LogFAQs > #981459359

95. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal vs. Xenogears (Sp2004) R1

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7b76d760.jpg

Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal 42.05% 29381
Xenogears 57.95% 40495
TOTAL VOTES 69876
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(8)Pok%C3%A9mon_Gold/Silver/Crystal_vs_(9)Xenogears_2004
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/1618-division-32-64-round-1-pokemon-gold-silver-crystal-vs

Spring 2004 was not a good time to have a contest. As previously mentioned, GameFAQS was going through its not a merger with Gamespot, and there were frequent interruptions and delays as the some of the coding and technical kinks were worked out. Most of these issues just consisted of delays, or the SOTN/Perfect Dark match where poll updates were frozen for half the match, but this effect on this match was a little worse. And it was one of the most debated matches of Round One, too. On one hand, you had Xenogears, which was the textbook example of the kind of game that 2004-era GameFAQS loved: a classic Square JRPG for PS1. And on the other side you had Pokemon, with all the strong feelings it produces, both good and bad. Pokemon was clearly the bigger game by a sizable amount, but what was the breakdown of its fans and haters, and would Xenogears be able to slip in through the difference?

The board came down on the side of Pokemon, especially in the days leading up to the match, as predictions began to coalesce around G/S/C. The match started and Xenogears immediately proved the vibe shift wrong however, by getting off to an early lead. A lead which starting dropping with the Day Vote, but was still large enough to prevent any speculation that a comeback was brewing. There was one, little problem though. Where were all the votes? The vote totals for this match were not only lower than anything else in the contest, they were on track to make this the least popular match we had ever seen. 9 hours in and the votals were just starting to crack 10,000. Not only would this break the record of the least popular match, it would do so by several tens of thousands of votes. What was going on?

The initial speculation had to do with a change that was made to the poll placement with this match. A sponsored poll asking people how well they were doing in the contest was occupying the normal poll spot in the top right corner of the page, and the actual match poll was pushed down below the fold. I believe that the first couple matches this contest had seen something similar with much less dramatic results, but the speculation was that this poll having to do with the contest had somehow misled voters into thinking that there was no match that day. In any case, within a couple of hours it became clear what the real issue is. Due to an update that had been made to the sites code that day, only registered users were allowed to vote in the poll. Speculation swirled as to how this would be resolved (I dont think anyone thought it was intentional), but 10 and a half hours in, Ceej took the match down, explained the situation, and announced that the poll would be reheld the following day, this time with the aberrant code corrected, and with every visitor allowed to vote in the match as intended.

This sent panic through anyone that had picked Xenogears. Sure Xenogears had been winning earlier in the day, but it was only at 55% when the poll got taken down. Surely the casual fanbase whose votes were missing would massively favor Pokemon. There were some dissenters who questioned whether or not Pokemon had been close enough to make up the difference, but the general premise that Pokemon would improve the next day was not seriously challenged. Pokemon was going to get a second wind, it was only matter of how much, as people waited for the rematch to start. And once it did. . . .Xenogears ended up winning by even more. Were Pokemon fans too stupid to realize the poll was being rerun? Were the hardcore users of the site actually more likely to be Pokemon fans? Who knows, but you couldnt have written a more ironic ending to this match.