Wind Waker Remake
Electronic Gaming Monthly had a reputation for delivering the goods for April Fool’s day and their 2005 April Fool’s joke was definitely one of their best. In fact, it was a bit too good for our feeble Link-loving hearts. The April issue of EGM reported that if gamers put at least $10 towards their pre-order for the upcoming Legend of Zelda game for GameCube, they would also receive a completely new version of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
The new version would replace the game’s cell shaded visuals with more realistic graphics. Wind Waker was already a beautiful game but having the opportunity to see the game redesigned in a new way was just an incredibly exciting proposition. The April issue even came complete with a rather convincing screenshot. Unfortunately, it was all a clever ruse and we were all left with crushed dreams.
Luigi in Super Mario 64
Remember that time back in 1998 when everyone was convinced that Luigi could be unlocked in Super Mario 64? Gamers spent hours, days even, trying to figure out how to get Mario’s beloved brother as a playable character in the game. N64.com even offered up $100 to the first player who could successfully unlock Luigi in the game.
Countless theories began to hit the web and gamers were trying just about anything to unlock Luigi. We were all convinced it was possible to play as Luigi simply because someone out there claimed the blurry script on the bottom of what is now known as the Eternal Star read: “L Is Real 2401.” And this wasn’t even the April Fool’s joke. It was our own lack of good judgment that led us to go on a wild goose chase for Luigi but the cruel joke came in when Nintendo Power got in on the fun.
The magazine’s April issue claimed it would finally tackle all the “L Is Real” conspiracies and provide gamers with the answers they had been looking for all along. All gamers had to do was flip to page 128.
The magazine only had 108 pages.
Google’s Pokemon Master Challenge
Google’s 2014 April Fool’s joke ruined our lives in two ways. First, it promised us that we could become Pokemon masters all while competing to earn a spot a Google. To be fair, a lot of people thought the job offer was a bit far fetched but believing in a Pokemon experience fueled by Google Maps? That didn’t seem so crazy.
The announcement video showed tons of cool features and unveiled a world filled with different types of Pokemon in many regions. Our Pokemon fantasies had been realized… until you actually attempted to start your journey. The job opening at Google, the chance to be the very best, it was all a lie… At least we have Pokemon GO right?
Super Creepy Fake Persona 5 Trailer
We may only be mere hours away from seeing the real Persona 5 on April 4 but there was once a time when a heartless YouTuber toyed with our emotions in an incredibly eerie way. Persona Link created a fake Persona 5 trailer that had many people believing that the game was finally on its way. The headline itself was enough to dupe some gamers and leave them feeling heavy with disappointment.
Unfortunately, Persona Link took thinks a step further by making the trailer as eerie as possible. The trailer turned out to just be a weird combination of bloody scenes from Elfen Lied. If you have watched the anime before it’s pretty easy to pick up on. If you had never heard of the anime, however, you may have been one of the Persona fans that was shocked to see the game’s “new direction.”
Every Fake Half-Life 3 Announcement
For well over a decade, gamers have been hoping, wishing and praying that Half-Life 3 would actually become a real thing. Half-Life 3 is easily one of the most highly anticipated games that has never even been confirmed—and might not ever be created. It’s a sensitive spot for fans of the series and yet almost every year there is at least one April Fool’s joke aimed at generating false hope. Some of them are funny, some of them fall flat, all of them crush our spirits a little more every time.
Back in 2014, GamesRadar published an entire fake review of Half-Life 3. That same year YouTuber Boogie2998 published a video titled “WATCH ME PLAY FIRST 30 MINUTES OF HALF LIFE 3.” The video turned out to be 26 minutes and 8 seconds of Boogie sitting in his room, grabbing some snacks and ultimately trolling more than 300,000 gamers.
LEGO Halo
In 2008 EGM pulled an April Fool’s hoax that even fooled quite a few gaming publications. In their April issue, EGM revealed screenshots of a LEGO Halo game. The magazine claimed Bungie was working on recreating the Halo universe with LEGOs and excitement quickly took over forums everywhere.
Unfortunately, the reality of the situation finally sunk in and everyone realized LEGO Halo was not actually on its way. Of course, this was only the first time that our LEGO Halo dreams were crushed. Let’s not forget that abandoned Halo Mega Bloks game.
Football Manager 1888
You don’t have to understand the appeal of a game series like Football Manger but you certainly have to respect it. The Football Manager series has been thriving since 2004 (or since 1992 if you count its years as Championship Manager). So with that kind of life span, it’s easy to see that Football Manager has some seriously dedicated fans. That’s exactly what makes the Football Manager 1888 joke so mean—but hilarious nonetheless.
In 2013, the Football Manager Facebook page posted a message announcing a special edition of the game. Rather than moving forward with the times, Football Manager promised to take players back to 1888 with their latest title. The new game would come with very few rules and regulations because, well, this is 1888. This marked the first time a national football league had ever been formed so there weren’t a ton of rules yet. Most people caught on to the joke rather quickly but then realized that they actually did want a real Football Manager 1888. Now fans of the series are left wondering what could have been of the historic Football Manager game that never was.
Dying Light Physics Mod
Teasing gamers with fake announcements is already a cruel move but giving us something great for one day only? Now that’s just not right. In honor of the national day of foolishness, the Dying Light YouTube channel shared a video of a very special public service announcement.
“On April 1st, citizens trapped in Harran may experience some severe side effects from tainted Antizin injections circulating in the quarantine zone,” the video’s description explained. “Severe caution is advised.” What this really meant was that players would have 24 hours to be strong enough to send their undead enemies flying. Just one punch, kick or even sliding into an enemy would knock them up and away in a bloody mess. The results of the physics mod were fun, hilarious and, sadly enough, temporary. Why can’t we keep nice things?
Legend of Zelda Movie
If there is one iconic gaming franchise that deserves a successful blockbuster hit, it’s the Legend of Zelda. If there is one gaming publication that has the budget to blow on creating the most stunning fake movie poster and trailer that has ever been spawned just for the sake of April Fool’s Day, it’s IGN.
In 2008, IGN released a beautiful movie trailer complete with a promotional poster for what many believed would be a big screen adaptation of The Legend of Zelda. It looked so epic that any fan of the series was left quivering with excitement and joy that Link and Zelda would soon be taking over a theater near them. Unfortunately, those dreams fell apart once it was revealed that the entire promotion was a ruse.
Blizzard Outcasts Announcement
Blizzard is probably the best developer when it comes to outstanding April Fool’s jokes and their Blizzard: Outcasts announcement was pure comedic gold followed by a slight feeling of emptiness. In 2014, Blizzard announced that they would be bringing a major fighting game to the market—Blizzard: Outcasts.
The fighting game would bring some of Blizzard’s lesser known characters together for some one-on-one combat. The fake game even game with a nifty trailer and it’s own webpage. Of course, the tone of it all is openly silly and comical so it isn’t likely that many gamers believed this would be a real game. The sad part is that we kind of wish it was. Once you finish laughing at the silliness of it all, you start to realize that Blizzard: Outcasts would be one heck of an entertaining game and yet all it will ever be is a cruel, hilarious joke.
Dark Souls III The Movie
The Dark Souls series would make a pretty chilling thriller flick and it has a solid following that would support it as soon as it touched big screens. For that very reason, Bandai Namco’s April Fool’s joke from last year has to make this list. The official YouTube for the major video game developer published a video with a title that couldn’t be resisted—Dark Souls III – The Movie. As soon as you clicked play, however, the trolling began. A super vintage style video mashes together some Dark Souls III clips with an old film filter over it. A narrator makes the trailer seem even more epic than it should be and an upbeat soundtrack sucks you in and teleports you back to the good ol’ days.
You see, this is where this April Fool’s joke unintentionally slaps some gamers in the face. The trailer ends with the narrator promising the movie will be released on April 12 to VHS. It may seem like a harmless joke to emphasize how fake the entire video is but what it really turns out to be is a reminder of your age. You realize now that saying anything is coming to VHS is such a hysterically unrealistic claim that it guarantees this entire announcement is false. For any gamer out there that used to scoop up some movies on VHS whenever they stumbled into Blockbuster back in the day, this joke may have you feeling like you aren’t too far from telling the neighborhood kids to get off your lawn.
Now you feel old and you’re still not getting a Dark Souls movie.
Angri Birds
Angry Birds once rivaled the likes of Candy Crush when it comes to mobile games that seem to haunt you everywhere you go. That’s one of the reasons why Angry Bird’s April Fool’s joke in 2015 was downright terrifying. As if tossing birds at pigs on your phone and then watching a movie about it wasn’t enough, Angry Birds shared a YouTube video announcing the upcoming release of Angri Birds. In this imaginary game, the bird crew is back together but for an RPG style game that takes place on the farm. That’s right. An Angry Birds RPG. It’s a scary thought but not completely enough to ruin your life. That is until you catch a peak of one of the birds sporting fishnets and a dominatrix outfit.
At that point, telling yourself that the game is a joke just isn’t enough to ease your mind. You will never be able to unsee that bird.
Black Desert Online Butt Poses
Another April Fool’s joke that subjected gamers to something they will never be able to unsee was Daum Games’ fake butt poses joke from last year. Around this time, the entire gaming industry had become wrapped up in the Tracer butt pose controversy and it seems like Daum Games couldn’t help but have some fun with the situation.
So for April Fool’s Day they announced that they would be adding butt-centric victory poses to their popular MMORPG. The worst part is that they gave us a visual representation of what kind of poses they had in mind. Without any fair warning, gamers everywhere caught a glimpse of a Berserker in Tracer-esque tights that showed off his less than impressive glutes. Again….. you just can’t unsee that.
