So do I. Because I like Wesker a lot better.... ><
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I'm suprised at Ryu doing so well, but I still will not believe it's due to a picture. I really don't think people are all that misinformed as to not know who characters are by their names. It always seems like we give way way way too much credit to good/bad pictures.
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Revenge is a dish best served cold. ~Old Klingon Proverb

I also hope Lloyd bombs because he represents HM's ungodly ToS love phase.
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This signature avaliable for rent.

Heh! It'd be amusing to see Lloyd bomb. Even at the expense of a bracket point.
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"Opinions are like butts, little girl. Everyone's got one and nobody thinks their's stink." -Lunar 2:EB
*Claims KG's Eclair & Millia Rage*

I'm suprised at Ryu doing so well, but I still will not believe it's due to a picture. I really don't think people are all that misinformed as to not know who characters are by their names. It always seems like we give way way way too much credit to good/bad pictures.

We also tend to over-analyze everything. Look at Ryu's picture. Just look at it. Have we ever seen someone look cooler in a contest picture? A lot better than a white guy with some feather bandana thing wrapped around his head. I almost voted for Ryu solely because of the picture.
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Board 8: Where people treat each other right.

Pictures do matter, even if only a little. Though in this case, Ryu H is just beyond badassed.

http://crawlingff8.ytmnd.com/
http://crawlingff8.ytmnd.com/
http://crawlingff8.ytmnd.com/
http://crawlingff8.ytmnd.com/
http://crawlingff8.ytmnd.com/

~*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

Seriously. If pics ever made a difference for him, it'd be here.

Ryu is supposed to be a badass Ninja. When I saw his pic against Sora, I audibly laughed. They actually made CLOWNSHOE SORA look more badass than Ryu freakin' Hayabusa. Come on.
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Hmm, I don't think Ryu's performance is all his picture though. Then again, it very well could be.

Well, it could be if you believe Ryu is underestimated in the 2004 by about 4% and should be between Vercetti and Luigi.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Zero vs. Ryu H. - Bracket: Zero - Vote: Zero (1/2)

Ryu is definitely benefiting from a picture that actually looks like the Hayabusa we know. Whether or not the entire increase can be attributed to the picture is for you to decide...

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

Ugghhh... I don't know what was up with Ceej in that match. He pretty much went out of his way to give Ryu his unrecognizable DOA pics, even though everybody knows it was the XBox Ninja Gaiden game that got Ryu in the contest. And it wasn't like it was hard to find a good Ninja Gaiden pic. Even though it wouldn't have made a difference in the outcome of the match, there was no excuse for not using a Ninja Gaiden pic.

On the subject of Sora, is it just me or is he getting more Cloud-like and less Disney/goofy like? His design is beginning to look more and more like the traditional FF protagonist. It looks like Sora is taking the place where a traditional FFXI protagonist would have been in terms of popularity... <_<
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Graduation: April 30, 2005 "There are only 10 kinds of people in this world, those that read binary and those that don't."

I'd have no problems taking Hayabusa over Vercetti at this point.
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Raiden fact of the contest: Alucard is a plagiarist, this year Raiden will prove it!

So, anyone think Hayabusa might be able to win a couple of updates with the "godly X-Box day vote"?
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Raiden fact of the contest: Alucard is a plagiarist, this year Raiden will prove it!

Hell no. Not when having 37% of the votes.
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SC2K5 status - Points: 001/002 - Matches: 01/02 - Rank: 16993/33793 - Today: Zero - Tomorrow: Lloyd

Seeing how Ryu's matches last year were almost purely off of name recognition, I don't see why a 4% increase would be unlikely. Seriously, only those who played DOA would recognize those pictures as Ryu Hayabusa had the name not been there.
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Graduation: April 30, 2005 "There are only 10 kinds of people in this world, those that read binary and those that don't."

It would've been interesting to see how Ryu would've performed last year if the "Hayabusa" part of his name was taken off.

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

It's already nearing 3 PM. If there was going to be a vote swing it would have happened already.
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This of course also means two other possibilities.

1. Jill is also under-rated in the 2004 stats, which is good news to the people who believe she couldn't have fallen so far.

2. Ryu should have beaten Jill by a much bigger margin.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Zero vs. Ryu H. - Bracket: Zero - Vote: Zero (1/2)

I suppose I'm one of a very few, if not alone, people who think that Zero's picture is better than Ryu's anyway.
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Revenge is a dish best served cold. ~Old Klingon Proverb

I'd have no problems taking Hayabusa over Vercetti at this point.

Why? Even with this ninja picture, he's still doing worse than the 38%+ Vercetti got on Zero last year.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

I'm sure Vercetti has dropped a bit since it has been a while since Vice City, besides with CJ's bombing I can't help but think GTA characters in general are getting less popular
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http://users.ign.com/collection/Dark115.
Currently Playing: Chrono Trigger (SNES), Metal Gear Solid (PS1), Soul Calibur II (PS2)

At the very least, we should wait to see if Vercetti shows weakness against Kefka. Of course, I've long thought he's in for a drop this year, but I hope he still has enough in the tank to oust Kefka without much trouble.
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Board 8: Where people treat each other right.

I thought about that as well, but any Ryu increase due to the pic would be for him only, not the people that he went against. If the pic affected him, it wouldn't have been just for the round against Sora.... unless you think that the voters would know who he was one round and then forget who he was the next.
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Graduation: April 30, 2005 "There are only 10 kinds of people in this world, those that read binary and those that don't."

Characters from the same series are NOT joined at the hip. We really need to get over this idea that one character dropping/rising means another one from the same game/series did.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

It's 1%. Hayabusa could make that up during the day with the "godly X-Box day vote". And if they're that close against a common opponent, it's not like I'm exactly gambling.
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Raiden fact of the contest: Alucard is a plagiarist, this year Raiden will prove it!

It's actually closer to 2%.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

More like godly Xbox evening vote... >_<

It's not coming.
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I'm also thinking Vercetti will be weaker this year. Sure, he isn't "joined at the hip" with CJ... but come on. CJ did so poorly you can't help but wonder.
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Raiden fact of the contest: Alucard is a plagiarist, this year Raiden will prove it!

I suppose I'm one of a very few, if not alone, people who think that Zero's picture is better than Ryu's anyway.

Well duh... it's nearly impossible for Zero NOT to get a great pic. Similar to Sonic... They look cool no matter WHAT pic you use, be it in-game or artwork.
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Graduation: April 30, 2005 "There are only 10 kinds of people in this world, those that read binary and those that don't."

CJ's problem is more due to the lack of likeability by the user base, the lack of a trademark look, and apparently the lack of name recognition.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

I don't know why I was thinking CJ would be more liked by the fanbase than Vercetti... why didn't you tell me this before, Leonhart??. Heh heh.
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Raiden fact of the contest: Alucard is a plagiarist, this year Raiden will prove it!

Am I the only one that's wondering a little how Ness could have gotten the support of half the brackets, while Mario only got 96%? I know it's still high, but I would have expected more.
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"Heh Heh... The wind... It is blowing..."--Ganondorf Dragmire

...I did. Plus, you saw the results of IGN's contest yourself, where Vercetti beat CJ head-to-head.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

Mushroom Division Round 1 - Match 4 – (2)Lloyd Irving vs. (7)Albert Wesker

Lloyd
Game/Series Known From: Tales of Symphonia
Extrapolated Rank in 2002: N/A
Extrapolated Rank in 2003: N/A
Extrapolated Rank in 2004: N/A
Seed in 2002: N/A
Seed in 2003: N/A
Seed in 2004: N/A

Lloyd surely got seeded high for his first Contest…

Wesker
Game/Series Known From: Resident Evil
Extrapolated Rank in 2002: N/A
Extrapolated Rank in 2003: N/A
Extrapolated Rank in 2004: N/A
Seed in 2002: N/A
Seed in 2003: N/A
Seed in 2004: N/A

Yeah, Wesker was in the Villain Contest, but that still makes him a Summer Contest newbie.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=1997 – Kefka/Mithos
http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=2009 – Kefka/Wesker

I <3 start out analyses with polls, because it allows me to get straight to the point, and it’s nice visual proof. If Mithos is stronger than Kefka (which we can tell when we compare them to a common opponent), then how in God’s name is Wesker going to be able to win here? It’s nearly common sense that Lloyd is going to be stronger than Mithos, who is already stronger than Wesker. The only thing good about this match is that we might get a reading for Kratos Aurion.

Now, if all was right in the world and I could trust the stats, I would say Lloyd would get 70%+ on Wesker, like Kefka did, but I don’t trust Lloyd enough to think he can do that. It’s weird but, ya know…

Moltar’s Bracket Says: Lloyd will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: Lloyd: 67% - Wesker: 33%



Ulti’s Analysis

Mithos scored 36.02% on Kefka. Wesker scored 29.63% in the very next match. Kefka may have overperformed a little due to the angel pic, but given the large discrepancy that usually lies between villain and hero, Lloyd is likely far stronger than Mithos is; by turn, he should be far stronger than Wesker is. Kefka can't have overperformed by more than a percent or two on Wesker, and even then it gives him no chance to win.

Ulti’s Prediction: Lloyd with 68.45%



Soul’s Analysis

Before I begin this analysis, let me say one thing: FFDragon is laughing at us from wherever he is right now. Wesker, one of his favorite characters, somehow manages to make it into the tournament again! I don't know how he did it, but he somehow managed to get enough nominations for Wesker to bring him into the contest one more time.

Wesker was in the villain contest, as most of you know. He was hyped to be one of the best villains in the contest, so much so as to say that he could defeat Kefka. Well, after a horrible, horrible defeat, Wesker was gone. But, he managed to come back for the 64 character tournament. Lloyd, on the other hand, is new. He was given a 2 seed, that means he must have got a lot of nominations. You can thank Leonhart for that.

The only thing logical here is to look at the villain of ToS, and see how he did during the contest. Maybe that can help us where Lloyd lies. Looking at the X-Stats, Mithos actually landed higher than Wesker. Yes, the villain of ToS scored higher than Wesker. Now, do you honestly believe that the villain of one game is more popular then the main character? If you believe that Mithos is more popular then Lloyd, then go ahead, pick Wesker to win. I, on the other hand, want to win these bragging rights, so I'm going with Lloyd.

My prediction: Lloyd wins with 66.47% of the vote. Congratulations, you move on to face Zero next round. -_-



Outback’s Analysis

Man, the more I think about it, this bracket really isn't that good. There are a lot of bland first round matches and this is one of them. Wesker has absolutely no chance, and Lloyd will push towards a tripling.

Lloyd 71.11, Wesker 28.99

Am I the only one that's wondering a little how Ness could have gotten the support of half the brackets, while Mario only got 96%? I know it's still high, but I would have expected more.

More people than usual are attempting a zero bracket.
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Board 8: Where people treat each other right.

Inviso’s Analysis

Wesker’s back after his embarrassing performance in the Spring Contest and he’s taking on Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia. Wesker barely beat a cult character, Luca Blight, who was obliterated by Magus the summer before. Wesker went on to lose miserably to Kefka, bringing him down to just above Pyramid Head in the X-Stats. Kefka faced and beat someone else before Wesker though. He beat Mithos, the villain of...wait for it…Tales of Symphonia. Now, if the VILLAIN of ToS can outperform Wesker, then the HERO will easily be able to best him. Now, the point I’d like to make is that…just because Lloyd will beat Wesker, does not mean anything. Ness beat Jak after all and he’s still weak as ****. Anyway, the point is, if you’re from an RPG…and it’s not Final Fantasy VII, VIII, X, or Chrono Trigger, then you pretty much don’t stand a chance at winning any matches except against the weakest characters in the tournament.

My Bracket: Lloyd Irving
My Vote: Albert Wesker
My Prediction: Lloyd Irving with 62.55%



Tnote’s Analysis

Wesker whipped my favorite villain ever, but I took solace in correctly predicting he would barely crack 60% on Luca, when numbers said he needed a doubling to make a run at Kefka. Now, I personally knew he had zero chance at beating Kefka, but was lucky enough to get into a couple debates with some RE fanboys about how Wesker could make a play for the division crown (LOLWTFBBQ!). The Angel Kefka picture just helped humiliate the fanboys who backed the wrong horse.

I do not put too much weight into the Spring statistics, because for whatever reason, they suck. However, seeing Lloyd’s villain perform better than Wesker on a common opponent leave Zero (no pun intended) doubt as to who will win this match-up. All that is left to decide is exactly how strong will Lloyd be, and I personally would be very shocked to see him fall short of 60% on Wesker, which would leave Lloyd:Mithos within the range for the usual Hero:Villain difference.

Pick: Lloyd Irving with 62.83%



Vlado’s Analysis

This is one of the more interesting matches, at least to think about. It actually has the potential to completely destroy the theory that the X-Stats are almost always correct. Of course, Wesker would have to win for this to happen. While the chances of that happening are very small, they still exist and I can say I would very glad if Wesker somehow made it, simply because of the sheer shock it would cause on the board.

Lloyd is a newcomer, but his game's villain Mithos was in the Spring Contest and did much more respectably against Kefka than Wesker. HOWEVER, it is important to keep in mind that Kefka received his ultimate picture in the battle against Wesker and I claim that the 2005 Spring Contest was the one where pictures mattered the most in contest history. So Wesker's quite probably a bit stronger than the X-Stats suggest. However, that will not be enough for him to win here.

Lloyd is the protagonist of an RPG that got popular mostly thanks to being on Gamecube, which lacks quality RPG titles as a whole. I'm sure he'll be a little stronger than Mithos, but the difference won't be all that big, as fans of cult-ish RPGs tend to stick to their characters, no matter who they are. Though it must be noted that, especially at the moment, Tales of Symphonia is above the "cult" level. Had this been Jill Valentine or Leon Kennedy facing Lloyd, it would've been hard to pick the winner, but Wesker just can't hope to have the main Resident Evil characters' popularity and that showed in his lackluster performance against Luca Blight, who received more votes than the number of copies his game has sold.

Predicted percentage: Lloyd with 59.02%.

Zero 63.46% 31736
Ryu Hayabusa 36.54% 18272
TOTAL VOTES 50008

The slowness of my computer lately is irritating me.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

Hmmm...Only outback is expecting 70% from Lloyd tomorrow. Interesting.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

Most people here knew that CJ would be less liked than Vercetti. It's just that we didn't know how MUCH less. Most of us who took the CJ pic took it hoping that the GTA base would support him enough to beat Ness, knowing full well that Vercetti is probably more popular to the masses. Of course it should have been obvious seeing how the image CJ brings is treated.
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Graduation: April 30, 2005 "There are only 10 kinds of people in this world, those that read binary and those that don't."

If tnote didn't intend the pun, how come he capitalized "zero?"


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

...I did. Plus, you saw the results of IGN's contest yourself, where Vercetti beat CJ head-to-head.

Dante's X-Stats ranking would've been 42%+ based on that contest, I thought it was amusing but nothing to be taken as credible here.
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Raiden fact of the contest: Alucard is a plagiarist, this year Raiden will prove it!

I meant from the analysis crew. I expect Lloyd to break 70% tomorrow easily.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

I thought it was amusing but nothing to be taken as credible here.

It still should've been taken as a hint from a site that's likely more GTA biased than we are.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

It's funny, cause 70%+ is what is supposed to happen, logically and statistically but I just don't see Lloyd doing that well.

I guess I'll believe it when I see it.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Zero vs. Ryu H. - Bracket: Zero - Vote: Zero (1/2)

They might like Crono. Goku did well.

*cough*
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Statistically? We don't have any stats on Lloyd...
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Board 8: Where people treat each other right.

I'll be disappointed if Lloyd doesn't get 70%. I'm thinking he'll be closer to 75% myself.
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Raiden fact of the contest: Alucard is a plagiarist, this year Raiden will prove it!

I'm thinking nobody wants to believe Lloyd > Kefka, though that's what'll end up happening. Everyone is so intent on trying to believe Kefka isn't weak.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

That's a little insane... I see 70% as a ceiling. Kefka barely managed that with the best pic he'll ever have in his entire contest career.
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I think he will get around 62%. I love ToS just as much as guys like Heroic Mario but I don't think he can double Wesker.


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My biggest predictions: Mario over Samus, Alucard over Sora, Magus over Dante.