<b>Midgar Division:</b> <I>Round 1 - Match 21</I> – (6)Ness vs. (11)Jak

<b>Ness</b>

Game/Series Known From: Earthbound/Super Smash Bros. Series

Extrapolated Rank in 2002: N/A

Extrapolated Rank in 2003: 55th

Seed in 2002: N/A

Seed in 2003: 12

Lost in Round 1to Bowser in 2003.

Along with Guybrush, Ness got the most unfair seed. He gets killed by Bowser last year as a 12 seed. Comes back this year with a 6 seed, while Bowser gets a 7-seed? I mean, what is that?

<b>Jak</b>

Game/Series Known From: Jak and Daxter Series

Extrapolated Rank in 2002: N/A

Extrapolated Rank in 2003: N/A

Seed in 2002: N/A

Seed in 2003: N/A

Jak enters the Summer Contest for his first time, and already has an unpredictible match!.

Contest Vet vs. Newcomer. But this time, there is a twist. You know when your vet is an undeserving character like Ness, and your newcomer is a character whose games sold well on the PS2, you've got yourself a toughie.

Ceej should be slapped on the back of his head for making this match. It is VERY hard to decide who the winner will be. Ness can't even be considered the favorite. He flopped against Bowser in Round 1 last year, losing to him 75-25. Some blame it on SFF, but I highly doubt that was the reason. There might have been a small amount, but not enough to blame Ness's craptasic performance on it. Jak on the other hand, is a Contest newbie, so we don't exactly know his strength. His games sold pretty well. Jak and Daxter sold 1.7 million copies worldwide, 1.5 million of those being in the US. Jak II sold 1.3 million in the US and Japan. Earthbound on the other hand sold somewhere between 500K and 1 mil. (Thanks to Heroic Mario for the sales numbers ^_^) Jak has the advantage there, but the sales of your games does not make you a winner automatically. Jak should also receive the casual vote, while Ness will get the cult vote. Hmm....one more thing.

A lot of people compare Jak to Ratchet. Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank...they do seem alike. If so, Ratchet got a little over 25% on Luigi, while Ness got a little under 25% on Bowser. I would choose Bowser over Luigi in a poll in a second. So Bowser > Luigi > Ness > Ratchet. The rankings prove this too. Bowser is 17th, Luigi is 30th, Ness is 55th and Ratchet is 57th. Remember, this is only under the assumption that Jak = Ratchet. Jak could prove us wrong by being someone totally stronger than expected.

This is another coin-flip match along with Tidus vs. Shadow. Both characters have an equal chance of winning. The BOP is dead-even on this match. I wouldn't be surprised if 50% of the brackets call this match right. So don't feel bad if you got this match wrong. It's only 1 point and it's a very tough one to call. That being said, I had Ness at first in my bracket, but switched to Jak a few days later. Now I have a coin in my hand and I will flip it. Heads = Ness, Tails = Jak. Winner take all.

...

<b>Moltar's Bracket Says:</b> Ness will win.

<b>Moltar's Prediction is:</b> Ness 51% - Jak 49%

<b>Ulti's Analysis</b>

Summer 2003 - East Round 1 - (5) Bowser [75.07%] vs (12) Ness [24.93%] - 50.14%

Summer 2003 - North Round 1 - (3) Luigi [74.54%] vs (14) Ratchet [25.46%] - 49.08%

Bowser could beat Luigi in a poll, yet Luigi scored the same as Bowser in the first round last year. The <i>only</i> way Luigi could have done this was by facing an opponent clearly weaker than Bowser's opponent. And in time, Ratchet did prove to be weaker than Ness last year. Since Ratchet is the perfect character to compare Jak to (and <i>not</i> Conker, who could whip the both of them), why don't we simply substitute Jak for Ratchet in the above polls?

And after doing so, Ness wins. He's a damned weakling, but Jak is an even <i>bigger</i> weakling. Scary thought.

<b>Ulti's Bracket/Prediction</b> - Ness/Ness with 53.77%

<b>Cena's Analysis</b>

You've got to be kidding me. People actually like Ness? He hasn't won a single round in either tournament and he comes back as a six seed? Sure, Earthbound is a cult classic, but nobody knows who the hell he is if they didn't play games a lot. Jak, on the other hand, is badass, and almost everyone with a PS2 has played Jak and Daxter. Jak isn't a great character though, and I don't see how he got an 11 seed, but I still say he can pull off the win. But Ness' seed worries me...a lot.

<b>Cena's Vote:</b> Jak

<b>Cena's Prediction:</b> Jak with 54% (I would have gone lower, but then I looked at Ness' picture again.)