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Bge09-31

Results[]

Round One

Poll3476

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

Ulti's Analysis[]

Poll 3476
Division 2007-2009
Match # 31
Match Date Thursday, May 7th, 2009
Oracle
Expectations
Metal Gear Solid 4 - 42.74%
Portal - 22.50%
Bioshock - 20.18%
LittleBigPlanet - 14.65%
GameFAQs
Expectations
MGS4 first place (2pts) - 49.69%
MGS4 second place (1pt) - 28.54%
Portal second place (2pts) - 21.72%
Portal first place (1pt) - 10.57%
Advancing
Prediction
Metal Gear Solid 4 - 78.23% (29,959)
Portal - 32.29% (12,366)

Metal Gear Solid 4 is one of my all-time favorite games, and I'm still in afterglow mode because I beat Portal yesterday and was shocked at how amazing it was. Every possible good emotion a game can give you, Portal gave me. So... yeah, I can't not be biased here. I haven't yet played BioShock and I stopped caring about LittleBigPlanet after playing it for 15 minutes. This was a great result, even if I couldn't fully appreciate it until yesterday. Portal rocked that much. Not trashing BioShock, I just can't make an opinion on something I've yet to play.

(UPDATE: Ulti has since played BioShock and likes it a tiny little bit more than Portal.)

Anyway, MGS4 getting first here was a lock. LBP getting last was a lock. BioShock vs Portal was a tossup, because even though Portal getting second was the consensus what did we really know? Past polls had no good information on this, so it was more or less a guess. And since this board loves Portal to death (and now I know why!), Portal being the consensus in a tossup was no surprise.

Thankfully, this wasn't much of a match at all. Vote totals were obviously low, but an all-PS3 poll will do that. And yes, I'm aware BioShock and Portal are on other systems. Don't care.

Portal got the expected board vote, then did the "slowly increase lead and win easily in spite of the opponent getting a lot of stalls and small cuts" thing. BioShock made no major moves until the ASV, where it stalled Portal for a couple hours before shaving a 1600 vote lead down to a 1500 vote loss. Big whoop.

Deploying surprise in five... four...

God, what a ****ing amazing game Portal was. Words don't do it justice, and I really mean that.

Match Trends[]

Graph3476

Ngamer's Same Day Analysis[]

Match Prediction[]

Tonight is kind of a funny one, because this exact question was posed to me about 4 months back in someone's (maybe tranny's?) mock bracket they posted in Stats, where Portal/BioShock was an 8/9 matchup. Back then I said that it ought to be close but that there was no way I'd bet against Valve or Blizzard in matches that would come down to the final hour, and so I took Portal. After seeing CoD4 today and KotOR/Oblivion/Morrowind the last couple weeks though, I've gained a healthy respect for (non-Halo) Xbox entries and would have to reverse my decision and take BioShock. ...unfortunately, tomorrow's match is NOT a 1v1 as originally intended though, and with the change in format plus MGS4 being around to swoop up the lion's share of the vote I think the ball is back in Portal's court tonight.

There are a few people calling for the LBP upset in this one, but ehh, I just can't see it. Replace MGS4 with a true 360/PC shooter (like say Call of Duty) and I'd be the first to jump on the LBP bandwagon, but as it stands we've already seen Metal Gear Solid post 71% on the game directly and I don't think it's going to get any better tonight, not with Last Place Factor likely coming into the equation as well. The LBP believers say that it's the stand out/sore thumb option, but once again I'm not quite buying it. Portal is so unique and quirky and meme-filled that it would stand out in ANY (non-Valve) crowd, so I can't see that being a major advantage in Sackboy's favor. I'm also of the opinion that of these three choices, LBP is the one that has faded from the public's memory the fastest since those GotY polls were held.

In summary we know so little about these games that I wouldn't be shocked by any combination out of the bottom three, but I've got a good feeling about Portal, even after TF2's stinker. I mean, just look how it dominates that match pic- not even a boy made out of sack, a giant walking robot, or the #5 most popular character on GameFAQs can tear your eyes away!

  • Metal Gear Solid 4 - 43.57%
  • Portal - 20.18%
  • BioShock - 20.14%
  • LittleBigPlanet - 16.11%

And actually I'm wondering why I didn't go lower on LBP now... Dang, better surprise me, Sacky!

Next Day Review[]

Dang, for a match with such potential, today didn't end up being that enthralling. MGS4 did decently but didn't really impress given the weakness of the competition, LBP disappointed somewhat but it's got a perfectly acceptable excuse, and all of the options were so similar in their fanbases that the overall trends were nearly non-existent. The storyline we'd drawn up was Portal getting out to a huge meme-fueled/WCC-like start in the first couple hours before giving that entire advantage away one the sun rose. Then BioShock was going to Xbox ASV its way into a lead, everyone would get worried for their bracket, but the Valve fans would rally to save the day in the final half hour. And well, it almost happened... BS has been cutting into the lead pretty consistently all afternoon, but like just about every other shooter in this contest, it looks as though the FPS is going to come up just a little bit short.

External Links[]

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2009 Spring Contest Matches

Round One
Tetris > Donkey Kong
MM2 > Pac-Man
SMB > Ninja Gaiden
Zelda 1 > Metroid
Sonic 1 > SFII
SMB3 > Monkey Island
SMW > FF
FFIV > MM3
S.Metroid > SMK
Zelda:LttP > DKC
FFVI > Zelda:LA
Sonic 2 > MKII
GE007 > SMRPG
FFVII > MK64
SM64 > SotN

CT > Yoshi's Island
Pokémon RBY > Zelda:MM
MGS > Pokémon GS
FFVIII > Starcraft
Zelda: OoT > FFIX
FFX > MGS2
KH > GTA:VC
Diablo II > Halo
SSBM > Zelda:WW
Oblivion > ToS
MGS3 > WoW
RE4 > KHII
Zelda: TP > Half-Life 2
SSBB > GTAIV
CoD4 > SMG
MGS4 > Portal
Fallout 3 > Halo 3

Round Two
Tetris > MM2
SMB > Zelda 1
SMB3 > Sonic 1
SMW > FF IV
Zelda:LttP > S.Metroid
FFVI > Zelda:LA
FFVII > GE007
SM64 > CT
MGS > Pokémon RBY
Zelda:OoT > FFVIII
FFX > KH
SSBM > Diablo II
MGS3 > Oblivion
Zelda:TP > RE4
SSBB > CoD4
MGS4 > Fallout 3

R3 and following
SMB > Zelda 1
SMB3 > SMW
Zelda:LttP > FFVI
FFVII > SM64
Zelda:OoT > Pokémon RBY
SSBM > FFX
Zelda:TP > RE4
SSBB > MGS4
SMW > SMB3
FFVII > Zelda:LttP
Zelda:OoT > FFX
MGS4 > SSBB
FFVII > Zelda:LttP
Zelda:OoT > FFX
Zelda:OoT > FFVII (Finals)
Zelda:OoT > FFVII (Bonus)

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