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Fallout 3 beat Batman without suspense, but Batman's respectable showing reinforced the writeup's view that Arkham Asylum was a genuinely strong new entrant. The match mattered more for Batman's validation than for the winner.

Halo transformed an almost even opening hour against Uncharted 2 into a decisive win through its trademark afternoon vote. The writeup treats the swing as a classic demonstration of Halo's unusually powerful ASV.

Metroid Prime advanced as expected, but Okami's resistance impressed the writeup and validated how far the game had risen since its earliest contest appearances. The result briefly made Prime's next match look more uncertain than it ultimately was.

Half-Life 2 immediately shut down pre-match God of War upset talk and delivered one of its strongest performances. The result turned the coming Metroid Prime matchup into a genuine tossup.

Melee beat Call of Duty 4 easily but again bled enough support to make the writeup increasingly pessimistic about its chances against Brawl. The poor bracket confidence around Melee added to the warning signs.

Brawl destroyed Pokémon DPP even in a daytime match favorable to Pokémon. The writeup treats the performance as decisive evidence that Brawl had overtaken Melee in the divisional rivalry.

Twilight Princess eliminated Super Mario Galaxy, but Galaxy performed far better than the old Mario-versus-Zelda history suggested it might. The writeup treats the loss as a moral victory that helped rehabilitate Galaxy's contest reputation.

Kingdom Hearts II upset the original Kingdom Hearts in a direct series showdown, repeatedly repelling small comeback attempts before its strong afternoon vote pulled away. The writeup treats the result as decisive evidence that the sequel had become the stronger game.

Final Fantasy X beat Golden Sun but looked embarrassingly weak early in a matchup where the writeup expected major same-genre suppression. Its overnight recovery helped, yet the result reinforced the view that FFX had declined substantially since 2004.

Final Fantasy IX held off KOTOR in a matchup that had been a legitimate pre-contest upset possibility. KOTOR's respectable loss and FFIX's predictable daytime decline left the writeup satisfied with both games' performances.

Resident Evil 4 rebounded from its weak Vice City match by crushing Persona 4. Combined with Final Fantasy X's poor showing, the result revived serious discussion of an RE4 upset in the next round.

Portal beat Mass Effect comfortably, but the writeup considers Mass Effect's showing one of the best losses of the contest and clear proof of a major sequel-driven boost. Portal still looked strong, just not strong enough to threaten Resident Evil 4.

Paper Mario's run ended against Metal Gear Solid 3, but the writeup treats its performance as fully legitimate after the earlier World of Warcraft upset. It also mocks how badly casual brackets had overestimated WoW's chances in this section.

Shadow of the Colossus followed its MGS2 upset by beating Metal Gear Solid 4 and turning a possible fluke into the contest's defining Cinderella run. A late MGS4 rally cut into the lead but is explicitly dismissed as meaningless.

Majora's Mask ended the heavily hyped Pokémon GSC run almost immediately and overturned the comparisons many people had drawn from the prior four-way contest. The writeup treats the result as another major rejection of four-way extrapolation.

Wind Waker handled Oblivion without the competitive drama some had expected before the contest. Oblivion improved during the day but never became one of the Western games the writeup considered especially impressive.