Well, 1st April has come and the joke articles, social media posts and GIFs have done the rounds. For our part we decided to make fun of Nintendo's inability to keep meaningful secrets over the past year, making up some nonsense about a Mario-themed operation to plug the gaps and stop leaks. Along with the reference to Uncles that work for Nintendo being monitored we had a bit of a serious point in that Nintendo had a chronic inability to control information last year; that's an area it'll no doubt try and improve upon in 2017.
Of course, plenty have been doing their own April Fools' Day gimmicks this year, so we looked around for some of the good 'uns - enjoy!
Here's One We Didn't Use
Nintendo Life reviewer and contributor Ben Bertoli shared the above mock-up with the team, but we'd already finished our 'Operation Mario' article and decided to stick with that one. Besides, lots of people would probably actually want this in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, so maybe it would have just been cruel.
Fire Emblem: Battle of Revolution
Thanks to time zones Nintendo was one of the first out of the gate as April Fools' Day rolled around, and opted for a new spin on a popular series - Fire Emblem: Battle of Revolution. A new setting and Famicom-style graphics for a 3DS and Switch dual release, the fact the gags were in Japanese (which is fair enough considering the source) made it a little confusing. Oh, and some people actually like the look of it and want the game.
Well, at least Nintendo didn't joke about a fake Metroid game, it just made Metroid Prime: Federation Force; we don't think the game is bad, but couldn't resist writing that...
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Jelly Beans
This was a good one, so kudos to Vooks. The above Jelly Beans were 'revealed' as part of a physical reward on My Nintendo, and as cooking in Breath of the Wild is a meta-game all on its own we thought this was a fun idea. This line is also great - "Most importantly there's also one single bean in each box that has the flavour of a Nintendo Switch cartridge. It'll look just like a regular bean so watch out".
New Frontier Days 'Real Life Visuals'
This is a charming and self-aware video from Arc System Works, presenting a real life take on New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers, with members of staff recreating some of the clunky animations and demonstrating the widely accepted absurdity of sim games. Fair play for this one.
Ms. Pac-Man in Google Maps
One of the most publicised ones, as Google's always are, this one is tied to Nintendo by the fact the original came to NES - yeah, a bit of a stretch. In any case, it's been possible to turn Google Maps into Ms. Pac-Man, which is a cool idea. Whether this'll do a Pokémon GO and go from gag to reality is debatable.
'8-Bit Bayonetta' Steam Gag, But an Actual Countdown Starts
So, SEGA posts an 8-bit Bayonetta game to Steam that's actually been bouncing around the internet for a year or two; it's a free download so no harm is done. Of course, what does happen is that PC gamers get excited about the idea of playing Bayonetta in 60fps at 4K. SEGA has also started a countdown that is clearly related to Bayonetta. Is the 8-bit Bayonetta post on Steam an April Fools, a kickstart of mysterious countdown hype, or both?
Maybe the original Bayonetta is coming to PC after all, but unless Nintendo says so Bayonetta 2 will not.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX G-Assist - Honourable Mention
This is included because Nintendo and NVIDIA are now buddies thanks to the Switch, and because it reminds us of those '90s cheat carts. The above gag offers to employ AI to beat games for you, though it falls into some lazy jokes about gamers needing prompts to eat and top up on energy drinks. Sigh...
Anyway, it's almost 2nd April and we can all move on - good news indeed.
Comments 34
Nice going, Ben. xD
I'd say the best/most cruel joke was the Nintendo Direct rumor...
9 DAY COUNTDOWN = BAYONETTA AMIIBO!!!
The majoras mask thing would have been cool. The switching of clothes in BoTW reminded me of majoras mask's masks.
Which reminds me, I wonder when the amiibo that give us Fierce Diety and the Sky outfit will be released.
Thanks for the shout out! My wife actually illustrated that Majora's Mask for me to match the art direction of BotW. She's the real MVP.
EAT! I knew I was forgetting something. Thanks for the prompt...
I would love if Nintendo actually patched Majora's Mask into the game! I also like the idea of the jelly bean one.
Lol, funny. Ms Pac-Man is my favourite out of those tricks.
"Prince Sidon" flavored jelly bean lmao
@benbertoli your wife did an amazing job with that! I think it would have really fooled a couple of people for sure.
The plumbing gag for leaks was a good one and more of a true gag that shouldn't have stumped anyone.
The ARC one was fun to watch because it looks like that development team has a good group working there. The game looks a little boring, but I'll pick it up in May to find out for sure once I am done with Zelda, Blaster Master, and I am Setsuna.
There's also the Hello Nintendo podcast April Fools episode. I'm on it, so I'd suggest you watch it.
@PlywoodStick Why? It had blantantly false information in it and was just all-around a wishlist.
Did you really believe it?
pacman has already been in google maps a few years ago. now they do the same with ms.pacman? lamest 1st of april ever.
Hmm, I would buy Nintendo themed jellybeans. Though not in some of those flavours. And I need something to spend my gold coins on :/
I mean you could have DK's banana, Peach's peach, Yoshi's egg... ok it's falling apart again.
Sonic Retro made a cruel joke with a fake article about a Switch version of Sonic & All Stars racing transformed(called turbo edition).With fake boxart and character roster.Including the characters missing from the console versions(like Ryo Hazuki),Miku Hatsune and Bayonetta.
@Tyranexx Maybe that will be in the story DLC and the amiibo will launch alongside it
I've never played Bayonetti, can't wait for 1440p 144fps Bayonetta
Or better, 1080p 240fps Bayonetta :^)
That would be pretty hard to achieve, if not impossible even with a GTX 1080 ti and i7 7700k on lowest settings, to be honest
Still, jokes aside, high FPS Bayonetti with any form of input I want...
I will complete Bayonetta at 10fps using a Piano!
Good thing I own a Makey Makey
LOL
Vooks had the best one I think. Plus it's the only way I'm ever going to get Hestu's Gift!
@RadioHedgeFund Think bigger: Bayonetta 3.
The Episode Kenny for FFXV was a nice one.
That arc system one actually pretty good. Triple High Five!
The Vooks article genuinely fooled me when I first read it. Seemed very plausible given the beanboozled jelly beans you can buy.
I'm not under 13 so I don't fall for April's Fools, but what a lack of creativity all round this year.
I really liked that mocked up Majora's Mask. Looks really great. Other than that, NintendoLife.com's Gag was the best, while the rest lagged behind by a mile.
@thesewoodenideas: We can hope!
I wasn't fooled by that Operation Mario gag, but boy howdy that Majora's Mask mockup would have fooled me big time!
The farming video was cute and I thought the line about one of the jelly beans tasting like a Switch cartridge was hilarious.
I feel like r/place deserves a mention. It's obviously just due to user input, but Nintendo is getting some massive representation there. Just be careful, there are some less family friendly things there.
That Majoras Mask mock up is so awesome.
Noone see Gamespot's pilot a guardian video? I was genuinely going for it until i realised what day it was lol. YouTube it if you get a chance.
Really enjoy these! Majora's Mask would be a fine addition to BotW. If the Bayonetta rumor is true, it's a little disappointing as I was hoping the IP would remain exclusive to Nintendo. Could've been hailed as an exclusive 'mature' franchise, but oh well!
@RadioHedgeFund 9 more seasons... 97 more years until I get my hands on that Bayonetta amiibo sauce!
I got fooled today. Stupid April Fools videos should be taken down, cause nobody is expecting a prank video when it's not April 1st anymore.
There was a walkthrough vid saying if you cook a fang from each of the three dragons along with a giant ancient core it would create an ancient key that lets you pilot guardians. I even showed video of it being cooked and the item shown on the screen when it was created... it looked legit!
Didn't realize it was a prank until they showed the footage piloting the guardian. The laser beam in 1st person looked to fake.
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