April Fools

So, it's 1st April. That makes manoeuvring the internet an act of danger at every click as we try to figure out what's real and what isn't. This year, to be frank, few pranks have genuinely fooled anyone, but will have hopefully raised a smile — or a scowl, in some cases.

Nintendo Developing "Virtual U" — A Look Into the Future

Virtual U

Yep, that's ours, which seemed like an obvious choice with most of the internet banging on about Virtual Reality in recent times. It's not actually beyond the realm of possibility that such an idea is being considered by Nintendo, though the images we used are undoubtedly ambitious, with Sony's Morpheus and Oculus Rift showing the reality of bulkier designs. VR has been 'the future' a lot, in the '90s and beyond, but it now has stronger technology and billions of dollars behind it. We'll see how it goes, but this gave us an excuse to make jokes about hardware endorsed by the very real World Dental Federation, so we're happy.

Google Maps Launches a Pokémon Challenge

When Google does an April Fools', it has plenty of cash to make it something truly brilliant. While the video for this is too ridiculous to consider real, including crazy but fun-looking augmented reality play to "catch" 'mon all around the world, Google Maps does have — until 2nd April — a very real mini-game. This one has been a bit of a viral hit as a result, with some members of the Nintendo Life community actually searching Google Maps, collaborating and sharing locations, and catching them all. Kudos to Google and those of you that have completed the task at hand.

Sega's MEGAne Drive

Sega

We're back to Virtual Reality with this effort from Sega. This "wearable entertainment" is in the form of Mega Drive / Genesis inspired lenses that change the way you see the world, and look rather rad while worn in trendy wine bars, apparently.

Mighty No. 9 Has a Peculiar New Demo Build

In a humorous parody of its own videos showing Keiji Inafune playing a fresh build, Comcept has posted the video above showing Capcom's TOM-PON, aka Naoya Tomita — who worked on the original Mega Man among others — playing a frankly bizarre new version of the game.

Game Informer Reveals Zelda: Other Z

Other Z

This has been doing the rounds for a little while as it was in Game Informer magazine; restrictions of print forced the publication's hand. You can see in the image above — the clearest we could find via mbla 78 on Twitter — the overall idea of this fake project. It's Team Ninja giving Zelda the same treatment as Metroid: Other M, with disastrous consequences.

Nester Added to Super Smash Bros. Roster

Nester

Rather like the 1DS spoof of last year, this one went to the trouble of setting up a website and URL similar to the official efforts from Nintendo, before producing a Nintendo Power-themed reveal of Nester as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Bonus points are earned for the fake screenshots, too.

The FrostbiteEngine Team Taunts Wii U

Screen Shot 2014 04 01 at 14. 13. 56

(Update: The Frostbite team has now deleted these tweets, highlighting how contentious they arguably were. Above, in place of the original embedded tweet, is a screengrab of what was posted). We include this one as it's high profile, though it's up to personal opinion whether this strays from being humorous to just plain insulting, as the team behind one of the most powerful graphical engines in the industry teases the Wii U. The first tweet is above (update, now a screengrab), with follow-ups confirming Half Life 3 as a Wii U exclusive and "quantum entanglement for Zero Latency connections" coming only to Wii U.

Nintendo to Re-Issue Special Edition Cartridges

Retro Cart

One for retro fans, as a mock interview on the-gamers-lounge.com with Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime confirms the return of special edition cartridges for NES classics. Citing high pre-order numbers for the RetroN5 system, this one refers to left-over Wii accessories being melted down for the cartridge production.

So those are some, and certainly not all, of the April Fools' articles we've come across. Let us know which you like the most in the poll and comments below — we've left ours out as it'd be too heartbreaking if it failed to win.

Which of these April Fools' is your favourite? (413 votes)

  1. Google's half-real Pokémon Challenge35%
  2. Sega's MEGAne Drive glasses4%
  3. Mighty No. 9's peculiar new demo build7%
  4. Game Informer's Zelda: Other Z reveal12%
  5. Nester added to the Super Smash Bros. roster12%
  6. The FrostbiteEngine team taunting Wii U8%
  7. Nintendo to re-issue Special Edition cartridges8%
  8. I don't like any of them14%

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