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DS Daily: The fooling comes to an end
With yesterday being April Fools' Day, the internet was set ablaze with crazy rumors and fake news. DS Fanboy was even on hand with its own little something something to mark the occasion. Aside from telling you our most darkest fears, we broke news involving a certain Nintendo president and his theft (or, as he puts it, "discovery") of a rather large bag filled with popping corn.Aside from that, we did manage to round up some of the best pranks the internet pulled yesterday, chronicling them all for your amusement. Who's joke was best? Personally, we couldn't stop playing that Space Invaders game over at Yahoo Japan, but that was just us.What did you enjoy most on yesterday?
Joystiq's April Fools' Day solutions guide
Did you enjoy our French Reference Day? We thought it'd be a fun way to celebrate the first of April. For those that missed it, in every post yesterday we included some reference to France, French language or French culture*. Feel free to take a look for yourself and try to catch 'em all. For all the answers, peep below the break. Be sure to check out our gallery of April Fools' shenanigans, as well.* Note: Just to be extra clear (because we sometimes need to be), Joystiq is not based in France.
April Fools' Alert #15: A potpourri of nonsense
As we bid adieu to this All Fools' Day, it's time to take a broom to the leftover balderdash and sweep it out of the house so we can start fresh and clean tomorrow. Straightgamer.net -- OH NO! The boys over at GayGamer.net went to "therapy" and are now devout heterosexuals. Now all they can talk about is boobs, beer and babes. That's so not fierce! Lego Halo -- 1Up reposted EGM's April issue gag for the internets. Wii Want More -- A Wii downloadable content service?! ROFLCOPTERBBQ Brain Age Mobile for iPhone -- The Wiicast does a very subtle trick that any other day of the year might be believable. Reggie talks Earthbound -- Starmen.net spliced together some clips and gets Monsieur Fils-Aime talking frankly about Nintendo's thoughts on Earthbound in America. N64 games ported to DS -- Vooks.net got the scoop on some N64 titles being "retooled & refreshed" for the handheld. Final Fantasy XIII demo and Final Fantasy VII remake -- PSXExtreme didn't even try to be witty, they just went for some painful lies.
April Fools' Alert #14: How the MMOs get their prank on
With only so much time left in the day, we thought we'd fit in a handful of the gros amount of April Fools' pranks found in the various MMOs today. Age of Conan announces the Elf class (If you think this is real, check out the creation video) Guild War turns everyone into stick figures, making us pine for a Xiao Xiao MMO Dungeons & Dragons Online introduces Pimp My Warforged The Battle for Middle Earth gets their chicken on World of Warcraft developer Blizzard does their usual thing Speaking of WoW, our Azeroth-obsessed sister site converted to Hello Kitty Insider for a day of mass coverage (30+ posts!). Here's what their front page looked like today.
We say goodbye to April Fools' Day with Pii Pii
We know, Gob Bluth. It's sad to see things come to an end sometimes. But, with each sunset comes a new sunrise. Does that cheer you up, little guy? Good.There were a lot of interesting things happening today. Oh, what with it being April Fools' Day and all, there's bound to be some interesting and entertaining stuff to read and look at, right? Good news: there are!What we've gone ahead and done is gotten together some of today's best content revolving around the "holiday," and tucked it past the break. So head on past and get started. Did we miss something? Let us know in the comments!
April Fools' Alert #13: 3D, physics-based Tetris on WiiWare
The problem with all of these April Fools' shenanigans is that some of the fake games, peripherals and features people dream up are actually quite awesome. Case in point is this first-of-April report on the WiiWare version of Tetris which, according to a conveniently broken-linked Famitsu source, will feature 3D manipulation of the pieces in what looks to be a mélange of Jenga and EA's Steven Spielberg's Boom Blox.We get the joke ("what a hilariously awkward take on such a hard-to-mess-up gameplay formula!"), but we have to admit we're intrigued by the potential of taking Tetris in a new direction. Nintendo had previous success with its alternate Tetris modes in the Nintendo DS version of the game. Maybe a physics-based iteration of the tetromino-tilting title isn't such a crazy idea after all.
April Fools pranks that make Nintendo fans cry
Hey, did you hear the one about Nintendo "seeing the light" and nixing Friend Codes? Or how about all the Nintendo 64 games being ported to DS? Final Fantasy VII DS? All these jokes and wishful thoughts are enough to make a Nintendo fan cry. Our amies at the Mario-centric Fanboy blogs compile the most heartbreaking April Fools' jokes. The gang at DS Fanboy also did a roundup of Nintendo April Fools' pranks for you to peruse. Heartbreaking Wii pranks (Nintendo Wii Fanboy) Heartbreaking DS pranks (DS Fanboy) 2008 April Fools' DS pranks (DS Fanboy)
April Fools' Alert #12: Rock Band Kart 2008
Harmonix released its own in-game gag today, announcing "Rock Band Kart 2008." The Fools' revelation was posted in Rock Band's 'Community' section, accessible from the game's main menu. We can't help but read the "road" reference as a jab at recently unveiled Guitar Hero: On Tour, which severs the Harmonix-created series from its raison d'être, replica instruments, and conveniently shoves the remaining experience into your (really big) pocket. Kart takes the cash-in spinoff concept one giant leap of faith further. So will the Wii version be compatible with the Wheel?[Thanks, Lewis]
April Fools' Alert #11: Bungie 's Mister Chief visible from the (virtual) stars
Bungie's resident mascot Mister Chief (no, not that one) has popped up on Bungie's radar as a group effort from every single Europe, African and Asian Halo 3 player that banded together in Halo 3 multiplayer.... Well, it was either that or some quick image manipulation job by the Bungie staffers themselves, putting a "constellation" of Mister Chief on the map. We opt to believe the first story because it's infinitely more epic. Note that one tiny blip in South Africa, which was Joystiq's own Ludwig Kietzmann's contribution.[Via X3F]
April Fools' Alert #10: Wii Sports on iPhone and utter obsolescence
ThinkGeek is certainly on a roll today with the April Fools hijinks. Not only do we have Super Pii Pii Brothers (and its bizarre peripheral), but now we have Wii Sports on the iPhone, as well as a conduit for shuffling between dead video formats.The Wii Sports on iPhone gag is nothing more than an unclickable banner ad, making us wish the joke was taken a bit further. The Betamax to HD-DVD converter, on the other hand, is quite the stroke of genius. The idea alone is brilliant, made even more so by the "promotional" video, viewable after the break.
April Fools' Alert #9: Middle-Earth invaded by fowl creatures
In what's become de riguer for the folks at Turbine Software, this April Fools' Day sees the announcement of a brand new content update for Middle-Earth's MMO, The Lord of the Rings Online. Dubbed "The Battle of Amon Hen," the not-at-all-downloadable peckage introduces a new playable chicken class and an accompanying quest, "Crossing the Road." Penny-pinching players should be pleased to note that Turbine doesn't aim to recooperate any of the update's cost, offering it for the poultry fee of "free." We'd make another chicken joke, but we'd rather send you off to the game's official site and pass the buck-buck-buck. [Via Massively]
April Fools' Alert #8: Kia launches a Wii-driven car
If the truly, unforgivably old are given a driver's license despite their age, why is the same right not extended to children? That's the question automobile maker Kia dares to ask with their new KEE_wii, which forgoes the steering wheel in favor of a Wiimote.According to the release, the car also features Dynamic On-Road Kinetics, Full Orthopaedic Operating Logic and Independent Driver Input Operating Technique, which we're told by people who are more skilled in acronym identification is hilarious. We'll take them at their word. Gallery: April Fools: KIA KEE_wii
Metal Gear Solid 4, Assassin's Creed find love on the battlefield
Oh ... dear. This is exactly the sort of video the internet shouldn't be showing us. Does it not realize the colossal, sensory danger posed by a combination of two of our favorite franchises? Seeing the Assassin's Creed garb running around a modern environment is one thing, but when the mise en scène happens to feature Metal Gear Solid 4 gameplay, we stop asking questions ("Where did this come from? Why is it so unrelenting in its awesomeness?") and start experiencing debilitating gleezures. That's glee + seizure, FYI.[Thanks, Emphar]
April Fools' Alert #7: Chris Tucker in GTA IV
In the rush to trick people on April 1, too many outlets forget the value of actually being funny. Thankfully, Planet Grand Theft Auto is there with our current (genuinely funny) favorite: Chris Tucker (perhaps best remembered from the Rush Hour series) starring as the voice of Niko Bellic in Grand Theft Auto IV.It's a gag, but it's also kind of a shame this isn't real. It surely would have been Tucker's finest video game performance since the PlayStation's The Fifth Element, which, come to think of it, we're not even sure he was in. Poor guy.[Thanks Joe]
Best of April Fool's Day online
Well, we admit we were snookered by the iPhone Dev Team's "we're selling out" alert, and so was our sister site -- but on a day when the hoaxes range from the desperately unfunny to the merely goofy to the silly-but-funny to the triumphantly hysterical, who can keep anything straight? Google's various flavors alone account for more than a dozen fake stories. Here's a couple of Mac-flavored gags that you might have missed: TidBITS has an entire 4/1-themed front page, with some gems like "US Federal Court Declares Email Bankruptcy Illegal." The introduction of the "Helvetica Serif" font, which cracks me up. Download Squad's warning about LSD in Apple products. I'd call shenanigans on this, but I'm very busy shooing away the multicolored bats. Macenstein's "Top 10 ways to DEcrease productivity on your Mac," which describes at least two or three bad practices I actually do already The full-monty retro reskinning of MacOSXHints ThinkGeek's alternative product lineup, including Wii Sports for iPhone Likewise, AppleTell has a collection of Apple-past stories up front today Not to leave out the Microsoft Mac BU, this delightful Games for Apple Remote product announcement Do you love the cognitive dissonance of April 1, or despise the silly, lame jokes that seem to propagate? Either way, you'll have another 364 days to wait for the next one.
April Fools' Alert #6: The Great Webcomic Switcheroo
If you're trying to visit some of your favorite (and occasionally game-related) webcomics today, you might be a bit confused by the URL redirection. Here's a handy guide: XKCD's site now directs you to Questionable Content Questionable Content's site now directs you to Dinosaur Comics Dinosaur Comic's site now directs you to XKCD Also, you might notice something is fishy about VG Cats. Make sure you check out the "stretch myself artistically" link. Weekly Webcomic Wrapup will return this Saturday.
April Fools' Alert #5: Super Pii Pii Brothers
ThinkGeek has a proud history with April Fools' Day gags, even going so far as to make one of its jokes into reality after it snowballed in popularity. This year, the gang is pretty much guaranteeing that won't be the case with its super-exclusive Wii title ... Super Pii Pii Brothers. And yes, as you've probably already guessed, it's a game about peeing on cats. They have a ton of other great gags you can check out here.We've put the video for it after the break. We're not sure if it's NSFW, but we hope you work in a place where this sort of thing isn't acceptable. Unless you're that "Two Girls One Cup" guy, then this is the height of érotique.
April Fools' Alert #4: Xbox 360 Wireless Helmet, The Board Game, Vintage Edition, et al
Want an Xbox 360 Wireless Helmet ala Nintendo ON (but totally radder)? Perhaps a Vintage Edition Xbox 360 console, shaped like the original Xbox but with wood-trim, just like Grandpa's Xbox used to have? Or perhaps the battery-powered Recon Edition is more to your liking? Maybe, just maybe, the whole problem with these video game systems is the "video" part and, if so, try out Xbox Live The Board Game. All the fun of Xbox Live, only this time the 12-year-old homophobic racists are right in the same room as you are! Of course these are all hoaxes. We imagine Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer staying up late last night, putting the finishing touches on the Photoshops while debating on whether or not to let in on the joke. Alas, they didn't quite have what it takes to follow the hoaxes to their logical conclusion: that being, of course, millions of fanboys hurriedly scribbling "Major Nelson plushie" off their holiday wishlists and writing in, in ALL CAPS mind you, WIRELESS XBOX HELMET. Nope, if you try to "Learn more" they blow the whole thing, revealing the helmet and everything else to be a farce (an April Fools' faux pas to be sure) and offering a conciliatory olive branch to spurned (and gullible) nerds everywhere in the form of some free gamerpics. We'll just write-in the plushie again, thanks.[Thanks, riggs][Update: Our secret santas at X3F just captured the above video off Xbox Live and shared it with us. Thanks, guys!]
April Fools' Alert #3: Legend of Zelda movie by IGN
IGN has a little fun this April Fools' Day with its exclusive Legend of Zelda movie trailer. The preview plays out like one giant cliché with fan service and a distinctive Uwe quality to it. We'd love to embed the preview and show you, but the code is broken and all we seem to get is some PSP-licker (and game butt-rubber) hosting a show.Last year we had another impressive Zelda-inspired April Fools' joke with a preview for a Legend of Zelda game set in a future/Star Wars version of Hyrule. We can't help but think IGN's trailer would have been better (and more over the top) had Link been walking down the street of some poor provincial town and people started bursting out singing like the opening of La Belle et la Bête Beauty and the Beast.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
April Fools' Alert #2: The Double Bass controller
Fantasy Guitar Hero controllers aren't new territory for April Fool's Day, but rarely have we wanted one to be real so badly. Imagine the class, the prestige of striding into the neighboring dorm with GAME's massive double bass controller slung over your back! Imagine how angry your significant other would be when you tried to explain it to him or her!Also we love the feature bullet points like "Doesn't fold away for easy storage,""May facilitate escape from villains. On ski slopes," and "Fully compatible with Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Rock Band and the slopes of Val d'Isere." Well done, GAME ... now, could you actually make it?[Thanks, Zak]
