Lurker > CaptainOfCrush

That's just sad.

Seems like the most pathetic performance in a big game since the Jazz were humiliated 96-54 against the Bulls in 98.
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Yoblazer
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StealThisSheen posted...

Did she ever finish that thing she got kickstarted

I think she did very recently.

Anyway, if she really wants to stop covering video games... bad move financially. Gamers are rabid, emotional, and argumentative. Inciting them will always bring you attention, and they're a pretty easy target since no one in the media is sympathetic of them.

Movie "fans" (which is like everyone) won't care to give a critic the same attention and site traffic that gamers would.
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Yoblazer
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Probably but I'm still having fun.
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Yoblazer
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We all know what the top five games are for 1994 (bolded below). Since it looks like we'll get eight pictures in R3, which other three games do you guys think would be strongest?

Top 5
Super Metroid
Final Fantasy VI
Mega Man X
Donkey Kong Country
Sonic 3 & Knuckles

Pick 3
Killer Instinct
Tekken
Earthworm Jim
Doom II
Warcraft

My guess is KI, Jim, and the original Warcraft for that "series respect" vote which may or may not exist.
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Yoblazer
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Linkzcap posted...

Aren't the finals way more hyped, like we can expect at least double the normal amount of votes? I think it's safe to say votes will reach 900,000.

Impossible at this point, barring massive rallies. If we average 17,000 per match (it's been a little less), we get 595,000 total votes for the contest. The only remaining entrant with real rally potential is 2001, and it probably won't need rallies to reach the final (or at least the semifinal). Even if it does get rallied against 1998 in the final... that's the last match. Realistically, I'd say our ceiling at this point is 700k.
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Yoblazer
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Any six random Round 1 matches from the female side of the 2006 Character Battle will end up outdrawing this entire contest.
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Yoblazer
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LoZ needs around 5.5 votes per update (lol) to pull those out. It hasn't been anywhere near that consistent and votals are actually a hair below yesterday's, so things look safe for 1995.

It will be marching to slaughter, but at least it's getting its full rotation of notable games next round.
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Yoblazer
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Mac Arrowny posted...

Was there ever any evidence that CT is stronger than Pokemon RBY?

Nothing direct, but CT's performance in the later rounds of the 2015 contest were unexpected and godly. It beat FFX with 65.5%, a percentage that FFVII would struggle to duplicate even with SFF. For comparative purposes, Ocarina beat SotN - a game assuredly weaker than FFX - with 68%. Chrono Trigger was also headed toward a likely 60%+ win against Melee before the rallies.

Those two performances really emboldened people to go bullish on CT's strength.

As for RBY, its last contest (the first one where it was in 1v1 matches) was really weird since it got caught up in the Undertale currents. I think the only "untainted" match it had was against Tetris. It scored a strong 68%, but most people would take CT's 65% on FFX any day.
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Yoblazer
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Three straight cuts (!!) of 5, 4, and 5 votes.

The votals look no sadder than when you're actually paying attention to a possible comeback. 1987's largest cut all day has been 13.
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Yoblazer
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You.

Must.

Recover.
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Yoblazer
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I've been lucky enough to avoid both so far.
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Yoblazer
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CT's top lead has been around 500 (it's held that level for over two hours). That's roughly equivalent to a lead of, what, 2-3k with our old votals? Zelda CAN reverse that, but I would think you'd need a newer Zelda game and an adversary less beloved than CT.
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Yoblazer
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I think Smash 4 wins easily. It seems that very few people who've played both prefer Brawl. Smash 4 has the best roster in fighting game history, better online, better mechanics, HD visuals - the works. The only thing Brawl has (had) is the hype which died years ago, and Snake.

Melee actually HAD the fanatical, super motivated fanbase, and Brawl still won when the finally matched up. Brawl has no such fanbase to keep it afloat against the newer Smash game.
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Yoblazer
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NowItsAngeTime posted...

Ulti eventually likes to make pics for everything ifbhe has time

I wouldnt mind making oics for everything I guess

You're doing a great job with the ones you've shown us so far, so please keep it up!

Just be a doll and save Silent Hill 2 for me. =)
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Yoblazer
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GranzonEx posted...

guys what about CT as the #2 game on the site

It still might be. I honestly find it impressive that it's winning this match with zero support, especially when we've already gotten some evidence that depth really matters. 1987 gave us four "best ever" caliber series - it's no joke at all.
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Yoblazer
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Lol diggin it

Great job so far, guys. Hopefully I have time to join you this weekend; I really want to rep 2001's B-Team.
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Yoblazer
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Hmm... with interest in this contest at an all-time low, I have doubts that SBAllen will even receive eight unique game/console pics for each year. He'll probably have to reuse a few R1 match pics next round. Either that, or a prolific B8 picsmith will have like two dozen works credited to him.
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Yoblazer
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Oh actually, 1995 also has Mega Man X 2, so it has TWO games I like!
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Yoblazer
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Yes, but I also haven't really played the original Mega Man, Castlevania, or Metroid, so it was basically 1 game vs 1 game.
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Yoblazer
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96 got lucky. Possibly its four best games.
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Yoblazer
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I wouldnt be surprised if 2001's B-Team can beat 1995.

MGS2
Paper Mario
Devil May Cry
Silent Hill 2
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Yoblazer
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KamikazePotato posted...

Are you talking pre-contest or like, recent Oracle picks?

Oracle picks as of like a couple hours ago. I saw at least a few people picking 1995 with a doubling or more.
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Yoblazer
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BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

This is probably the most egregious example of single game strength vs raw depth of field

Luckily for 1995, I think enough people realize that it actually does have other games of quality (DKC2, Earthbound, SMW2), and that's giving it the lead at the moment. If those games didn't exist and this truly was a year with only one game worth a damn, it would be getting killed by 1987 right now.
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Yoblazer
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BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

Haste_2 posted...
I am puzzled how polarized predictions were for 1995/1987. Everyone who picked '95 thought it would be a blowout. And then like five people had '87 winning.

I predicted a 55% win for 1995 and it looks like I was being too generous. But you're right, I would like to hear the rationale for picking 95 with a huge percentage when three of its four "marquee" games are absolutely terrible fodder. It's like people didn't want to believe how badly the pic was screwing it over.
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Yoblazer
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Haste_2 posted...

Too little too late, I think.

How do you figure? 87 is keeping it close despite brackets and the monster CT early vote. It has all day to take advantage of its own monster Zelda day vote.
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Yoblazer
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Another big drop. I'm almost ready to call 87 the favorite.
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Yoblazer
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1995 is being represented by one game on the front page. It may as well be called "the Chrono Trigger year." This wouldn't be happening if it got its half-decent support up there. I think everyone realizes that.
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Yoblazer
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1995 is teetering.

At least I called it at the end of last night's podcast (why don't ya tune in!).
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Yoblazer
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In an actual match, I think 1987 blows out 86 more than any other year, 98 and 01 included. Why vote for 86 when 87 is simply a much better NES year? I can see that match going into legendary percentages, like 93/7.
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Yoblazer
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Also because Melee is a legit top ten game of all time, right up there with Super Turbo. Juuuust sayin!
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Yoblazer
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Full Throttle and co dropped quite a bit from the early board vote. It fell from 66 to 58 in four minutes. Hope this stabilizes!

And yes, 2001 is moonwalking into the semifinals regardless of what pictures 1995 gets.
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Yoblazer
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I'm happy 1995 gets a win at all. It has the worst picture in the bracket, by far.
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Yoblazer
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Oh, and I love how Melee is matched up against Brawl here.
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Yoblazer
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Welp, we're getting Full Throttled. Let's see how Chrono Trigger fares against like 70% of the NES's big games.
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Yoblazer
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1995 - 55%
2001 - 70%

1997 - 68%
2000 - 55%

1991 - 62%
1994 - 62%

1998 - 70%
2003 - 55%

Safety pix.
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Yoblazer
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Sir Ian ftw

Hugh for Gascoigne
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Yoblazer
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lol oh man, I remember the "Vectorman vs DKC" rivalry from the mid-90s about which console could produce better graphics. Looking at Vectorman now... why was this even a question
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Yoblazer
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Oh man, he was almost doubled by Yoshimitsu, who was then almost tripled by Sora.

Not a great look for Skyward Sword.
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Yoblazer
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Did Groose really lose that badly?
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Yoblazer
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If Melee had beaten Brawl, it would have easily won the entire contest (likely against FFX in the final). With Majora NOT winning the contest, its fanboys wouldn't be as emboldened as they are now, and would, like everyone else, know their place and concede OoT's status as the best of games.

I love MM but am really irked by how uppity its fanboys have become. AND STUPID BRAWL WAS RESPONSIBLE.
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Yoblazer
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SBAllen posted...

For each year, we'll be showing two sets of rotating images similar to how we have it setup now except for two images per year instead of one.

@SBAllen does this mean that each year will have eight images total instead of four? Thanks.
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Yoblazer
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Oh man, if 2004 was around, we could have tried using this pic for the DS


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Yoblazer
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transience posted...

man, you're really sore about that!

I was fine about it until Ngamer made an excellent argument as to the extent it was screwed when we did the podcast last night. He really swayed me into buttdevestation.
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Yoblazer
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Nice, systems! 2006 ready to make some noise!
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Yoblazer
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Not_Wylvane posted...

What's the x-stat rankings for Portal 2, Dark Souls, Okami, Gears of War, and FF12? Too lazy to back up my own arguments.

According to lol x-stats:

Okami
Dark Souls
FF12
Portal 2
Gears of War

Dark Souls, FF12, and Portal 2 are very closely lumped together, with Okami a step above them (it gets 55% on Dark Souls). My guess is that Dark Souls has aged really well and could challenge Okami these days, but who knows.
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Yoblazer
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Wasn't Bioshock Infinite's reception lukewarm at best?

Anyway, 2013 does have some good stuff, but on GameFAQs, KotOR can probably contend with any game from 2013, and Wind Waker is easily the strongest game from either year.
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Yoblazer
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Lightning Strikes posted...

It should also be noted that yes, maybe 2006 did not have its full strength, but neither did 2011 because so many of 2011's legion of games weren't shown.

I agree with you there, but that's a moot point. Most of the board were aware of SBAllen's R1 picture format before brackets locked down. We understood that he would be showcasing four games per year. If he had somehow found a way to showcase 8+ (and had we known about it), I'm sure most people would have gone with 2011 because of its superior depth. However, that was never the format, and people made the decision that "2006's four strongest games are stronger than 2011's."

Also, I really challenge your memories if you feel that people weren't excited about gaming in 2006. That was, collectively, the most gamers had been excited about their hobby since 2001, and that level of hype has not been repeated since.
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Yoblazer
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LinkMarioSamus posted...

Or people might just have more fond memories of gaming in 2011 than 2006? Doesn't help that the former is more recently and the impact of those games is being felt far more. Just throwing in my two cents.

I give 2011 a lot of credit because it was the last time that people got HYPED for gaming, mainly because of Skyrim. But do you really think people have fonder memories of that year than 2006, which had KHII to start the year and TP + the launch of the Wii to end it? Shoot, in terms of pure excitement, E3 2006 alone can probably beat the weakest years in the bracket if we found some way to poll that.
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Yoblazer
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I don't think anyone would argue that 2011 is a deeper year overall, but I similarly don't think anyone would (or SHOULD) argue that 2006 has the superior top 4-5. TP, KHII, FFXII, Okami, and Oblivion are simply stronger than any half-dozen games from 2011. It didn't get to showcase that strength in a fair way.
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Yoblazer
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Honestly it's more like saying Great Britain would win because of Gordon Ramsey but I see what you're sayin
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Yoblazer
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