april-fools-2011
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The MMO Report: Surprisingly Commando-free edition
It's the end of the week, and you know what that means! Not only do we get to ramp up to enjoy a weekend full of gaming, but it's also time for the latest edition of The MMO Report. This week Casey takes a moment to look at World of Warcraft's April Fools' Day prank and tackles the discussion of DPS players paying tanks to tag along so they can get into instance groups faster. On a more somber note, Casey notes the layoffs at Sony Online Entertainment, which resulted in the shuttering of three studios and cancellation of The Agency; he also mentions Square-Enix's games coming back online after the recent tsunami in Japan. Also noted is the upcoming Mortal Online: Dawn expansion, which should offer even more gritty, naked PvP fun for all. From there, it's all silliness in Uncle Casey's Mailbag -- complete with some RIFT vs. WoW snaps, yet another edition of strange Schreiner shoops, and more silliness. We're also treated to a quick aside that reveals Casey has awesome taste in music -- much like our own. As always, you can check out this week's episode of The MMO Report tucked behind the break for your sanitary protection or over on the G4TV site every Thursday.
Guild Wars 2 dev blog exposes the Commando
April Fools! There is no Commando class in Guild Wars 2! Wait, you already knew that was a joke? OK, well, did you know that Cinematics Lead Horia Dociu posted up an article outlining his inspiration for the whole practical joke? ArenaNet developers take not only their work but their fun very seriously. Dociu explains that his work at Valve and his love for games like Metal Gear Solid and Rogue Spear were part of the inspiration behind this April Fools' hit. He was able to get a bunch of developers involved in the project because they believed it would be fun for the fans. In today's ANet blog entry, he tells us that "the key was starting early, so that people could work on this fun stuff whenever they had free time. I also made sure not to involve any designers in hooking up actual game play, since that would have put a major dent in their schedules." If you'd like to find out more about the good times at ArenaNet, check out the rest of the dev blog and the Commando class page.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Going Commando
Yes, we all made the commando joke, so I couldn't very well leave it out. As my excited and frequent Tweets indicated Friday, ArenaNet carried off full honors for April Fools' Day in the MMO world. Not that there wasn't good stuff out there. World of Warcraft simultaneously cracked me up and charmed me with Crabby the Dungeon Helper -- seriously, could the little guy be any cuter? I loved the introduction of Dungeons and Dragons Online's Broccoli class. Sadly, the page is now gone, but the description pointed out that since broccoli has no legs or arms, it's the perfect class for weaponless fighting. I loved it. However, the ArenaNet team arrived fashionably late to the party and promptly carried off full honors in every category. The April first prank spanned both Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2; had text, video, images and wallpapers; and gave us new (albeit temporary) content. Follow along after the jump for a complete rundown!
April Fools: Nyko offers 3D glasses for 3DS
For those of you who find glasses-free 3D unnatural, Nyko (doesn't actually) have a solution: 3D glasses for use with the 3DS. Featuring "Lens-less is More" technology, the $100 frames accurately bring the 3D movie experience home -- at least the part of the experience that involves wearing giant, stupid glasses. The April Fools' Day joke on the Nyko website acted as a lead-in for a Facebook contest, in which fans were asked to send in pictures of their own useless 3D glasses. The prize was a free Charge Base/Power Pak+ package -- a product which, unlike these glasses, has been proven by a reliable authority to have a function. [Thanks, Mike]
One Shots: I'll be back
While the majority of April Fools' pranks are now well behind us for another year, there's one still running in Guild Wars -- at least until tomorrow! ArenaNet pulled off a great stunt this year with the announcement of the Guild Wars 2 "Commando." Then the team took it a step further by creating an all-new quest in Guild Wars that adds these future-warriors as part of a special holiday event for players. Today's One Shots of the in-game silliness was snapped by Connor, who explains the fun for those who don't call Tyria home: "M'name's Connor, and I was browsing through my daily Twitter and forum posts when I saw something new on the ArenaNet twitter account saying something about 'Corporal Bane's last day in Embark Beach.' Being the fanboy I am, I immediately rushed to log in, catching a ship over there. What did I see? A SWAT guy in body armour with a gas mask and an army helicopter. Truly awesome. He starts an instance quest that involved becoming a Soldier and destroying the 'Annihilator' who travelled back in time to kill 'Sarah' who is the mother of Gwen. This is during the Guild Wars, when the Krytan Army had invaded Ascalonian territory. Here's a quick snap from inside that instance. Location is Pre-Searing Ascalon outside of Fort Ranik!" One Shots is all about our readers' adventures. If you'd like to take part, it's really easy to do. Just snap a screenshot that shows off whatever you want to tell us about, then send it in with your note to us here at oneshots@massively.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of the game so we can credit you properly! We'll publish it here on Massively, and you can bask in the glow of those who like your image. %Gallery-112285%
First real and fake BurgerTime HD trailers
MonkeyPaw Games is going back to the kitchen to create a new serving of BurgerTime -- which is a good idea, considering the original burgers are now 29 years old, and that's disgusting. For those of you interested in sampling BurgerTime HD's new recipe, you'll find a trailer after the break. Also after the break is MonkeyPaw's heartbreaking April Fools' Day joke, a trailer for the "Delicious Edition" DLC, which replaces Peter Pepper with Burger King's eponymous, creepy monarch. It was a joke, but ... we would have been totally into playing as the King. So much so that we would have walked into a Burger King and purchased Burger King food to make that happen. We were willing to go that far.
Global Chat: Best of April first edition
Friday was April Fool's day, and while we at Massively didn't want to stop bringing you all the latest real news, we wanted to get in on the fun as well. In the end, we compromised by making a few little additions to our schedule in the first half of the day. While we had regular news at the top of the hour as always, on the :30s we handed the virtual printing press over to you, our readers. Several of our writers created Mad Libs-style news stories, leaving out the important parts and allowing you, the readers, to create whatever news your hearts desired. Today we're looking at the ones that kept us laughing, so follow along after the jump for the best of April first!
Steam offering 13 indie games (including Super Meat Boy!) for 75% off
Rather than go the "make up a fake game/product/service" route that so much of the game industry takes on April Fool's Day, Valve instead put together an indie bundle and heavily discounted it, making those who didn't buy it fools in the process. It's what we like to call "the old switcheroo." Including Joystiq Game of the Year awardee Super Meat Boy, terror simulation Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and Gaijin Games' synesthetic masterpiece Bit.Trip Beat, "The Potato Sack" drops all 13 games by 75 percent off their normal asking prices (or 50 percent when purchased a la carte). Considering that all of those games would normally cost around $160 if you bought them individually, you're looking at a savings of approximately $120. Also, you'll do untold wonders for your invaluable indie cred. And hey, if none of that does it for you, there's a potato hat for Team Fortress 2 included. Also of note, each of the bundle's games have been modified with a potato-themed update -- head to the gallery below for a look at Super Meat Boy and Bit.Trip Beat's starchy additions. Update: Added AaAaAA!! -- A Reckless Disregard for Gravity to the gallery, courtesy of NoodleGunshot. [Thanks Joseph Leakey!]%Gallery-120268%
Breakfast Topic: How did you like our April Fools' Day joke?
You know, we've had a pretty good run of April Fools' Day jokes here on WoW Insider. A few years back, it was HKO Insider. Last year, for the space a few hours each, we devoted ourselves to the love of Mass Effect, Lady Gaga, Twilight, and Muscle March, among others. But this year just took the cake. I can't tell you how proud I am of the entire team for working so hard to pull it off. From our columnists to our editors, we all worked so incredibly hard, and I'm sure if you were watching the site yesterday, you have to agree: It paid off. This was most definitely our best April Fools' Day joke of all time. So here's my question: What did you think of our joke this year? What was your favorite moment? I'd share mine, but it was all so amazing, that picking just one thing would be a total Sophie's Choice.
April Fools: CD Projekt Red reveals The Bard: Saviors of Queens
Sorry guys, we just don't get it. Maybe if we were more familiar with the Witcher franchise, we'd be able to wrap our minds around CD Projekt's April Fools' Day goof. It's created a fake game titled The Bard: Saviors of Queens, a trailer and dev diary for which are posted below. It's about a guy who kills dragons and bandits while bedding as many women as humanly possible. Here's our problem: Isn't that also what The Witcher is all about? It's been a while since we played it -- there's a very real chance that we're confusing it with CD Projekt's earliest title, The Lusty Swordhand. Still, on the April Fools outrageous-o-meter, this one falls on the "potentially could become a real thing" side of the spectrum.
April Fools: Razer's Talon Bio-Exoskeleton
Razer's April Fools gag is aimed at players who find their StarCraft performance utterly hopeless and their Call of Duty: Wisconsin skills in the dumps. Were it real, the Razer Talon would be "the world's first gaming bio-exoskeleton," capable of driving your in-game actions per minute (APM) well past the boundaries of human limitations. "The Razer Talon will learn your primary mouse and keyboard actions. The Razer Talon will take over and begin to execute your actions at a lighting fast pace," reads the Razer website. Just be sure to stock up on the also fictional Razer Snake Oil Hyperesponse Lubricant in order to slow the progress of Talon-induced tissue damage.
April Fools: Guild Wars 2 introduces modern Commando warfare
Not to be outdone by Blizzavision's World of Duty: Modern Warcraft, it appears NCsoft's Guild Wars 2 will counter with a Commando profession for the upcoming MMO. Featuring the motto: "If it bleeds, I can kill it," the contemporary military unit will "Oscar Mike" into the fight on land, sea or air across the fantasy realm. Some may argue that the profession is overpowered against evil bunny and dragon tangos, given that the class can equip grenades, drive all types of modern vehicles, and call in gunships, Predator air strikes and naval bombardment... but allow us to assure you that it totally is. Good thing the profession is just another April Fools joke.
April Fools: Bungie docks the Pimps at Sea on Facebook
Bungie's classic Pimps at Sea series has seen its highs and lows during its storied history -- Pimps at Sea 64, Call of Pimps: Sea Warfare, Ar Tonelico Navale: Pimps of Ar Sea El -- but fans are assuredly in for a treat with the company's latest iteration: PimpsVille for Facebook! Bungie COO "and trans-media marketing guru" Pete Parsons explains the new project by saying, "I was talking to Mark Zuckerberg yesterday – who just so happens to be a really close friend of mine – and he said Facebook has something like 500 million users. I'm thinking if we can get one dollar from every one of those guys, we can easily make a billion dollars." Truer words, Pete! No time has been given for the launch of PimpsVille, but we imagine that Bungie will wanna get out ahead of kids going on summer vacation. Or it'll never come out, because it's totally fake, but you never know. Weirder things have happened, right?
April Fools: A World of Keflings becomes A World of Deathlings
Ninjabee has gone a step further in pursuit of April Fools Day funniness and has actually patched a joke into A World of Keflings on Xbox Live Arcade. According to the press release, the patch adds combat to the game, thus making it more akin to violent RTS games like StarCraft, Age of Empires and Team17's classic Orcs, Orcs, Orcs!. We downloaded the patch to give it a try, and it certainly does add violence to the game. It adds the worst kind of violence, as a matter of fact: emotional violence. You can see it yourself after the break ... if you think you've got the stomach for it.
April Fools: Paradox expands Vietnam theme to King Arthur series
Magicka's Vietnam-themed DLC has apparently been a huge hit with the folks at Paradox Interactive. Such a hit, in fact, that the company is now theming the upcoming King Arthur sequel in the same way -- nothing quite says "Knights of the Round Table" like napalm! Furthermore, the sequel to Sword of the Stars will receive similar treatment. "A wise journeyman once told me, 'Don't stop believing,' and that's exactly what we're doing here," company head Fredrik Wester noted in the announcement. Okay, okay, the folks at Paradox are just having a laugh on this day of days to have a laugh, but you'll excuse us if we stand fully in support of the idea. Heck, it sounds like a much better idea than the publisher's East India Company game themed around the Opium Wars of the 19th century. Who greenlights this stuff?!
Gaijin hints at Bit.Trip for 3DS (again)
Oh, Gaijin Games -- you truly are a cruel mistress. Not only have you teased us once again with the Bit.Trip franchise's arrival on the 3DS by emailing us the red-and-blue Commander Video posted below, but you've done so on the day where absolutely nothing is believable. This is Bit.Trip.Sadistic.
Massively's April Fools' Day [adjective] roundup
The favorite day of the year for anyone named April has [verb ending in ed] the internet, making some web surfers [emotion] and others [emotion]. In [adjective] Massively fashion, we felt it best to gather all this news [adverb]. After all, what would an event be without a [adjective] Massively roundup? World of Warcraft [past tense verb] not just one internet prank but four for the [plural noun] of BattleNet. Turbine invited its [plural noun] to be the broccoli for [adjective] race in Dungeons and Dragons Online. The [plural title] of Star Wars: The Old Republic did not want to leave the Wookiee [plural noun] from playing their [adjective] game, so they created a Shyriiwook interface for all those [adjective] people. However, the prank that takes the [food] has to be ArenaNet's new Guild Wars 2 class, the Commando; Anet created [adjective] videos complete with jiggle physics and placed helicopters into the current Guild Wars game. After the cut, we have [past tense verb] all the [adjective] pranks in this year's batch of favorite MMOs. Now you won't have to [verb] around the internet to find them yourself! But if you do [verb] something not on our list, let us know in the comments.
Storyboard: Archetype discussion -- the Strawman
We've saved the best for last in our archetype discussions, because this character is the best. Without a doubt. He is pure, unadulterated awesome distilled into walking, talking form, and you could only hope to be half as great as he is. He saves princesses, slays dragons, and wins kingdoms, even if the game doesn't feature any of the above, because he is just that great. Whatever you do, he knows about it, and whatever you think you've mastered, he's even better. Don't hate him just because he's outdoing you at everything you try. The Strawman is our last archetype out of the initial round, and he's without a doubt better than any of the other loser types that we've covered up until now. After all, they all had one crippling flaw or another, and the Strawman neatly sidesteps all of those problems. He's the man with the plan, the dude with a justified attitude, and the solution rather than cause of all the problems your group of fellow players will encounter.
April Fools: Telltale puts you in the game with Envelotech
Sure, the totally-fake Envelotech device shown off in Telltale's April Fools' Day video below has terrifying properties -- but was Puzzle Agent really the best way to showcase its potential for terror? We probably would have gone with Jurassic Park, or, at the very least, Torturetown.
April Fools: The Old Republic localized into Wookiee language
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