You might remember that last year, PlatinumGames released a video from a clearly fake press conference at which Hideki Kamiya and co. announced nine new "upcoming" games as a part of a series called the Neo-Classic Arcade. This year, the studio is back at it again as it revealed a "Spectacular Side-Scrolling Action" game starring its V-Tuber and mascot, Pt Shirogane.

The game was announced on the fictional "Happy-Go-Lucky Underground Radio" show, hosted by Pt. You can watch the full reveal in the video above (be sure to turn subtitles on), with the small amount of game footage (assuming that it's a real game) appearing around the 3:17 mark.

This looks to be some kind of neon platformer full of hovering robot enemies and giant glowing bullets. If it's a joke, then it's pretty well made, if it's not then we imagine that there is a little more work to do.

This title would be the second in the Neo-Classic Arcade series which, according to the PlatinumGames website, will eventually consist of the following titles:

Volume 1 - SOL CRESTA Free-Form Vertical Scrolling Shooting
Volume 2 - Galactic Badass Beat 'Em Up Action (WIP)
Volume 3 - Battle Action Block-Breaking Game (WIP)
Volume 4 - Sci-Fi Superhuman Soccer (WIP)
Volume 5 - Pt Spectacular Side-Scrolling Action (WIP)
Volume 6 - Constella-Style Side Scrolling Shooting
Volume 7 - High-Speed Action Racing (WIP)
Volume 8 - Dynamite Sexy Puzzle Game
Volume 9 - Ultimate Top-View Bastard Action (WIP)
Volume 10 - Apocalyptic Giant Robot Fighting (WIP)

Of course, the big question is, is this real? Last year's fictional press conference cast a very clear "we're doing a skit here guys" light over the whole affair with its long list of WIPs, but you can never know for sure with PlatinumGames.

The Neo-Classic Arcade series — which "endeavours to carry on the spirit and fun of classic gaming using modern technology," according to the studio — sounds like nothing more than an April Fools' Day joke, but PlatinumGames state that the collection kicked off with Sol Cresta, and when was that one announced? That's right, 1st April 2021.

So, does that mean that the side-scroller starring Pt is the real deal? Maybe. Maybe not. We know that Kamiya has a habit of trolling fans, but this wouldn't be the first time that an April Fools' Day announcement has turned out to be true. We suppose that we'll just have to wait and see...

What do you make of this announcement? Is it just a joke or is something actually on the way? Let us know in the comments.