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DS Daily: The fooling comes to an end

by David Hinkle { Apr 2nd 2008 at 9:00AM }

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

by Ross Miller { Apr 2nd 2008 at 8:00AM }

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.

Continued →

April Fools' Alert #15: A potpourri of nonsense

by Alexander Sliwinski { Apr 1st 2008 at 11:40PM }

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

by Ross Miller { Apr 1st 2008 at 11:20PM }

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

by David Hinkle { Apr 1st 2008 at 11:00PM }

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!

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April Fools' Alert #13: 3D, physics-based Tetris on WiiWare

by Scott Jon Siegel { Apr 1st 2008 at 11:00PM }

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

by Ross Miller { Apr 1st 2008 at 10:40PM }

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

by James Ransom-Wiley { Apr 1st 2008 at 9:30PM }

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

by Ross Miller { Apr 1st 2008 at 7:30PM }

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

by Scott Jon Siegel { Apr 1st 2008 at 6:30PM }

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.

Continued →

April Fools' Alert #9: Middle-Earth invaded by fowl creatures

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Apr 1st 2008 at 5:30PM }

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

by Justin McElroy { Apr 1st 2008 at 4:30PM }

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

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Apr 1st 2008 at 4:00PM }

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

by Justin McElroy { Apr 1st 2008 at 3:30PM }

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]

April Fools' Alert #6: The Great Webcomic Switcheroo

by Ross Miller { Apr 1st 2008 at 2:30PM }

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.