Two inter-competing matchups here are the most intriguing: The battle of the Playstation handhelds and the conflict of Xboxes. And I'm predicting a Playstation platfrom will make the Semifinals in Group B. Also I'm not surprised the closest Group A outcome was the 8/9 match, but the second round implications are already massive heavy hitters for EVERY matchup.

@axel Ok, cool! Thanks for letting me know!

Quick question for you @Axel: Once votes close and the countdown starts, if the list will be more than 25 games, will you still do a reveal a day as normal, or will you do two a day until you get to the top 10, then doing a game a day from there? Something I was curious about and was wondering if you would be willing to share. If not, please disregard.

General PSA to everyone: Votes close Sunday! Get them in over the next few days as EVERY. VOTE. COUNTS!!!

This is an interesting concept and looking at Group A, most of the matchups (for me personally) appear one sided, but I WILL say the one that sticks out to me is that 7 vs. 10: Switch vs. Gamecube. While I fully expect Switch to walk away with an easy win, as someone who hasn't really had much investment in Nintendo, it's an appealing though experiment to weigh one against the other.

Speaking as someone who truly believes Dishonored 2 belongs and is the one game I wanted but was ineligible, I don't believe it's an honest mistake regarding intent as two which Dishonored to place, but the honest mistake lies in not properly reading the fifth line of the OP.

But just as important (and kind of risky to reveal), is WHERE on these two lists Dishonored 2 is placed. If either or both of the voters have Dishonored 2 within their Honorable Mentions, then invalidating just that one entry is the best course, because HMs within themselves are not necessarily ranked. Rather, they are a pool of nominees because each HM receives the same amount of points, and those that receive the most nods rise up because of sheer number of people who believe it in enough to give it a shoutout.

However, the higher up the list it goes, the more problematic I see it being. If one or both of these lists have it as their #1 overall game, that's a massive point disparity in a list where, if the last couple have taught us anything, entry to a list comes down to a single point or heartbreaking tiebreakers. So by moving a game in second place to give it a new number one, that's an additional five points, basically the whole value of an HM. But the real issue is by moving everything up, it means one of the HMs has to be arbitrarily selected to receive two additional points. Small disparity on the surface sure, but could have an impact at the cutoff line.

On the other hand, by simply (for lack of a better term) 'blanking' out an entry means a slot becomes open, and as a result if another game doesn't get filled in, it or another eligible game would lose out on an opportunity to not just be nominated, but make the field entirely.

At the end of it all, this is Axel's decision. As much discussion as this has generated the past few days, the point is entirely moot on the grounds of: Unless the difference is at a critical spot (say, 50th) and really is being decided by a minuscule amount, it shouldn't wholly impact the entire list. I'm still excited to see how everything shakes out once votes close and the countdown begins.

@axel Personally, since you made the attempt (and followups are entirely up to you), once you set the deadline for final calls of votes, if they STILL haven't responded to you, not only would I recommend giving a final heads up their votes can't count, but also put a general disclaimer in your initial starting post as a public notice: If people didn't take the time to fully read or respond, they can't be counted.

As I promised after the last HoG, since I don't see any updates from last night's gathering, here are the stats, if anyone is interested:

"Q2" 2020, July 2020

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Brad) 14
Yakuza 0 (Huber) 12

Bayonetta (Ben) 9
Journey (Jones) 6
Katamari Damacy (Bloodworth) 4
Metal Gear Rising: Revengence (Damiani) 2
The Stanley Parable (Ian) 1
Huntdown (Don) 0 Banned until Q2 2021

@shoulderguy It's the one game I want to try, and since it's supposed to get a console port and re-release on PC at some point in 2020, I'm excited for a first playthrough for it.

For being the first Quarantine version, I felt July 2020's version was entertaining and pretty successful. Not without a couple of hiccups, but overall I enjoyed it. While not the first HoG where there wasn't a single game I was rooting for, it's been some time, and having a HoG where I don't have a horse in the race takes away some self-imposed pressure and makes it a different but still delightful experience.

Surprised it took this long for both Tropical Freeze and a Yakuza game to get in.

@ff7cloud I would be all for it, but this is actually a good litmus test to see if it's even viable. The bigger initiatives have more impact with more votes, and since there isn't as many people active on the forums than there were at the time that list was put together, I don't know if it would be worth the trouble.

This thread (and subsequent followup) will be a good look at how much participation it'll get, and how many games could/can qualify.