It’s April Fools’ Day, and while you’re trying to think of the best way to prank your buddies by convincing them that their parents are dead or something, it’s also a good time to recount some of the best pranks of old.
With that being said, here are the best pranks that those in the gaming industry have ever pulled, from April Fools’ gags to practical jokes that have been played in the other 364 days of the year.
Here are the best video game pranks of all time.
The Best Video Game Pranks of All Time
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PlayStation Lifestyle's Metal Gear Solid 4 Trophies
Before trophies were patched into Metal Gear Solid 4, PlayStation Lifestyle posted a "leaked" list of said trophies that duped many MGS fans. These "trophies" included "Little Drummer Boy (Bronze) – Roll in the drum can until Snake vomits", "Don’t Be a Hayter (Bronze) – Change Snake’s name to David Hayter during the intro" and "Shake it Up Baby (Bronze) – Use SIXAXIS motion controls to shake Rose’s breasts".
Read the full list on PSLS here.
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StarCraft 2 Goes Mobile
Blizzard decided to swing a few punches at the gaming industry itself with their 2012 April Fools' joke, announced a mobile version of StarCraft 2 that "boasted" the following features:
- “Endless hours of gaming including repeating playthroughs and Endurance mode!”
- “Multiple endings, each influenced by choices and color-coded for your convenience (Further epic endings planned for post release as downloadable content.)”
- “Tens of hundreds of thousands of unlockable hats.”
The game was obviously fake, but its message was a potent one.
Watch "gameplay footage" of the game here.
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IGN's The Legend of Zelda
One of the most elaborate video game pranks, this April Fools' Day joke from IGN duped many into believing that a The Legend of Zelda movie was on its way.
Its lack of established actors, and the fact it was posted on April 1st, gave the game away, but there was a moment when all of our hearts skipped a beat after seeing this appear on IGN's homepage 5 years ago. Well played, IGN. Well played.
Watch the "trailer" here.
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1UP's Pokemon Kart Wii Trailer
The folks at 1UP made this trailer that depicted Pikachu and Bulbasaur taking to the roads in cute li'l go-carts, and we're still disappointed by the fact that this isn't actually a thing.
Watch the video here.
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Rain's Mortal Kombat legacy
Rain initially started off as a prank played by Mortal Kombat developer Ed Boon, who inserted the character into Mortal Kombat 3's attract mode, but not into the game itself. The character was a play on the Prince song 'Purple Rain', with Rain even revealed as being a prince himself.
After fans searched tirelessly for Rain in MK3 and the inevitable false rumours continued to circulate regarding how to unlock him, he eventually made his way into Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
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The Mystery of Street Fighter's Sheng Long
When gamers were faced by a 'continue' screen in Street Fighter II that stated "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance", many wondered just who one Earth Sheng Long was.
It turns out that Sheng Long was actually a mistranslation on behalf of developer Capcom, with the dev actually referring to a fighting style rather than a character, but Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) magazine picked up the ball and ran with it, telling players that Sheng Long was indeed unlockable in the game as an April Fools' prank.
Of course, this wasn't true, but that didn't prevent fans from rallying for his inclusion in a Street Fighter game. Their calls for Sheng Long were listened to by Capcom, who introduced Gouken to the series in Street Fighter IV, a martial arts master who had trained both Ryu and Ken, which was the description that had been given for Sheng Long.
Eventually, Capcom tried to muscle in on the joke themselves when, on April 1st, 2008, they announcedt that Gouken would be an unlockable character in Street Fighter IV. Of course, this wasn't to be, and we're still yet to see Sheng Long in a Street Fighter game.
