Board 8 > I got 1998 over 1997 in the finals...

(+) Yeah! (+)

How likely is this to happen? I think OOT is going to have 1998 go through the competition strongly.
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RE2 will carry Link's ass to victory.
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Even without OoT I'd give 1998 a great chance at making the finals, ignoring rallying of course.
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I got a bad feeling about an overwatch rally
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You should pick 1979 to win the contest. Galaxian will get a huge rally.

Jesse_Custer posted...

You should pick 1979 to win the contest. Galaxian will get a huge rally.

Maybe if the site that shall not be named gets involved. OTOH, that would still be kinda awesome.

I'd say 1998 is a near lock to win honestly. I have 1998 > 2001 though.

Don't underestimate the ability of the FFX/Melee combo to capture both the RPG and Nintendo fanbases.
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pyresword posted...

I'd say 1998 is a near lock to win honestly. I have 1998 > 2001 though.

Don't underestimate the ability of the FFX/Melee combo to capture both the RPG and Nintendo fanbases.

That is possible, but FF7 is also very strong.
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If you're banking on 2001 it should really be because of Melee and not FFX. FFX alone would fold hard to 1998
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LordOfDabu posted...

If you're banking on 2001 it should really be because of Melee and not FFX. FFX alone would fold hard to 1998

I have 1998 winning. I have 2001 getting to the finals, but I don't think it or any other year stands a chance in hell of taking down 1998. (assuming no rallying)
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1997 is gonna have problems with 1996/2000 & 2001. It will probably look weak compared to 1998 throughout the contest.
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Yeah 1997 would probably be a pretty weak year without FF7, so if you're taking it to the finals that means your theory of the contest should be (to leading order) that only the strongest game in a year really matters
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Yeah I also have 2000 > 1997 in my bracket. I'm banking pretty hard on the notion that having games from a variety of different fanbases is going to contribute just as much as the actual strength of those games.
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I have 2000 > 1997 as well.
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2000 was a good year, PS2 and No Mercy.
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Yeah, I have 2000 > 1997 as well. Take away Final Fantasy VII and 1997 really doesn't have that much going for it. Granted even then its a gamble, since I'm unsure if depth is gonna matter that much.
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I am counting on nostalgia for FF7 plus remake hype to carry 1997 to the finals but in the end, losing to 1998.
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Really? I thought 1997 was pretty deep.

The real surprise of the contest will be at the bottom, where the last entry into the Elite 8 will be 2013, easily the best year of the current decade.
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Same, with 2001 and 1994 being in the final four. 94 vs 91 might be tough
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TsunamiXXVIII posted...

Really? I thought 1997 was pretty deep.

I don't really see it that way unless there's more notable games that aren't in the list given by GameFAQs. Age of Empires and Fallout seem pretty worthless. FFVII and SotN are both really strong but I see there being a lot of overlap between the two. (ie. I don't think SotN adds much on top of FFVII) And then there's Goldeneye, but I don't think that game is near as strong as this board has made it out to be in the past. Overall it's certainly strong, but I don't see that lineup beating Majora's Mask/FFIX/Pokemon GSC. Diablo II probably helps a also especially seeing as I don't see any other similar games in that match that might SFF it.
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LordoftheMorons posted...

Yeah 1997 would probably be a pretty weak year without FF7, so if you're taking it to the finals that means your theory of the contest should be (to leading order) that only the strongest game in a year really matters

Goldeneye?
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Goldeneye (and SotN) are worth something, but I don't see them matching up favorably with FFIX/Pokemon GS or FFX/MGS2. FFVII is stronger than MM or Melee, but I don't think it's by enough unless the strongest game is the criterion most people are using.
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Oh god I didn't even realize that. 2001 is literally strong enough that MGS2 didn't make the cut for its list of notable games given by GameFAQ's. There is no chance whatsoever that 2001 doesn't make it to the finals.
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There's no debating which game is better, but Melee probably beats FFVII again on this site.

NintendoFAQs.
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pyresword posted...

Oh god I didn't even realize that. 2001 is literally strong enough that MGS2 didn't make the cut for its list of notable games given by GameFAQ's. There is no chance whatsoever that 2001 doesn't make it to the finals.

Star Fox 64 and Mario Kart 64 didn't make the notable games list for 1997 also.
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Wait what.

Ok never mind the lists are just bad then.

Does anyone know if these lists are going to be displayed to voters during the matches, or how is that going to work? I've been picking assuming the answer to that is yes, but actually I may end up changing a lot of my picks if that's not the case.
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