Nobody embraces April Fool's quite like the gaming and tech community. From year to year, we've braced ourselves for the onslaught of neat, weird, and downright hilarious stuff that these companies throw at us... and they've rarely disappointed.
For the most part, the idea of pranking a waiting audience has fallen by the wayside -- rather, we've seen a parade of silly stuff that is purposefully designed to make us smile.
We're gearing up now for this year's round of Too Good to Be True, but it doesn't hurt to take a look back at some of the surprises you may have missed last year.
Here are some of the best April Fool's jokes from 2015.
ThinkGeek's Steam-Powered Cabinet
The first one on the list isn't really a game company's brainchild, but ThinkGeek has grown near and dear to our monkey-loving hearts -- they're just one of the gang now as far as we're concerned.
And they've always stepped up on April Fool's to keep you guessing. One of the stars of last year's rendition (although unmistakably unlikely to be the real deal) is the Steam-Powered Gaming Cabinet.
Everyone else over the past year has been hyping up their version of the Steam Box, ThinkGeek decided it was high time to start building their own. And if you're going to do it, go big or go home.
"The Steam-Powered Gaming Cabinet is a Video game console that is literally a steam machine. That is, it is steam powered! Using a patent-pending miniature boiler mechanism, a stationary steam engine produces all the electricity you need to play your games. Of course you’ll need to keep a close eye on the boiler pressure, stoke the fire, grease all internal lubrication points, and properly rectify the output voltage, but isn’t the enjoyment you’ll receive worth it?"
You can take a look at the other gems they've managed to come up with in last year's Is It or Isn't It? blitz here.
Half Life 3 Confirmed
Someone at Valve really thought this one through.
The announcement of Half-Life 3's imminent release is as old as the hills at this point, but it never stops being painful whenever it does. (Also, Firefly. If you're talking about clickbait, I will hit that every single time.)
Most of the time you get a logo or some fake box art or an accidental spill from someone somewhere who just got fired from Valve, but this time we got a slap in the face with an appearance right on the front page of the official Steam Store.
It was here! Surprise!
Yeah. Right.
When I said "the best of 2015" I also meant the most memorable. I'm going to remember this one for the sudden start in my jaded heart before I remembered the inevitability of disappointment.
Samsung Smart Knife
A nod to the tech companies that like playing games just as much as the rest of us. Samsung unveiled their next big offering to the world - the world's first smart knife, the Galaxy BLADE edge.
"The Galaxy BLADE edge was designed with diamonds in mind. It not only features a beautiful diamond-cut finish on its tough ceramic body, but is also equipped with a razor-sharp diamond edge, tough enough to cut through a lobster tail and sharp enough to slice though tender heirloom tomatoes."
Set for on-the-go food selfies, sporting a stylus that doubles as a thermometer, and a handle that comes in four different textures, this hilarious new update to the Edge was worth a second look and a smile. Think of what celebrity chef Instagrammers could do with this.
Flying Zombies
Game dev Techland decided that the only thing to improve the realism of popular horror game Dying Light was to switch up the game physics. Now they can fly.
It's not the first game that's implemented just how fun rag-dolling your dead enemies can be, but doesn't get dull -- especially when the company went so far as to release an emergency public service announcement to warn players of the situation.
Pac-Man Maps
This isn't the first time Google has jumped on the gaming bandwagon, but it is definitely high up on the memorable list. 2015 gave us the Pac-Man button on Google Maps.
It instantly transformed your neighborhood into the biggest, most oddly-designed game of Pac-Man ever. It was fun and the productivity of your office plummeted in direct correlation to its appearance. You know it.
Pixellated Deus Ex
Nothing like a little retro to remind you of the days before slick graphics and life after chiptunes. The Deus Ex team decided the best vision of the future was to look to the past.
2015 saw this magnificent teaser video for Deus Ex: Human Defiance, upcoming 2D side-scrolling pixel shooter.
After all, if you take one of Human Revolution's signature triangles, flip it around and stick it on another triangle, you get a square. A square that looks remarkably like a pixel.
The path was clear.
It's almost a shame they couldn't have come out with a playable demo as well.
Retro Tekken
Deus Ex isn't the only franchise that got into the retro swing of things. Tekken released this masterpiece of a crossover game with Galaga, where instead of space bugs and spaceships, you got 8-bit Tekken characters.
Utterly simple and yet strangely, impossibly gratifying.
WoW T.I.N.D.R.
Blizzard masterminds behind World of Warcraft really pulled out all the stops last year with a series of prank patch notes and the inclusion of T.I.N.D.R. for followers.
What better way than to help your followers find true love? After all, it's easy.
"Similar to the S.E.L.F.I.E. camera, you’ll be given a random mission in your Garrison that will award a T.I.N.D.R. Box. It can then be applied to any level 100 Follower just like any other upgrade, and that Follower—armed with their new dating gadget—will spend countless hours swiping left and right as they meander through your Garrison, overriding whatever task you’ve assigned them to."
What better way to show that you care? Garrison resources? Who needs those?
Big-headed Heroes of the Storm
WoW wasn't the only one that got the April Fool's Day treatment. Blizzard MOBA Heroes of the Storm got a little update of its own - Big Head Mode.
"Have you always wanted to see chibi Illidan face off against a kawaii Lord of Terror? Now’s your chance! This unique gameplay mode is automatically enabled the moment you step foot into your favorite Battleground, and features the same dynamic 5v5 combat you’ve come to know and love!"
Call it a joke if you want... but this was adorable, and I for one definitely hope it comes around a second time.
Curse Voice Upgrades
Just to round out all the Blizzard title ties, Curse announced the latest and greatest revision to its voice platform on April 1st last year as well.
Ever felt the frustration of never being able to dish out all the gratifying trash-talk you've got stored up upon your hapless opponent? With the proprietary next-level Curse Voice World-Trans technology... you still won't. But it'll be hilarious just watching you try.
Agri Birds
Never let it be said that it was only the "serious" companies that really got in on the April Fool's fun last year. Rovio Entertainment, the guys behind the impossibly popular Angry Birds mobile game franchise announced a brand new game slated for release - Agri Birds.
Idle hands make no amount of mischief, so Red and his pals are off to a summer job on a farm.
Sure it makes for a great joke... but you know as well as I do there are plenty of people that would play it with pleasure.
Warhammer: Hammertime Mode
You know what was missing from the original concept of Warhammer - The End Times: Vermintide? Baseball.
Well last year indie devs Fatshark sought to rectify that unfortunate lack by announcing a new mode - Hammertime.
Players would be pitted against the hordes of Skaven to "perform acts of ultra cheese shredding violence as they bash the skulls of the oncoming onslaught of Skaven."
Do the Airplane!
Last but not least comes the silliness of Guild Wars 2 - which franchise has long ago accepted that any amount of silly is perfectly all right in its eclectic mish-mash of a world... and they prove it pretty much every year by tossing out something new at their player-base.
2015 saw player characters taking a leaf out of the childhood playground - Do the airplane!
There's nothing quite like marching into war with your arms unable to reach your sides. It feels like the arachnaphobia mod for Skyrim all over again.
That's all for last year's mini-recap... it's only a few days left before we find out what else our favorite nerd corporations have in store for us next month.
Make sure you keep an eye out!
Published: Mar 30, 2016 12:17 am