very likely would have been my selection had he (billy lee) not been taken. I think at this point in the draft there are going to be very few consensus picks left... my selections will probably all seem to be out of left field.

This is the part of the draft I've been waiting for :) I want to go for guys that I like that no one else likes/has ever heard of.

I still think there's a few guys that are more consensus than others, but still.

I have to say, the quality of the "real" picks vs. the quality of the "suggested" picks has been no contest.

Which has been higher in your opinion??? :)

I've been pleasantly surprised by a lot of the picks myself.

Great friggin pick CT - The Amazon.

The teams, as of now:

Vince:
Mario
Simon Belmont (Castlevania)
Master Chief (Halo)
Sub-Zero (Mortal Combat)
Billy Lee (Double Dragon)

cthomer5000:
Donkey Kong
Roger Wilco (Space Quest)
Luigi
Bonk (Turbografix 16)
The Amazon (NES Pro Wrestling)

SirFozzie:
Samus Aran (Metroid)
Shang Tsung (Mortal Kombat)
King Bowser
Sinistar

Ramzavail:
Pac-Man
Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII)
Yoshi
Bill "Mad Dog" Rizer (Contra)

Corbes:
Link
Leisure Suit Larry
Ms. Pac-Man
The Paperboy

ice4277:
Sonic the Hedgehog
Space Marine (Doom)
Ken (Street Fighter)
The Spacecraft from Galaga

TargetPractice6:
MegaMan
Ryu (Street Fighter)
Fox McCloud
Ryu Hayabusa (Nija Gaiden)

EagleEye11:
Duke Nukem
The Arrow from Asteroids
Kirby
Bomberman

Calis:
The Avatar (Ultima)
Little Mac (Mike Tyson's Punch Out!!!!)
Pitfall Harry
Guybrush Threepwood

albionmoonlight:
The Vertical Line Representing Player One in Pong
Frogger
The Metroid
Hero (From Adventure)

Desnudo:
Solid Snake (Metal Gear)
Tommy Vercetti (Grand Theft Auto)
Q-Bert
Dante (Devil May Cry)

Maple Leafs:
Crash Bandicoot
Lara Croft
The Tank from Space Invaders
Dirk the Daring (Dragon's Lair)

Team Oldschool Award Winner - albionmoonlight/corbes
Coolest Pick - cthomer5000, The Amazon
Best Value Pick - calis, Pitfall Harry
My Favorite Team So Far - TargetPractice6

I like corbes' team so far.

You think Larry and Ms Pac Man will get together?

I don't know. I hear Ms. Pac Man has put on alot of weight from eating those pretzels and such. I can't imagine those dots are very healthy either... Never know about Larry though.

my team is just trying to avoid the Donkey Kong vs. Amazon locker-room deathmatch. I don't think either plays well with others.

I'm sure Donkey Kong and Luigi will have a lot to talk about on the team bus...

Luigi: "Mario sucks." "The Princess.... she's hot!"

D.K.: "oog uughh ouyghohgoha!" (tones of absolute approval)

Luigi: "Mario doesn't know this.. but one night back in 1988, me and the Princess...."

OK, we're seriously slowing down so I'm making the call: as of tomorrow, we go to three hour deadlines.

We're at a point in the draft where everyone is virtually assured of getting their #1 or #2 pick in the next round, so please send a list if you're not one of those types who's around all the time. I already have pre-picks from several people. If I have a pick from someone but see that they're online, I'll wait for them to pick (so if you're worried that I won't do your choice justice, don't be).

Sounds like a plan to me.

I thought Ninja Gaiden was a great value pick... I kept waiting for him to go off the board. I figured the straight peice from Tetris was a lock to go in the 1st or 2nd round, so surprised its still on the board (don't feel bad about mentioning it since it was already brought up a couple times earlier).

There is one pretty big old-school "villian" that I'm surprised is on the board... in the same genre as Space Invaders.

*Waits for SI's review of round 4*

Interesting point. I think we're at a stage in the draft where nobody really wants to take someone who's already been mentioned. Everyone wants to go for the surprise pick that gets acclaim, like Amazon.

At the end, though, I bet the winner is the guy who just keeps picking the best available, even if it's someone who's been mentioned a dozen times. That Ms. Pac Man pick didn't win any accolades, but it looks pretty good now.

Uh oh Maple Leafs, you mentioned "winner"..probably opened up the floodgates again. :p

I think my team is looking pretty good with the selections of Kirby and Bomberman. Both 2nd round quality IMO

I think that it is tough to argue with Corbes team right about now. One legend and three very solid picks in the first four rounds.

Yeah, Corbes and TP. I might be up there, if Megaman had fallen to me in the 1st.

My team has four very solid starters right now. All borderline HOF types -- Croft, Space Invader, Crash and Dirk. But I'm missing that one big superstar to get the headlines. Damn 12th pick...

I was torn on the Ninja Gaiden pick. There's another character in the same vein that I was considering.

Do you still want me to use the pick you PM'ed me earlier, if you're not around?

I'm off for the night. ML has a couple of picks for me if it comes to that. If not, I will see you tomorrow.

Yeah ML. I'll PM you a couple more later.

I think Frogger might be the best pick of the draft so far.

dola-

Fox McCloud is up there in my book, too.

You think? Frogger went 15th overall, which isn't necessarily a reach but doesn't really qualify as a steal. Considering Q-Bert went 20 picks later and had about the same impact....

I think King Bowser going in the 3rd round was at least a small steal.

My criteria is vague and wishy-washy. I'm not sure draft position has much to do with it -- Frogger's just one of those characters you wish you had on your team. That's what I'm trying to say, yeah.

I LOVE the Double Dragon Pick!!! That game was awesome...spent hours w/ my neighbor playin that game!

I am itching to make my pick - waiting for SirFozzie

Yeah, no question there. He has all the tools.

Good vertical leap, too.

Remember... as of 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, Foz's six hours are up and teams can start jumping ahead of him.

Can't a guy get some sleep around here? :) (Kidding.. that's one of the bad things about working 2-noon)

Pikachu! I CHOOSE YOU! (with my fifth round pick that is) :)

Despite the fact that he is widely hated by parents worldwide, thats a very good pick. Hes been in a few games, a tv show, 5 movies and is one of the 10 most widely known characters taken in this draft. That said, he really hasnt had that large of a roll in the actual pokemon games and is not widely liked by people over 13. Still, a good pick and someone I was considering for my next pick.

Are you guys only using console game characters?

No, although the majority have come from consoles.

Asteroids was also the first ever video game to allow the user to imput his initials for a high score.

I think Pikachu is a pretty decent pick.

Pikachu should not qualify then

The game came before the anime/card game.

Qualifies just fine.

And here's the backup:

From: http://www.raichu12.com/Articles/Timeline.html

1996

February 27 - Nintendo releases Pokémon Red and Green for Game Boy.

?? - TCG Base Set released in Japan.
1997

December - Pokemon has its first major controversy: A scene in the Pokémon TV show reportedly causes seizures in several Japanese children. Japanese TV pulls the show for several months. Whether the seizures actually happened is not known.

1998 - Pokémon Comes to America

?? - Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back opens in Japan.

August 27 - Pokémon debuts in the US in events held in Topeka, Kansas (renamed "Topikachu" for the event). (Check out this article about the Pokémon events in Topeka. Top quote: "If the reaction of northeast Kansas kids is any gauge, Nintendo can start counting its profits.")

September 7 - Pokémon cartoon premiers on the US network The WB.

September 28 - Pokémon Red and Blue released in the US.

I'm not going to say how to judge this one way or another, but as the resident Pokemon person, I feel I should throw out some stuff for whoever makes rules clarifications. The game debuted first in Japan and the cartoon soon followed but the game most definitely came first. However, in the US, the cartoon came slightly before the game (I guess the cartoon translation took less time or something).

The other subtle distinction that should be made is that in the Pokemon games, there are generic Pikachus and the default name for them is "Pikachu". The one that stars in the cartoons and movies just happens to be one that Ash (the main character of the cartoon) called Pikachu instead of changing its name. It's just like having a dog and calling it "Dog". If that's going to be used to throw things out then the metroid pick is very similar and should be looked at but I think the statute of limitations is up on that one. Lastly, in Pokemon yellow (it was the "inbetween" game- came out *after* the first two companion games but before the next two), you do officially have the Pikachu that stars in the tv show/movies/etc.

SI

Pikachu was going to be my next pick. I think he's an absolute steal this late in the draft.

And yes, he qualifies under the rules. It was a video game before everything else.

I am going to go off the charts here and take...

The Warrior in Gauntlet

I was a huge Gauntlet fan when I was younger and this was one of the first video games I loved and it brought a multiplayer feel into the genre like I have never seen before.

It was all great - until you heard - of course - "Warrior, your life force is running out!"

I''ll third this. It was *definitely* a video game before the (great) show came along.

Ramzavail is on the clock.

I picked - look up :)