Gaming April Fools Jokes Suck … Because They Should Really Exist

Don’t get the article title wrong, April Fools Day has its moments. It’s always fun to prank a friend or to send your family around the bend for a few hours over something you’ve planned over a few months … or is that just me?

This article pertains to the simple fact that video game april fools jokes suck. Let’s face it, when a studio comes up with an obviously dumb idea just to poke fun at another game, it comes off as more lame than fun, especially since the best jokes have long since been used. But what’s worse than a bad joke? A joke that’s actually a bloody brilliant idea, but will never actually exist.

Besides the rather obvious list of everything that Thinkgeek has ever come up with (and thankfully some of those ideas have come to life), here’s a few April Fool’s jokes I’d much prefer to see come to life …

Optimus Prime in Titanfall

From last year, a Titanfall trailer depicting Optimus Prime in action caused a stir, but it was rather obvious its real intention was just to tease. But think about it, Transformers games haven’t had a good track record of late, and I’m pretty sure many fans would prefer to rinse themselves of the design choices made by the Bay era. Having Optimus Prime probably would have helped Titanfall’s sales too, considering its rather quick decent into bargain bin territory.

Pokemon Catching in Google

Also from last year, Google Maps introduced a brief but exciting feature that allowed you to seek out Pokemon in your Google Maps app. Cool as it was back then, it also showed how cool the Pokemon franchise would be Nintendo expanded it beyond just another DS/3DS sequel. With their recent partnership with DeNA, who knows, maybe we’ll be able to catch Pokemon a different way for once.

 

Duke Nukem Forever

Much like Half-Life 3, Duke Nukem Forever was one of those games that was so long in development hell, everyone was just as surprised when the game did finally make it out alive … barely. We all kinda knew it was going to be a drag, one way or another, but the most cruelest of jokes afforded to the ill-fated sequel was the fact that its original announcement came in April 1997. So why is it on the list? Because the Duke does deserve another chance, but not like this. Perhaps now everyone can move on to better things, like bringing the Duke back into the 2D platforming world where he belongs. Corny one liners included.

Of course, for a real Duke Nukem april fool, there’s always the year File Planet linked a Duke Nukem Forever demo on its site that led to nothing.

The Legend of Zelda Movie

IGN have a habit of coming up with elaborate fake trailers for things we’d all kinda like to see (they also came up with the previously mentioned Titanfall Prime). It’s biggest april fool came a few years earlier than that, with the below trailer for a Legend of Zelda feature film. So good was its execution, many of us bought the idea until IGN called us on it. Many years later, the rumours continue swirl about a live action Zelda, but Nintendo have always been reluctant to let their IP’s go, especially after the abysmal Mario Bros. movie.

You could argue it should never happen, but given the success of modern fantasy led by Game of Thrones, maybe technology and big screen storytelling has finally caught up to the idea of translating Link’s adventures properly. Just as long as Tingle doesn’t show up.

Half-Life 3

And now the big one, the bane of the gaming industry. It seems like every year there’s a rumour, a joke or a down right nasty April Fools prank based on Valve’s long gestating franchise sequel. But when Valve decided it would be funny to admit that even they think the sequel is just a joke, by splashing the HL3 logo all over Steam back in 2012. Of course, we all know what we really think, and that’s JUST MAKE IT DAMN IT!

Do you have an April Fools joke you recall? Got a prank you wish it was real? Let us know in the comments below.