Results[]
Ulti's Analysis[]
| Division | Division 16 |
|---|---|
| Match # | 15 |
| Match Date | Friday, April 16th, 2004 |
| Vote difference | 12,164 |
| Oracle Expectations |
Doom - 51.12% 50 for - 35 against |
| GameFAQs Prediction |
Doom - 61.92% (25,350 brackets) |
Some people forget two very simple things (quoted from an Ulti prediction topic):
1 - Earthbound is the very definition of a cult classic. The people who play the game absolutely love it, and they are more likely to nominate Earthbound over any other game. This is the sole reason for its high seed.
2 - Of all the PC games in the contest, I believe Doom has the highest seeding of them all. That's quite an accomplishment, and I would honestly be shocked if Earthbound managed to get 45% of the vote.
^ Not the exact words, as that was all from memory. But you get the idea. ^
Anyway, this match had quite the debate behind it. After all, Earthbound was a 7 seed, ahead of Super Mario RPG and Street Fighter 2! But like I said all through the days leading up to that match, Earthbound has one of the most dedicated fanbases of any game out there. Hence the seed. But everyone, everyone, has heard of Doom. First Person Shooters could exist without Doom, and they would all suck. Doom was one of gaming's most revolutionary titles, and it was quite deserving of being the highest-seeded PC game in the contest (not counting FF7 and Halo, of course). So in the end, we have one of gaming's biggest sleeper hits versus one of gaming's most revolutionary titles. Unfortunately, name value normally prevails in these situations. The match played out exactly like expected. Earthbound took a very early lead because of the hardcore fans, but Doom eventually took over with the second update and eventually managed to steamroll Earthbound right out of the match.
The surprising thing, outside of Earthbound's seeding, was all of the pre-match hype. Even the Prophet Challenge made it seem like this match would be right down the middle the whole way through, but it wasn't even close in the end. This match was quite the first round bracket buster as well, as almost 40% of people called the match wrong.