A dud. Sora will break 55%.

Kirby/Tidus
Just kidding.

Bowser/Ryu
Ryu will have a narrow lead in the wee hours. Then Bowser walks away with it in the morning and never looks back.

Dante/Vincent
I could.. feasibly imagine Dante making it close in the night... but the FFVII day vote will end it pretty quickly.

Magus/Squall
Squall with a display of rSFF, will take it easily. By which I mean 51% or more.

Tifa/Luigi
Luigi in a surprise upset, with around 40% bracket support and 54% of the vote.

Yoshi/Ocelot
56% is about the bottom I see Yoshi getting here.

Solid Snake/Sora
This will be much uglier of a beating than you'd think... probably bigger than Ganondorf/Alucard, if I dare be so bold.

Tidus/Bowser
No troubles for the Koopa King.

Vincent/Squall
Regardless of who wins, it'll be by a significant margin.

Mario/Samus
Samus will put him away early and hard.

Solid Snake/Bowser
A close, but nonetheless wire-to-wire win for Bowser.

Sonic/Mega Man
Sonic, in a surprise upset, takes a 52% victory.

The rest are blatantly big victories.
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SC2K5: Mario, Frog, Snake, Tidus, Crono, Knuckles, Sonic, Ocelot
I wouldn't be surprised if Mario doubled Zero. ~maplejet

The matches above don't necessarily reflect who I think will win the matches. In fact, I see very few in which I actually said who I thought would win the match.

Nonetheless, I think this'll be a contest of close battles, but no massive comebacks.
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SC2K5: Mario, Frog, Snake, Tidus, Crono, Knuckles, Sonic, Ocelot
I wouldn't be surprised if Mario doubled Zero. ~maplejet

Samus/Frog
Easy 65%+ victory here for Samus. He's pretty much unstoppable.

We'll just call it an accident.


To actually argue your point here, I don't entirely disagree with you; we likely won't have too many undecided half-way through the match...but I think the chances of Tidus/Bowser and Ganon/Auron to be such is pretty good, as the same can be said for Alucard/Sora. I wouldn't rule out any half-way lead-takeovers this contest.
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Serious Reminder: Vote for Knuckles
Serious Reminder: Vote for Tifa Lockheart, too

Just because I've gotta leave for work and won't be here for the end of this topic...


Knuckles + 499 characters > work > Magus.
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Serious Reminder: Vote for Knuckles
Serious Reminder: Vote for Tifa Lockheart, too

DK/Sam Fisher
It'll be a 55/45 affair.

Are you ****ing kidding me? This is the easiest victory DK will ever have, and by far. I can see him breaking 70%.
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SC2K5 bracket: Samus over Snake, Crono over Megaman, Samus over Crono; Link over Sephiroth

We'll just call it an accident.

Or we can *shrug* accept the facts. =P

Are you ****ing kidding me? This is the easiest victory DK will ever have, and by far. I can see him breaking 70%.

That would make me a happy guy, but I don't see that happening. I couldn't imagine DK breaking 70 on Gordon Freeman.
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SC2K5: Mario, Frog, Snake, Tidus, Crono, Knuckles, Sonic, Ocelot
I wouldn't be surprised if Mario doubled Zero. ~maplejet

Okay, forget the 70%. But this can and probably will be a doubling.
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SC2K5 bracket: Samus over Snake, Crono over Megaman, Samus over Crono; Link over Sephiroth

The top I see is 64, but if you say so, a doubling's fine for me. =P
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SC2K5: Mario, Frog, Snake, Tidus, Crono, Knuckles, Sonic, Ocelot
I wouldn't be surprised if Mario doubled Zero. ~maplejet

To reiterate: Gamespot isn't going to make a huge impact.
~~~
Trivia XV: Dragostea Din Tei
http://www.audioscrobbler.com/user/cokes311/

It could turn the tide of close Nintendo matches. Ganondorf/Auron and Ryu/Bowser jump to mind.
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SC2K5: Mario, Frog, Snake, Tidus, Crono, Knuckles, Sonic, Ocelot
I wouldn't be surprised if Mario doubled Zero. ~maplejet

Also, Crono is the best character and will win.
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SC2K5: Mario, Frog, Snake, Tidus, Crono, Knuckles, Sonic, Ocelot
I wouldn't be surprised if Mario doubled Zero. ~maplejet

http://img152.exs.cx/img152/1528/ocelothandgesture1ya.gif
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That... was her final mission. And like a true soldier, she saw it through the end.
ZSB [aX]