[yoshifan]

First of all, please refer to the Version Differences topic for (1) a list of versions for each game and (2) version differences.  Ask if anything in the list is unclear.

Now, here's the current status on version rules for Times in SMB1, SMB2J, SMB3, and SMW:

Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2 (JP):
1A - PAL and NTSC are ranked together.
1B - NES and SNES are ranked together.
1C - GB Color version is not allowed.
Super Mario Bros. 3:
2A - PAL and NTSC are ranked together.
2B - NES and SNES are ranked separately.
2C - GBA version is not allowed.
Super Mario World:
3A - NTSC US and NTSC JP are ranked together.
3B - PAL and NTSC are separate (but a PAL ranking still needs to be added).
3C - SNES and GBA versions are ranked together (GBA must use Mario, not Luigi).

----------

To make this simpler, I'd like to focus on rulings 1C, 2C, and 3C, which deal with the Game Boy versions.  These are the rulings that seem the most subject to controversy.  But if there's a real problem with any of the other rules, you can bring that up too.

For each of the three GB-version rules, we have three choices: (1) rank the GB version together with the other versions, (2) rank the GB version separately, or (3) disallow the GB version.

----------

Here are some examples of things we might consider:

- Consistency: it's best if all three GB version rulings are the same.  If there are any ruling differences, we should be confident that the cases we are ruling on are different enough.

- Minimize duplication: whenever possible, we want to avoid splitting up the top players of a multi-versioned game among different rankings.  Also, some players want to be on as many of the rankings as possible, and we don't want to make them play the same thing again and again.

- Accessibility: different players own different versions, and we want as many people as possible to be able to compete.  Emulators are available for almost everyone, though some people might prefer not to play on emulators.

- Fairness: ideally, any allowed version would be nearly equal to the other versions it's ranked with.  The original version(s) might take priority in fairness, or perhaps the version which is most convenient for everyone.

----------

Sorry for the long post, I wanted to lay out as much information as possible first.  So, share your opinions: what are the best rules for the Game Boy versions?

[yoshifan]

Hmm, here's another idea.  It may take a while to resolve this issue for certain, due to a current lack of Mario speedrunning experts, so we really need a halfway decent plan in the meantime.  Perhaps we should ban all the mentioned GBC/GBA versions for now.  It's the easiest plan to undo later: if we want separate charts later then we'll add them, and if we want to rank GB with the originals later then we'll change the rules to allow GB versions.  No stat deletions required.

This plan immediately makes one rule change: ban using the GBA version of Super Mario World.

Now, even though we don't have lots of submissions yet, I'm sure we already have some SMW submissions that were achieved using the GBA version.  It would be good if those players replace any GBA times with SNES times if they can.  However, it's not a big deal, as I don't see anything on the charts so far that could be GBA-only.

If there are no objections, this rule change will be announced in a news post, too, so it'll appear on the front page of the Mario Center.