I know how many people have played OoT. I guess what I meant was how many people haven't played OoT. You guys are dragging this on like Snake/Sora SFF. I was just wrong.
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I know what I'm getting into, I don't care if I die trying!-Peppita Rossetti

If there's one series I think a lot of GameFAQs hasn't played but still has some high-ranking characters... I'd have to say it's either MGS or Castlevania.
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I can't think of anything to put here, but I can't just leave it blank, can I?

If "Solid ****" is used. I'm guessing that Sora could just pull it off, seeing as how Frog almost did, and, no doubt Sora is stronger than Frog. But it's a bit of a long shot. If it did happen, it would be a hell of an upset.
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Ahem! There's LETTUCE on my boots!
http://www.geocities.com/lettucekefka/

Sora has some decent sprites from CoM, too. So he could be in good shape if it's sprites next round.
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I can't think of anything to put here, but I can't just leave it blank, can I?

In a couple of days, Ryu will be exposing Bowser. Hopefully, if Ryu wins, it can compensate for my Magus loss.
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Summer 2005 Contest - 38/42 points
Current Match Prediction: Alucard vs. Sora

I really wouldn't mind who win between Boswer vs. Ryu since I love them both but if you had to point a gun at my head and make me choose, I'd probably say Ryu

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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

Bowser is going to roast Ryu.
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BertTheOne | Can't hurt this Bert
Never eat a stoner. We have powers you havent even seen!

Bowser with 51.5% over Ryu.
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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.

If that conversation isn't proof of how ridiculous "pic factor" is then some of yo uwill never be convinced.
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Now Link, fill up your hearts
So you can shoot your sword with power

the "pic factor" stuff wouldn't happen if we didn't see the pictures days in advance. if we saw the two pictures at the same time and Snake winning with 57%, no one would have said a thing besides "whoa, Snake's ugly!"
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http://picturesofwalls.com

It doesn't help they're seems to be at least some merit in the argument specifically for snake (you can't deny he was horrible against frog last year who was blown out by samus this year), and Kefka, who actually put some decent numbers on wesker with his angel pic which makes both wesker and Lloyd look like extremely low end fodder.
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"The Lotus in Konoha blooms twice..." Rock Lee

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) has signed a deal with two film studios to make a movie based on its popular space-based video game series "Halo," a spokesman for Universal Pictures said on Wednesday.

oh yay.
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http://picturesofwalls.com

The thing is, even when you can pick out one or two examples we can pick out 3-4 times as many where the pic should have killed a character if pics meants anything but it didn't. Hell, in his match against Frog that wasn't the first time Snake got that sort of pic.

http://www.sc2k5.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=4&pos=54

Why does one bad pic kill him while another does nothing to him? I'm not saying his pic vs. Ryu was as bad, but it's bad enough that if a pic was going to hurt him that would be one of the ones to do it.

Weird things happen, especially if you're a CT character on a miracle run. Let's just leave it at that.
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Now Link, fill up your hearts
So you can shoot your sword with power

The overperformance was more on Frog's part than Snake's part, I would wager, after seeing Magus.
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It's just not the same without this name.
Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

I bet if Zelda somehow got a picture of Link in this contest, she'd beat everyone not named Cloud...

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I don't have an ego.
I'm way too cool for that.

And Sora just continues to dominate, even with the night vote.

Best case scenario (Alucard 2004): Sora stands at 33.41%, above Zero and adjusted Solid Snake.

Based on Alucard 2003, Sora is at 30.95%, almost identical to 2003 Bowser.
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It's just not the same without this name.
Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

And note that, regardless of how you look at it, Sora is stronger than 2003 Zelda. I think he has a great chance at doing better than her against Snake, regardless of the picture.
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It's just not the same without this name.
Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

While Solid **** does no favors, I'm blaming Magus and Frog being so over-rated on both band-wagoning and gettin' CT sprites in their losses.
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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.

Yeah, it's more of Frog and Magus overperforming by leaps and bounds rather than their opponents bombing.

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Reserved for the winner of the SC2K5 Guru Challenge.

Heh, at this rate, Sora could finish with only about 1% less than what Ganondorf got. Sora > Auron, maybe? At least indirectly?

And who'd have thunk that this match might end up being the biggest blowout of the gauntlet?
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It's just not the same without this name.
Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

I am only calling Sora>Snake if, AND ONLY IF, it is sprites, and Snake gets his picture from last year.

I think Sora stands a very good chance against Solid Snake regardless of what picture Snake gets.

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To the man whose spirit was so free it was bothersome... Kurosaki Ichigo, my sword has been broken by your freedom of spirit.

Personally, I think Sora will break 45% against Snake, but I don't quite think he's up to an elite level...yet.
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It's just not the same without this name.
Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

Sora > Auron, maybe?

I'd hope not -- speaking of indirect strength. But I think it'll be close between those two on who ranks higher.

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To the man whose spirit was so free it was bothersome... Kurosaki Ichigo, my sword has been broken by your freedom of spirit.

I don't believe Solid Snake is at the elite level either, so I can see Sora beating him yet losing to people such as Ganon or Zero.

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To the man whose spirit was so free it was bothersome... Kurosaki Ichigo, my sword has been broken by your freedom of spirit.

I consider "elite level" above 33% on Link, and I don't think Sora is there. Snake is.
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It's just not the same without this name.
Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

I'm wavering on Sora > Snake, but after KH2 comes out I'd take Sora, easily.
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Kirby 3:16
55th/125 in the Guru Standings. Why did I pick Kratos? *sigh*

If Kirby beats Tidus...heck, even if Tidus wins by a small amount, Rikku and Yuna would be extremely close to Tidus in X-stats, and possibly higher than he is. So...you guys think that is reasonable, or not?

Man...imagine Tidus not being the strongest (as many initially thought), not the second strongest, nor the third...but the FOURTH flippin' strongest FFX character. :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."

Depends on where Kirby is, really. I would be very tempted to take him in a rematch against Alucard.
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It's just not the same without this name.
Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

33% on Link? Which Link, 2003? I consider the elite level to be with people such as Mario, Samus, Sonic, etc. Snake's match against Zelda didn't exactly prove that he's past his adjusted ranking by amounts worth noting.

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To the man whose spirit was so free it was bothersome... Kurosaki Ichigo, my sword has been broken by your freedom of spirit.

Well, if Tidus beats Kirby and Ryu beats Bowser we'll know for sure where he stands next to Rikku.
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I know what I'm getting into, I don't care if I die trying!-Peppita Rossetti

Elite level = won't get doubled by the strongest char there is (currently Link 2k4).

So, neither Snake nor MM are there based on their ranks in 2k4.

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Reserved for the winner of the SC2K5 Guru Challenge.

The night vote should be considered in full swing, and Sora just had one of his best lead increases of the match.
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It's just not the same without this name.
Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

Sora just keeps impressing this match.

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To the man whose spirit was so free it was bothersome... Kurosaki Ichigo, my sword has been broken by your freedom of spirit.

I guess Agent 47 really was that strong, eh?

Wow, maybe I'm looking at it wrong, but could Sora actually make his vote lead higher than Ganondorf's?
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I know what I'm getting into, I don't care if I die trying!-Peppita Rossetti

Ganondorf's against Alucard? Probably not.
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It's just not the same without this name.
Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

Yeah, looks like all cult chars are dropping like rocks in this contest...

I wonder if Vincent will be able to upset Crono when their match rolls around.

Btw, I guess picking Mario to upset Samus wasn't such a bad pick afterall, SFF aside.

Mario is much more "casual" than Samus, and this year is another year of casuals, just like 2k3.

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Reserved for the winner of the SC2K5 Guru Challenge.

Wow, maybe I'm looking at it wrong, but could Sora actually make his vote lead higher than Ganondorf's?

Ganon had 12,533 by the end of the match and Sora has 9,336 now. I wouldn't expect it right now. . .

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To the man whose spirit was so free it was bothersome... Kurosaki Ichigo, my sword has been broken by your freedom of spirit.

Cult characters won't really benefit from the higher vote totals, I'm guessing.

I've seen it thrown around too many times, and the idea is pretty...lackluster in my mind, and that's "bandwagoning." I don't think the reason Frog/Magus/Vivi had such bad years this one is because people wanted them to win their respective years before, but then lost interest in them the year after. I really don't think our board opinions have much effect on any matches, and certainly not to the degree to cause characters to fall from grace so hard and so fast. I can't see the casual bracket maker/vote caring at all, really.
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Revenge is a dish best served cold. ~Old Klingon Proverb

"Elite level = won't get doubled by the strongest char there is (currently Link 2k4).

So, neither Snake nor MM are there based on their ranks in 2k4."

Nor is Sonic. It's a harsh, but mostly fair, yardstick for elitism for the most part, but does that change if Link is weaker this year than last but still the strongest? Does the elite group just get bigger when the top dogs drop a bit? Is it fair to say that a character Link MM can re-enter the elite group even if he doesn't gain just because Link drops? If you always use Link 2k4 as the standard what happens if all the upper level characters get a lot closer?

Yes, for now, until we see Link in action again in a match where we can extrapolate from him (which will be the very last match of the contest) we could use 2k4 Link as the standard, but it's not a great one (nor is 2k3 Link) for calling a character elite or not. Frankly, even in the face of some failures the characters we've called elite for years now have proven themselves in actual matches. Until there's reason to say otherwise we ought to consider these characters as we always have, elite.
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Now Link, fill up your hearts
So you can shoot your sword with power

I've seen it thrown around too many times, and the idea is pretty...lackluster in my mind, and that's "bandwagoning." I don't think the reason Frog/Magus/Vivi had such bad years this one is because people wanted them to win their respective years before, but then lost interest in them the year after. I really don't think our board opinions have much effect on any matches, and certainly not to the degree to cause characters to fall from grace so hard and so fast. I can't see the casual bracket maker/vote caring at all, really.

Well, do you have a better explanation?

Honestly, the casuals pay more attention to the bracket than you give them credit for.

This contest is stale, so they'll jump to support any new blood that they like even if only a little.

Once those new blood become stale also, they'll return to their usual voting patterns.

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Reserved for the winner of the SC2K5 Guru Challenge.

Nor is Sonic. It's a harsh, but mostly fair, yardstick for elitism for the most part, but does that change if Link is weaker this year than last but still the strongest? Does the elite group just get bigger when the top dogs drop a bit? Is it fair to say that a character Link MM can re-enter the elite group even if he doesn't gain just because Link drops? If you always use Link 2k4 as the standard what happens if all the upper level characters get a lot closer?

Yes, for now, until we see Link in action again in a match where we can extrapolate from him (which will be the very last match of the contest) we could use 2k4 Link as the standard, but it's not a great one (nor is 2k3 Link) for calling a character elite or not. Frankly, even in the face of some failures the characters we've called elite for years now have proven themselves in actual matches. Until there's reason to say otherwise we ought to consider these characters as we always have, elite.

We already have a term for that, Noble Nine.

I'd rather define elite as something else.

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Reserved for the winner of the SC2K5 Guru Challenge.

You could define Elite as breaking 45% on any Noble Nine member, maybe, something like that.

Most people would, but other than some lackluster wins (note that word, win) and some serious beatings from chracters we already knew were above them on the food chain they've never done anything to show us they aren't among the elite. The stats will always have little things that just aren't right (MAGUS) but an 83-0 record speaks well for that group. Yes, it looks like it won't make it past 90, but then again whover topples that barrier obviously should ave been i nthe group from the starts and will certainly remain in the group for as long as it holds.
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Now Link, fill up your hearts
So you can shoot your sword with power

You could define Elite as breaking 45% on any Noble Nine member, maybe, something like that.

That would put too many chars in that category.

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Reserved for the winner of the SC2K5 Guru Challenge.

Shadow can get 45% on Mario. That doesn't make him elite.
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It's just not the same without this name.
Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

Magus once broke 35% on Link. I don't think any of us that were around then started calling him elite. We were mostly on a wait and see stance. I don't think breaking a certain numebr is good enough. If you want to be elite you need to prove yourself year after year as one of the indomitable forces. Really, it's sorta emberassing if your scale for elitism goes to having Magus in one year and no where near another and it's sorta weak if the line-up is subject to heavy change every single year. Elites should prove themselves, not get lucky. Snake may be a weak elite character, but unless Bowser (or Sora) topples him (which I'm beginning to doubt possible) he'll have proven himself yet again. Hell, he could get 10% on Link and I'd still say he's among the elite if can manage to school the young upstarts and only lose to those that are on the same plane as he is.
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Now Link, fill up your hearts
So you can shoot your sword with power

A day past Snake's reaffirming performance against Zelda with the highest vote totals of the entire tournament, and people are already talking about a Sora upset? Please, people. Alucard is not that strong now. 2k4, perhaps, but the new casual vote doesn't go to him. I never expected Sora to ever leave the match in doubt, just like I never expected Kratos and Agent 47 to be that weak (because they're NOT). Even with a bad picture for Snake, Sora will be exposed next round.

...man, I love that phrase. So suggestive.
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Only the Snake is the true hero. Solid Snake to the Final Four!

And I don't know why I mentioned Kratos and Agent 47 in there when it could conceivably conflict with my argument. I guess it was being a little slighted at 47 being called 'Neo-Tanner' when he and his games are actually quite popular even here. <_<
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Only the Snake is the true hero. Solid Snake to the Final Four!