April Fools gaming news round-up

April Fools is like Christmas for writers. It’s an excuse to exercise some creative talent, while an old Scrooge in the comments section yells bah humbug at everything posted. There’s a lot of great content posted on the first day of April. But this was some of the best.

Google – Pokémon Hunt

The internet search giant pulled a massive win today when it introduced augmented reality and Pokemon. Teasing fans with a video that showcased the use of AR and pocket monsters, players would have alledgeldy been able to sniff out various Pokemon from real world locations, like a Muk hiding in my room or a Hitmonlee checking out a Karate dojo.

It’s completely fake of course. But hot damn, I wish that it were true.

IGN – Titans, roll out!

“At the end of this day, one shall stand, one shall Titanfall”. Titanfall already has some pretty impressive robots wandering around in the game, waiting to introduce your face to some oversized lead bulelts. But a chance to pilot the legendary Autobot leader Optimus Prime?

That was too good to be true. Standby for sadness.

Blizzard – Vengeance of the Vanquished

No stranger to the annual tradition of hoaxing, the house of Starcraft unveiled their latest game today, Blizzard Outkasts: Vengeance of the Vanquished. Part Mortal Kombat, part tribute to unsung heroes and all fake, this would have been the first fighting game from Blizzard since Justice League: Task Force.

An elaborate joke, filled with concept art, character descriptions and the most metal controller of all time, this gag is one of my favourites from today.

Killzone – The Tim Burton connection

Straight from the official Sony Killzone blog comes this bit of news about Tim Burton directing a Killzone Shadow Fall that stars, yes you guessed it, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. “The movie focuses on the events depicted in Killzone: Shadow Fall after the Helghast settle on planet Vekta,” the post reads.

Frankly, I’d dig to actually see that movie get made.

Geoff and Rolling Stone – Dream crushing f***s

Although not technically related to gaming, this one deserves a spot on the list because it caught me out so bloody well. Geoff linked me to a Rolling Stone story about one of my favourite bands of all time, AC/DC, finally touring Southern Africa.

And I fell for it, hook, line and sinker. You bastards.

Oh and yes what sort of media outlet would we be without our own and Darryn took it away with the awesome video about the upcomng Batman Arkham game including the Batwing

Take to the skies in the Batwing

While the idea is awesome it us unfortunately entirely made up… for now.

Seen any others? We’ve had a look – but we’ve seen far less than usual. 

And that’s it… nothing else to see here, move along…

Okay fine there was one more. You can breathe a sigh of relief the local government is not about to start charging customs on our digital games. That truly evil joke was actually a collaboration between Geoff and Jamie from MyGaming.. everyone likes being double teamed right?

Last Updated: April 1, 2014