Results[]
Ulti's Analysis[]
| Division | Division 8 |
|---|---|
| Match # | 34 |
| Match Date | Friday, May 7th, 2004 |
| Vote difference | 31,994 |
| Oracle Expectations |
Final Fantasy - 73.70% 64 for - 0 against |
| GameFAQs Prediction |
Final Fantasy - 82.01% (33,575 brackets) |
First and foremost, I am disgusted that the Black Mage was not the character representing Final Fantasy in the match picture. I mean, what did he ever do to deserve such punishment? ...besides all the sinning...
And then there is the prediction percentage. Only 72% of people predicted Mario 3 to reach the sweet sixteen, while 82% of people predicted Final Fantasy making the sweet sixteen. Mario 3 was a lock from the beginning to win its half division, yet it was outnumbered by Final Fantasy by 10% to even reach the sweet sixteen? If that isn't gamefaqs Square bias, I don't know what is. Either that, or people relying too much on past results to choose their brackets in this contest.
Anyway, Contra wound up performing well in this contest as a whole. Phantasy Star was overseeded, yet Contra beat it soundly. As for its match against Final Fantasy here, yes it lost 70-30, but 30% of the vote on a Final Fantasy title on this site is nothing to laugh at. In the overall standings, Contra isn't powerful at all. But within the realm of Division 8, I don't think it did badly at all. If we knew of the results of the Final Fantasy/Mario 3 poll before this match, we wouldn't call the game that lives on the best cheat code ever made losing 70-30 to Final Fantasy all that bad. It's still a decent franchise -- nothing amazing, but nothing too bad either -- and it still has some very loyal fans. Just look at MWIS ~_^
The perspective on Final Fantasy is slightly different. As I said before, 10% more people thought Final Fantasy would get here than Mario 3. Did people look at their brackets and assume that since Samus and Solid Snake could pose threats to Mario that their games within Division 8 stood a chance? It's the only thing I can think of, and it makes enough sense. But looking at the stats before the imminent Final Fantasy/Mario 3 match, one could actually assume that Final Fantasy had a chance of winning. I maintain that Mario 3 was a lock for at least the elite eight in this contest, and the very thought of another game in Mario 3's half division being able to pose any threat whatsoever was simply unheard of before this contest. Final Fantasy did that well in the first two rounds, and it wound up doing damned well in the third as well.
Match Trends[]
