10 greatest gaming April Fools

A word of warning. As some people are likely to skip the intro paragraph text of an article and just look at the pictures and big text - none of these things are actually true.

In advance of the slew of 2010 April Fools gags (that are only valid til 12pm) we've sought out some of the best April Fools of past years that nearly had us looking like big fools.

Just remember for the next few hours, if it seems even *slightly* unlikely, it probably is.

Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 'nude code'

US games mag Electronic Gaming Monthly became infamous for its yearly April Fools gags, exemplifying the effect of a respected publication printing a downright lie - it sticks, and some people actually believe it. There's a few we could have gone for here but our favourite is the Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 'nude code' which promised nekkid beach babes. 

Legend of Zelda movie trailer

Concieved and produced by IGN, this fan-baiting faux-trailer plyayed into the hands of the most critical group of fans - the Zelda faithful.

The IREM console launch

This Japanese developer has a bit of a love affair with April Fools and produdces a high concept effort every year. One of our favorites was this Irem hardware launch.

Master Chief appeaing in the Halo 3 player map

Bungie like an April Fool, but this was the one we remembered best - the 'Master Chief is in ur player map'.

Merging of Hitoshi Sakimoto and Mooi Sakuraba

Somewhat obscure, but amusing for the images, this 'merger' falsehood reported that two senior Square-Enix composers had been made into one single person (the old womane in the picture), This was a nod to the merger of Square Co. and Enix Corporation that happened in the same year.

The Terra-Tron

This isn't the only Blizzard effort in the list, but its dedication to detail in fools is second to none. This Terra-Tron unit for StarCraft 2 was so believable (at first glance) we actually fell for this.

Xbox Alpine Legend

Microsoft had a little laugh with this lederhosen and flugelhorn simulator.

Assassin's Creed/Metal Gear video

This video was so well put together it had to be real. Until you remember this is Hideo Kojima we're dealing with here and he doesn't do trailers by half measures - even April Fool ones.

The Wii Helm

Created by retail website ThinkGeek, this Wii peripheral offered lazy gamers the chance to play Wii hands free, via the medium of their head and some foot pedals. You can guess what happens if you click the 'buy now' button.

The 'Bard Hero' Class

 

Blizzard's other entry in our list showed that even Warcraft had been bitten by the Guitar Hero bug. We're almost 100% certain that the majority of WOW players would have paid to have this for real.