You are damn straight this is great!

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RIP: Tnote827 - 4/4/2005
Sp2k5 - 77/80 (stupid Master Hand)

Right. And not only do they not know that EarthBound exists, they don't know that GameFAQs exists, which is why Ness wins.

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2nd Place, Spring Contest 2005
My Video Game World Records: http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&p=35289

Ya know, I really feel that, for my bracket at least, this is a blessing in disguise. The only thing it could be bad for is if Samus still beats Mario, which would screw my chances completely.
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"Heil Dweebenheimer!"
MasterMage119

It means that despite a higher vote turnout, cult characters aren't getting the shaft.

You know, I'm glad I lost this match. I picked CJ, didn't like it, but thought that he would win. I am pleasantly surprised and delighted with Ness's performance here. And besides, I can make up one measly point when Samus beats Sephiroth gives me an extra eight points over most other bracketmakers.

By the way, Ness is now a TWO-TIME, TWO-TIME, contest match winner, one of them against a GTA character. He is officially no longer "fodder."

---
2nd Place, Spring Contest 2005
My Video Game World Records: http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&p=35289

It means that despite a higher vote turnout, cult characters aren't getting the shaft.

You know, I'm glad I lost this match. I picked CJ, didn't like it, but thought that he would win. I am pleasantly surprised and delighted with Ness's performance here. And besides, I can make up one measly point when Samus beats Sephiroth gives me an extra eight points over most other bracketmakers.

I am also pleasantly surprised. And I pretty much share your feelings. I mean, my bracket is so ridiculous ANYWAY, that missing one match really won't matter in the first round. However, I thought I'd miss something like Diablo vs Kratos or Kerrigan vs Vincent....
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"Heil Dweebenheimer!"
MasterMage119

ness > cj ??

my bracket just blew up :(

Like...I'm just in awe of the fact that CJ's getting whipped right now. Mind-blowing.
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ALL YOUR VOTES ARE BELONG TO...Pac-Man?

OMFG!!! I just realized what this means.... MY THREE CONTEST PERFECT FIRST ROUND STREAK IS OVER!!!!

NOOOOooooooooOOOOOOO!
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"Heil Dweebenheimer!"
MasterMage119

Leonhart..... I hate you for this. I can't believe I let you convince me that CJ would win.

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KingBartz: Been a full Virgin since '87

Hm. You know what would be fitting? If CJ pulled a Master Chief.

And lost by 1 vote.

^_^

A black character holding the all time lowest vote difference record, forever. That would be awesome! :D
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"Heil Dweebenheimer!"
MasterMage119

So... uuuh... does my 'racism' factor carry any worth now, or is everyone too naive to still think Vercetti could possibly be this much stronger than CJ without it?

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RIP: Tnote827 - 4/4/2005
Sp2k5 - 77/80 (stupid Master Hand)

Ness' % went UP while I was asleep O_o I expected CJ to start making a comeback around now... he probably won't.
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The King of all Cosmos' route to summer victory:
Round 1: (4) Tidus... LET ME DREAM :

Hmmm... this is unexpected.
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Board 8: Where people treat each other right.

Oh, and for the people claiming Ness is cult, he isn't. A cult character doesn't get the majority of his/her/its strength from one of the most mainstream games on this site. The same would hold true if the Ice Climbers, Captain Falcon, Marth, and Roy made the contest. Earthbound is cult, but Ness certainly is not.
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Board 8: Where people treat each other right.

Lucid, I just had a cup of coffee in Saturn Valley, but only saw half of that conversation.

~*ST*~
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Winner of the Spring 2004 "Best. Game. Ever." Contest
"If my fate is to be destroyed... I must simply laugh!" -Magus

Mario vs Crono IV: An Old Hope

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=8&topic=22319065
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"Heil Dweebenheimer!"
MasterMage119

<__< thanks to this, I'm going to buy Earthbound before the summer ends. That's for sure.
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That's right. Cloud N. Candy would get a NEGATIVE percentage, and RPGuy's extrapolated calculator would crash. - therealmnm

Damnit, second match, and I've already lost my first point. v_v
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"Thank you, Mario. But our princess is in another castle."
-Toad in Super Mario Bros.

Ness 53.99% 15899
Carl Johnson 46.01% 13547
TOTAL VOTES 29446

Great...just great. I don't even know if I over-estimated the power of GTA (like many did with Vercetti back in 03) or underestimated Ness (like many did in 2004 with him against Jak). I even had Ness over Jak too, but...I didn't imagine CJ being so weak, or Ness boosting for no reason at all.

Oh well, 1 point down, but I can make it up later.
---
Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Ness vs. CJ - Bracket: CJ - Vote: Ness (1/1)

Leonhart..... I hate you for this. I can't believe I let you convince me that CJ would win.

Uhh...Oops? Sorry.

Whoo-hoo! Three of my entries are on the top fifty, including my favorites bracket at #4!

Boo! Two of the three will fall off after today! Here's hoping the three guys ahead of me picked CJ to win so Squall Leonhart can be at the top of the leaderboard. I'm there until Ganondorf/Yuna, so I need to get up there fast.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

Ouch, I guess I put too much stock on CJ being close to Vercetti
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17 handhelds Nintendo has taken down 1 more to go (see quote for rest)

Nintendo's version of Square's 2003, anyone? =P
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Board 8: Where people treat each other right.

I just realized something...Unless Auron beats Ganondorf, we will won't have any definitive idea of where Ness truly stands, as he'll get quadrupled by Mario in the next round and Ganon will get SFF'd by Samus. Both Ness and Auron will continue to be wild cards.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

Jack Thompson is cheating for Ness

---
Vote for Cecil in his round 1 match

GOOOOOOOOOOO NESS!

After CJ started cutting into Ness' 500 vote lead right before I went back to bed, I expected to wake up to see the two practically tied. This, however, is awesome.
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"Luca Blight's insane. He's a wolf raised on the smell of fire and the taste of blood."" ~ Viktor, Suikoden II

I say we all join forces and cheer our asses off for Leonhart.
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Board 8: Where people treat each other right.

so everyone's awake now.
quite an unexpected twist of events today
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Kilroy:There fate will be in each other's hands as they decide whether to share or to shaft

At the 8:00 mark, this match has 30,026 votes. At the same time, Mario/Joanna Dark had 29,338.

So we're on pace for roundabout 100k still.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

Ness 54% 16368
Carl Johnson 46% 13945
TOTAL VOTES 30313
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

and carl drop under 46%
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Kilroy:There fate will be in each other's hands as they decide whether to share or to shaft

Unless Ness has increased in strength, Vercetti would be expected to get nearly 60% on CJ right now.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

did anyone notice that ness is pulling away like crazy.
bit like master hand vs kuja
and unexpected is the word of the day
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Kilroy:There fate will be in each other's hands as they decide whether to share or to shaft

Is SSB actually making that much of a difference..?
From: lettuce Kefka | Posted: 7/20/2005 4:01:09 PM | Message Detail
Basically, I've seen in a few posts people saying Ness is only winning due to SSB. But, I do wonder how much of an effect this makes.

Firstly, lets look at Master Hand, a character who's popularity can only come from SSB, in the spring his is predicted to get 15% on Sephy, but, I'd say it's hard to tell how much that would be verses Link or Cloud, as Sephy seems to have fluctuated a little over the last few years. This shows that MHs popularity isn’t huge (or SSB effect on a character), although, I’m not claiming this is hugely accurate, and, of course, there are likely some flaws in the logic, but, I could make a fair difference.

Secondly, let's look at the Best Game Ever contest, in the contest Earthbound got 18.47% in the xstats, Ness in SC2K4 got 19.14%. Now, if SSB was making a huge difference is results, I would expect Earthbound to be significantly weaker than Ness. Of course, there are some flaws with this, like them both being compared against two slightly different things. But, I’d say this last bit is a little more accurate than the first.

Comments?
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Ahem! There's LETTUCE on my boots!
http://www.geocities.com/lettucekefka/

The Smash series is making all the difference. Ness has been in both Smash games, which accounts to six years of the highest Nintendo exposure.
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Board 8: Where people treat each other right.

Secondly, let's look at the Best Game Ever contest, in the contest Earthbound got 18.47% in the xstats, Ness in SC2K4 got 19.14%.

Ness is underrated in SC2k4, Auron got SFF'd, I think he's stronger than DK
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Bracket: Mario - Vote: Mario Points: 0/0 Rank: ?/?

"Ness is underrated in SC2k4, Auron got SFF'd, I think he's stronger than DK"

That could explain that, I guess.
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Ahem! There's LETTUCE on my boots!
http://www.geocities.com/lettucekefka/

Ness is really starting to take off now.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

I feel a little better about having Auron over Ganon.....
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Feel the pain… of those inferior beings… as you burn in hell! ~ Kratos Aurion
Summer 2005 Score: 1/1: Ness vs Carl

.....Compared to Mario/Joanna, is this match doing well votewise?
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Volgin is one sexy beast....

At the moment, it's a little ahead of Mario/Joanna.

Anybody remember how many brackets we had last summer?
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

Leonhart..... I hate you for this. I can't believe I let you convince me that CJ would win.

You would do well to not listen to Leonhart when it comes to making contest picks.

Lucid, I just had a cup of coffee in Saturn Valley, but only saw half of that conversation.

The other half appears in another coffee break.

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2nd Place, Spring Contest 2005
My Video Game World Records: http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&p=35289

TRE would know.

And yeah, this really makes it look like Auron is underestimated by 2004 stats. I don't think it'll be enough for him to beat Ganondorf, but given that Auron kicks ass, I could more than take Ganon losing to him. My favorite character in FFX by leaps and bounds.

~*ST*~
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Winner of the Spring 2004 "Best. Game. Ever." Contest
"If my fate is to be destroyed... I must simply laugh!" -Magus

I laugh in the face of the BOP... and my bracket. Oh well, I expect to pick this point back up when Terra whacks Dante. It's funny to watch people in other topics attempt to extrapolate these results to predict massive gains for Nintendo all-around, which is impossible to foresee at this juncture. Anyway, my congratulations to anyone who picked Ness; I wish I would have had the gall.

Does anyone else prefer the off-season to contest time? There are so many garbage topics; at least the "Rate the..." phenomenon has seemed to die down.
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There's always someone better.

Hey, don't put it all on me anyway. 90% of the board would've told him the same thing.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

We had 33221 brackets last summer according to sc2k5.com
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Ness vs. CJ - Bracket: CJ - Vote: Ness (1/1)

The GTA fans played EarthBound and realized it was a far superior game to anything named Grand Theft Auto. Forget the excellent multiplayer in GTA2, the awesome city in GTA3, the music in VC, and the gameplay in SA. EB is better than all of them combined, and Ness really does deserve to win this match.

No he does not..this is a disgrace..an insult...where are the 4 million plus peeps who bought GTA San Andreas??? Where are they now, when their boy CJ needs them? Why are they making me look bad and costing me a point on the 2nd freaking day...
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Steve Illumina: 'Sage of Board 8', Renowned Author, MK Master, Noob Basher & Fanbaby Smacker! Score: 0/0

Where the **** is the update guy -_-.
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May 05 NPD Sales - PSP - 250k. DS - 57k.
PSP trumps DS by 4.38x in sales for the month of May.

Ness 54.31% 19281
Carl Johnson 45.69% 16219
TOTAL VOTES 35500

Ness is indomitable, I tells ya! He's a force of nature, an act of freaking GOD.

He's rippin' into CJ like an animal out there. An animal... WITH A BASEBALL BAT!

Darned if I didn't put those words down as a bit of a lark last night, but Onett Boy is tearing CJ & many a bracket a new one here.

Wow.

man the number of brackets going down because of this is going to be quite high
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Kilroy:There fate will be in each other's hands as they decide whether to share or to shaft

Ness 54.5% 20361
Carl Johnson 45.5% 17001
TOTAL VOTES 37362

Carl is seriously hemorraging here. Ness keeps piling on the votes, with little in the way in resistance.