Results[]
Ulti's Analysis[]
| Division | Ultima Division |
|---|---|
| Match # | 15 |
| Match Date | Sunday, July 16th, 2006 |
| Vote difference | 32,622 |
| Oracle Expectations |
Street Fighter - 60.31% 154 for - 12 against |
| GameFAQs Prediction |
Street Fighter - 65.96% (30,472 brackets) |
I saw maybe one update of the match and about 2 minutes' worth of board topics, but it was more than enough to gauge the sad state that this match would become.
Despite all evidence pointing to the fact that Street Fighter winning this was a lock, Elder Scrolls fans made it a point to act as loud and obnoxious as possible every day leading up to this match. I even remember Villainous Fawful making a topic guaranteeing that TES would win, and that the board would eat crow solely due to being unfamiliar with the Elder Scrolls as a series. This is actually one of the more tame examples I can remember off the top of my head to bring up.
Essentially, TES fans were banking on Oblivion's insane popularity to give TES the match. Never mind the fact that PC and Xbox gaming on GameFAQs is laughable compared to the popularity levels of the consoles Street Fighter has seen, namely SNES, Genesis and Playstation 2. There's also the fact that Street Fighter is an accomplished series that most everyone has experience in, while TES is a niche RPG series. I've said this a million times, but once can't hurt if it helps to hammer the point into a few more thick skulls: non-Square RPG entities will tank in contests. Period, end of discussion. Oh, and bringing up the FAQ Top 50 list is completely irrelevant. Stop doing it.
The match eventually began, and predictably, The Elder Scrolls got its ass whipped. Street Fighter flirted with a doubling for awhile, but would eventually fall just short. But the outcome of this match was secondary given that two of gaming's most MATURE AND LEVEL-HEADED fanbases were all over Board 8 during the match.
On one end were the elitist Elder Scrolls snobs who could not fathom that any human being could consider any game better than Oblivion. It was also a massive shock that a subpar fighting series like Street Fighter had any popularity, given that any one of 900 others were better. Street Fighter 2 essentially starting the genre and saving the life of the arcade industry was of course irrelevant.
Not to say that Street Fighter fans were acting any better, mind. Fighting game elitists are some of the most annoying gamers to talk to about anything, let alone fighting games. So when people began to question Street Fighter's merit as a series through Elder Scrolls getting its ass whipped, you can bet that legions of "LK MK xx MK xx -> QCF QCF MP -> 6BBB6BBB6BBB" snobs were ready, willing and able to post their incoherent babble all over the place. Rinse and repeat for hundreds of the most pointless back-and-forth topics of all time. I'm happy I wasn't home to witness most of this nonsense, because my brain would likely chosen to cease functioning.
Lost in all this was that the upcoming Street Fighter/Resident Evil clash was actually something worth talking about, even if RE was the clear favorite going in.
Match Trends[]
