Final Fantasy X is a completely different game without Tidus, quite frankly. To say it could have happened without him is erronenous.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

Agreed, Tidus was a integral part of FFX.
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Today's subliminal thought is:

And you can't forget the fact that Ramirez's value comes from everyone's favorite character to extrapolate through, Sephiroth.
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I need to put something here.

And Albedo and KOS-MOS. That's about it.

Giygas and ness as well, although I'm not sure Ness can be considered remotely cult anymore.
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Please sign this petition for a history board:
http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=7&topic=21995996

And you can't forget the fact that Ramirez's value comes from everyone's favorite character to extrapolate through, Sephiroth.

He still did worse against Sephiroth than Vyse did against Cloud. Even holding him true to his 2004 value, Ramirez is at Laharl's level at best.

But yeah, Albedo and KOS-MOS is a pretty cut and dry disparity.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

At the 16:00 mark, this match has 80,637 votes.

Vivi/Zelda - 79,812

This match has pulled further away since the last time I checked.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

Liquid would get SFF'd into oblivion like Raiden so I'm not sure.

Solid/Liquid would be a great first round match, heh. It would be much worse than Solid/Raiden...I'm talkin' more like Link/Ganon, except there'd be so damn much more arguing about where Liquid should be adjusted to.


the anti-xbox sentiment starting to go away on gamefaqs could partially contribute to it.

It's been goin' away ever since Halo/Starcraft; no matter how big a game Halo is, it wasn't gonna rank in the Game Contest as high as it did without losing some of the hate the Xbox/Halo/MC had in 2k3 (nearly losing to Felix?!).



It's gonna be interesting to see that Kirby/Cecil got 10,000+ votes LESS than the other three first-round matches in his Dream Division. You still can't take away from him the first-ever tripling of an FF character without SFF though, even if Cecil's strength is questionable at best.
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Hillary Clinton: We need to treat violent video games the way we treat tobacco or alcohol.
Lewis Black: Namely as valued contributors to our re-election fund.

It's been goin' away ever since Halo/Starcraft; no matter how big a game Halo is, it wasn't gonna rank in the Game Contest as high as it did without losing some of the hate the Xbox/Halo/MC had in 2k3 (nearly losing to Felix?!).

The nomination system was broken in the Game Contest, that is known and confirmed.
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Today's subliminal thought is:

He wasnt talking about what its seed was, he was talking about what it was ranked at the end by X-Stats.
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Leon's Quest For Ultimate Glory:
1. Tripling Gordon Freeman.

The nomination system was broken in the Game Contest, that is known and confirmed.

What's that have to do with Halo ranking so high in the xstats?
---
Please sign this petition for a history board:
http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=7&topic=21995996

Also, XBox hate is slowly going away.... and its being replaced slowly by Sony hate. Sony is really setting themselves up for a fall next generation.
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Leon's Quest For Ultimate Glory:
1. Tripling Gordon Freeman.

I was talking about its general strength, not its seed. Now, it getting a 1-seed doesn't go against my case though, even if the nomination system was broken (and I'll agree that it was), but its impressive performance (ignoring that it lost a 1/16-seed match) still ranked it very high in the stats. Even if you want to account for SC cheat-votes that were left in, Halo's still looking mighty pretty...

...and Xbox Live AND Halo 2 have had major success since then, too. There's still gonna be anti-votes, no question on that, but they're beginning to dwindle down, and I think it started its downward spiral sometime between 2k3 and Spring 2k4.
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Hillary Clinton: We need to treat violent video games the way we treat tobacco or alcohol.
Lewis Black: Namely as valued contributors to our re-election fund.

I'd be wary of ranking Halo and MC at the same spot. games != characters, after all. I just don't think MC could quadruple anyone*, less "xbox hate" or not.

* - Tanner, who doesn't count.
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nominate Jay Solano for sc2k6.

So who thinks CATS/MC will be 55/45 too? <_<
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WWEGSB Hardcore Legend Masa
"Masa, everytime I talk to you, my urge for hot pockets rises. Damn you" - Linky.

I didn't mean to compare them in terms of strength, though I did mean to compare them that they almost certainly take as much of a hit from hate as the Xbox itself.
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Hillary Clinton: We need to treat violent video games the way we treat tobacco or alcohol.
Lewis Black: Namely as valued contributors to our re-election fund.

CATS will not be stopped. Ever. Every time you think he's dead, he comes back like Jesus.
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Hillary Clinton: We need to treat violent video games the way we treat tobacco or alcohol.
Lewis Black: Namely as valued contributors to our re-election fund.

So how long do you think CATS will be leading this time?
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Summer 2005 Contest - 13/15 points
Current Match Prediction: Ryu (Street Fighter) vs. Rikku

I think he could actually hold a lead tonight for a few minutes when he wins the board vote.
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Leon's Quest For Ultimate Glory:
1. Tripling Gordon Freeman.

CATS will pull a CATS/Ansem and hold the lead for a good couple of hours >_>
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WWEGSB Hardcore Legend Masa
"Masa, everytime I talk to you, my urge for hot pockets rises. Damn you" - Linky.

Four minutes. Master Chief is no Ansem, and CATS is, well...no Ansem.
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Hillary Clinton: We need to treat violent video games the way we treat tobacco or alcohol.
Lewis Black: Namely as valued contributors to our re-election fund.

sorry, MC would slaughter Ansem. I have MC much lower than everyone else does, but even I wouldn't dare go into the 50's.

and I would agree with you that both suffer from "xbox hate", though I think Starcraft is a bad base from which to compare games in the game contest. no one really knows what happened there. I have a hard time believing Halo over FF10 or Mario World or even Metroid Prime.
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nominate Jay Solano for sc2k6.

3 or 4 minutes tops.
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Vote every day in the NCAA Character Battle 2005 contest!

I'd mark out if CATS did do that though. And I'm willing to bet Sora could get 60% on Master Chief if they ever fought.
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WWEGSB Hardcore Legend Masa
"Masa, everytime I talk to you, my urge for hot pockets rises. Damn you" - Linky.

at least 7 mins
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It's not the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog.

Super Mario World suffers from one problem. Most people think its a better game than SMB 3, but Super Mario Bros 3 is still more loved. Its really weird.
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Leon's Quest For Ultimate Glory:
1. Tripling Gordon Freeman.

By the by, any Flood Division match pics up yet? If so, link plz
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WWEGSB Hardcore Legend Masa
"Masa, everytime I talk to you, my urge for hot pockets rises. Damn you" - Linky.

I think CATS could take a lead for more than four minutes.. but not much more. if he gets any kind of a lead on him after minute one, the board is gonna be a fun sight.
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nominate Jay Solano for sc2k6.

Jeez how weak do you guys think MC is? Sora would only beat 2003 Master Cheif 55-45. And he is most certainly stronger than that now.
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Leon's Quest For Ultimate Glory:
1. Tripling Gordon Freeman.

Super Mario World suffers from one problem. Most people think its a better game than SMB 3, but Super Mario Bros 3 is still more loved. Its really weird.

I agree; I don't even like Mario 3. still, I think SMW would beat the hell out of most games in the contest as long as it's not facing an elite game like CT or Zelda or FF. SSBM is the only other game I can think of that I'd take over Mario World.
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nominate Jay Solano for sc2k6.

Auron's barely above Vivi, and you all saw how poorly Vivi did against Zelda. What makes you think Auron can beat Ganon?
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Pity for the guilty is treason to the innocent.

Auron's barely above Vivi, and you all saw how poorly Vivi did against Zelda. What makes you think Auron can beat Ganon?

Hello there, SFF. Unless you think it's merely a coincidence that Scorpion and Tails seemingly switched places in the stats in 2004.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

Devil's advocate: Vivi was supposedly SFF'd, too.
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Hillary Clinton: We need to treat violent video games the way we treat tobacco or alcohol.
Lewis Black: Namely as valued contributors to our re-election fund.

So Auron can't be SFF'd if Vivi wasn't?
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

And if Auron wasn't SFF'd, then all four FFX characters are all very close together in a very tight space, which I don't buy for a second. I think Tidus and Auron are clearly above Yuna and Rikku when it's all said and done.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

Auron > Ganon isn't going to happen.

Even if you completely ignore Sp2k5's results, Ganon has more reasons to increase or at least stay constant compared to Auron.

And with potential SFF accounted for, Ganon 2k3 is still ahead of SFF-adjusted Auron 2k4.

---
Reserved for the winner of the SC2K5 Guru Challenge.

Match 17: (1) Master Chief vs. (8) CATS

Past Performances

Master Chief

Summer 2002
Did not attend
Ranked: N/A

Summer 2003
Beat Felix, 52.96% - 47.04%
Lost to Aeris Gainsborough, 39.85% - 60.15%
Ranked: 26th

Summer 2004
Beat Crash Bandicoot, 70.72% - 29.28%
Lost to Frog, 49.996% - 50.004%
Ranked: 15th

CATS

Summer 2002
Lost to Ryu Hoshi, 19.21% - 80.79%
Ranked: 47th

Summer 2003
Lost to Cloud Strife, 13.09% - 86.91%
Ranked: 56th

Summer 2004
Lost to Link, 12.17% - 87.83%
Ranked: 53rd

Spring 2005
Lost to Ansem, 45.96% - 54.04%
Ranked: 15th

Analysis

Another board favorite against one of the board’s most hated character match and just like the last one the board favorite is going to lose. The Xbox may be hated at GameFAQs (Well it’s being hated less, but still hated), but this is Master Chief we are talking about he pretty much is the Xbox. CATS on the other hand has a fanbase where 90% of the fans never played his game. The only reason he’s been in all of these contests was because of the AYB fad that happed, I think in 2k2, he’s also here as a joke character as well.

By swinging the vote by 3000 and winning by 600 votes Master Chief then goes on losing by 7 votes and is rewarded a division all to him. The first thing we should talk about Master Chief was that he was in division 20XX last year. As we saw with Frog and unless Riku > Sora, Frog didn’t really deserved the boost he got so maybe Master Chief didn’t either. Even if we drop Master Chief to unadjusted 20XX he still beats CATS worse then he beat Crash.

During this past year Master Chief received the most hyped game ever, Halo 2! Many people used the hype for Halo 2 as a reason for Master Chief’s boost last summer so with the game actually out will it help him a lot? Well it probably could, but it still won’t get him out of this division alive. Also if the unadjusted 20XX prove to be true then Master Chief probably won’t get above his adjusted value.

ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US! That and along with few other lines that occurred in the badly translated Zero Wing became the fad for the internet for months. The fad has died down a long time ago, but he’ll never be forgotten from board 8. CATS does seem to be a very constant character except during the villains contest. The best way to explain that was CATS was against a character that not many people knew about so that’s when the picture vote started to matter and that then lead to CATS overperforming (some people think Ansem overperformed on Ganondorf because of his picture, but I think Ansem vs. CATS was the problem). If something weird happens (which will probably will since the whole contest is whacked) I wouldn’t blame CATS, but Master Chief.

So how much has Halo 2 helped Master Chief? Will he join the ranks of Magus, Ganondorf and Zero or will he just return to his adjusted strength? This match may not answer the questions completely, but it will point to the direction of which way Master Chief is heading.

charmander6000’s Bracket: Master Chief over CATS

charmander6000’s Prediction: Master Chief wins, 80.94% - 19.06%

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I've been Pwned by KoaC. He really is the king of all cosmos.

Why would Auron be more SFF'd than Vivi? That wouldn't make any sense, considering that FFIX and FFVII are both from the same generation...unless you want to talk about some silly "Sword SFF".

And regarding FFX's plot...Auron could've done everything Tidus did. Tidus was pretty unnecessary.
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Pity for the guilty is treason to the innocent.

And with potential SFF accounted for, Ganon 2k3 is still ahead of SFF-adjusted Auron 2k4.

Depends on how you adjust Auron. Either way, it's really close. Too close to call a definite winner.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

And regarding FFX's plot...Auron could've done everything Tidus did. Tidus was pretty unnecessary.

That's just absurd. There's really nothing else to say about that.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

Why would Auron be more SFF'd than Vivi? That wouldn't make any sense, considering that FFIX and FFVII are both from the same generation...unless you want to talk about some silly "Sword SFF".

Auron has more in common with Cloud and Sephiroth than Vivi does.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

Depends on how you adjust Auron. Either way, it's really close. Too close to call a definite winner.

Which goes back to my previous point:
Ganon has more reasons to go up or at least stay constant compared to Auron.

Either way, Auron > Ganon is still extremely unlikely.
And if you put any weight in Sp2k5 results, then it's almost impossible.

---
Reserved for the winner of the SC2K5 Guru Challenge.

Ganon has more reasons to go up or at least stay constant compared to Auron.

Characters can go up or down without any reason at all.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

Auron has more in common with Cloud and Sephiroth than Vivi does.

SPOILERS:

Auron has little in common with Cloud, almost nothing with Seph, except that both are already dead when the game starts.

END OF SPOILERS

---
Reserved for the winner of the SC2K5 Guru Challenge.

They appeal to the same kind of fan, really.
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno

FFVII Spoilers




...Sephiroth is dead when the game starts?

Maybe I need to replay it XD
---
Trivia XV: Dragostea Din Tei
Yoblazer'd

The Sage of Board 8, Steve Illumina shall speak

And so for 2005 it continues, in the 'Edge Casts' Flood Division..

(1) Master Chief vs (8) CATS

Steve's Pick: The Chief
Fanboy-O-Meter: Board 8: CATS, Real World: Chief
Upset Odds: If it happens, I retire from writing...
Match Fun Factor: 10/10: This, my friends, brings me joy...to see the idiot, and i do mean idiot, CATS supporters cry their eyes out...

Comments: After a self imposed week of mourning for the fall of Vivi, where i seethed over the state of gaming today...and thought about putting down my pen and paper...I said to myself...no way these fanbabies can be allowed to glorify this victory...

"They think they have broken the bracket of the Sage...well they are mistaken indeed...for the greatest upset in contest history draws near...the fall of an FFVII character in the FIRST ROUND at the hands of the pride of Blizzard." This victory will destroy brackets from perfects to zeros, and my gaming soul will be at peace...

Now, loyal fans, let us meditate on the first half of the first round...

The Rise of Nintendo...a phenomenon predicted by me a month ago...has seemed to come to fruition, for the Nintendites have rolled over fodder, as well as handily defeated worthy Square foes and fighters.

It began with the King of Platformers taking out 1 hit wonder Joanna Dark, who no one cared about anyway.

It continued with Ness taking out gaming's poster child for malfeasance, CJ, and costing me and many more a point...

It proceeded with Samus wiping the floor with perhaps the most obscure entrant in the tourney and a true nobody...that being Yuri.

It went further with Ganon handily defeating unappreciated Yuna...

It possibly destroyed my dream of leaderboard glory by taking out cult fav Vivi...

It wiped out the old school FF support by crushing Cecil...

It took out fighting fav Chun Li readily as well...

Except for Joanna...Nintendo is undefeated...be afraid, Square Legions...for as I called, your influence is declining, and the under-performances, to use a nerdboy term, of Tidus and Auron prove it.

But they are not all afraid yet...for Tidus took out the King of All Losers, Auron gave the Big Boss his pinkslip, Frog knocked off Riku in an SFF slugfest, and Sora waxed Agent 47...

And as for the leftovers, perennial fav Alucard got the job done over upstart Krakos, Zero zapped Ryu H, Solid Snake took out Manny-Fodder, Lloyd got a free pass he did not deserve over Wesker and the original Ryu beat up on Rikku...

The 2nd half has a few more decent first rounders to look forward to, which I will try and get back to discussing daily...starting with Chief/CATS.

Bottom Line: The XBox Nation smells a chance to make it to the Sweet 16 again...and CATS is the first target to terminate. Bye bye worthless fad...

Prediction: CATS support is not what it once was...thank goodness...maybe next year he wont take a spot that belongs to real fodder like Palmer... He will be crushed, showing the rising power of the Xbox Nation...

Quote of the Day: "Vivi...Cecil...Terra...Zidane...4 who deserve to win...but never will thanks to Nintendites and fanbabies who forget the glory of Square..." -Me, lamenting on characters I love falling to those who lack true character development like Zelda, who are for kids like Kirby, who are overrated like Crono, and who are nothing special like Dante...
---
Steve Illumina: 'Sage of Board 8', Renowned Author, MK Master, Noob Basher & Fanbaby Smacker! Score: 14/16

Ummmm.... strong? Bad-assed? Carry big swords? It's not like Cloud or Sephiroth are liked for their dazzling personalities...
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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."

Auron has more in common with Cloud and Sephiroth than Vivi does.

So you're going with sword SFF then? *sigh* I'd think that Alucard, Liquid, MGS, Goldeneye, SM64, Sonic 2, Super Metroid, etc. would have proved that same gen SFF is pretty important, relative to other types.

And what did Tidus do that Auron couldn't have? I'm drawing a blank here.
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Pity for the guilty is treason to the innocent.

Characters can go up or down without any reason at all.

No, they can't.
We may not know why, but there's always a reason.

So far, only a handful of chars have unexplained jumps or drops.

They appeal to the same kind of fan, really.

That's nonsense, their personalities are so different.
Unless you're looking only at their weapons.

---
Reserved for the winner of the SC2K5 Guru Challenge.

Bingo. They're all uberpowerful mysterious characters who do cool things that make the players go "Ooh!" and "Aah!"
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Squall Leonhart's Road to the Summer Contest 2005 Championship
Round 1: (7) Geno