GameFAQsContests.com

The match stayed close overnight before 1996 pulled away once the morning vote arrived. The writeup considers the final result tainted by a picture policy that failed to represent 2000's strongest possible lineup.

Pic: The writeup says 2000 was effectively denied a fair chance because Pokémon GSC was omitted from its match picture while 1996 received an unusually strong set of representative games. It explicitly argues that the picture imbalance likely decided the match.

Mewtwo won convincingly while Phoenix unexpectedly pushed Vincent into last place. The notorious Vincent picture became one of the contest's biggest presentation controversies and overwhelmed much of the discussion.

Pic: The writeup says Vincent received an intentionally terrible Dirge of Cerberus picture and directly blames the image for worsening his performance enough that Phoenix could pass him.

Shadow of the Colossus survived an all-day war of attrition against Metal Gear Solid 2 and won by the narrowest margin in the contest. The writeup treats the upset as the launch of the contest's Cinderella run and one of its best matches.

Pic · Rally: The writeup calls Shadow of the Colossus's image the biggest picture disadvantage of the contest and says it would have won more easily under fairer pictures. It also explicitly describes a late Shadow of the Colossus counter-rally after MGS2 retook the lead.

Persona 4 survived a long Dead Rising comeback in one of the round's closest races, reclaiming control late after briefly falling behind. The writeup credits Persona's more committed fanbase and possibly its picture for the narrow escape.

Pic: The writeup explicitly says Persona 4's strong match picture may deserve credit for the narrow win over Dead Rising.

Golden Sun upset San Andreas on the release day of Dark Dawn, with RPG-friendly site conditions and a prominent home-page ad further favoring the winner. The writeup sees the timing as unusually hostile to GTA and the result as a major casual-bracket shock.

Pic: The writeup says Golden Sun's match picture looked exceptionally strong while San Andreas looked exceptionally poor, describing the image as one of several factors stacked against GTA.

Call of Duty 4 won but was badly embarrassed by an otherwise unproven Perfect Dark. The writeup sees the poor showing as further evidence of deep anti-Call-of-Duty sentiment on GameFAQs.

Pic: The writeup explicitly describes a picture imbalance against Perfect Dark and notes that Perfect Dark still performed well despite its weaker image.

Vincent advanced comfortably, while Gordon Freeman completed another major step in his reversal of the old GFNW reputation by beating Scorpion for the second spot. Falco never became a serious factor.

Pic: The writeup says Scorpion's poor match picture was not the sole reason he lost, but explicitly states that it hurt his chances against Gordon Freeman.

Mario cruised while Big Boss demolished Magus for the other advancing spot. The writeup treats the newly revealed Naked Snake picture as the defining factor that transformed expectations before the poll even began.

Pic: The writeup calls Big Boss's Naked Snake image one of the clearest picture-factor examples, saying the strong recognizable picture helped turn the matchup against Magus decisively in Big Boss's favor.

Resident Evil narrowly held off Street Fighter after a much closer fight than most of Board 8 expected. The writeup credits Street Fighter's favorable picture for helping the upset threat while arguing that current Capcom fanbase overlap ultimately leaned toward Resident Evil.

SFF · Pic: The writeup says the heavily Street Fighter-favored picture gave Street Fighter an advantage, while also arguing that Capcom fanbase overlap likely favored Resident Evil because Resident Evil 4 was then the stronger current draw.

Ganondorf crushed Ansem as expected, though the writeup thought the favorite should have looked even stronger after Ansem's struggle with CATS. Much of the discussion blames Ganondorf's pig-form picture for the comparatively disappointing showing.

Pic: The writeup says Ganondorf's pig-like Ganon picture was widely blamed for an underperformance against Ansem, hurting the favorite despite the easy win.

Kefka demolished Wesker and erased the upset hype that had surrounded the matchup before the contest. The writeup calls it one of Kefka's best performances and says his unusually favorable picture may have contributed.

Pic: The writeup says Kefka received an exceptionally strong picture and suggests it was partly responsible for his unusually dominant performance against Wesker.

Squall beat Kirby in another predictable Midgar match, though Kirby performed better than expected. The writeup's main curiosity is that Squall only began separating after the match picture appeared.

Pic: The writeup says Kirby and Squall were dead even before the match picture appeared, after which Squall began pulling away, and explicitly suggests that the picture may have mattered.