April Fools' Day on Easter Monday? Is this a crossover episode?
A crossover this is not, though that hasn't stopped many from crossing over into the realm of world-class comedy for a giggle on 1st April.
As ever, those on the gaming side of the internet have been quick to get involved too (and yes, that might include us at Nintendo Life). The day is still young, though we thought it was only right to start bringing some of the greatest gaming gags together for you to check out.
We will be adding to the following list as more prospective comedians continue to pop up, but for now, here are the best joystick jokers that we've spotted so far...
2024's Best April Fools' Gaming Gags
April 2024 Nintendo Direct Round-Up
Did you catch all of the game announcements from the Nintendo Direct that absolutely definitely happened today? Don't worry if you missed out, our video team has got you covered with the following round-up.
SEGA Lands New "Sonic Ambassador"
Remember Sonic Man from the 2006's Sonic the Hedgehog? The game may have never made its way onto Nintendo consoles, but its Sonic superfan has been officially announced as SEGA's newest Sonic Ambassador. There is even a full interview with the man himself, for those interested.
'1-2-Switch: Flashmob Frenzy' Is Coming To Switch
Oof. Just when you thought that Nintendo's 2024 lineup was looking a little sparse, rumours of 1-2-Switch: Flashmob Frenzy come along to whip us into a... uhh... frenzy? Who did this?
Yacht Club Games Launches Skincare Brand
'D by Yacht' is an upcoming skincare brand from the creators of Shovel Knight. The secret ingredient: dirt. You can even book skincare consultations with a rather familiar-looking "esteemed Dirtmatologist".
Dave The Diver Gets A Dating Sim VR Spin-Off
MINTROCKET, the developer behind Dave The Diver has announced a spin-off project, 'DokiDoki Leahs VR,' a dating sim starring Duff's dream beau. It's "coming soon" to "Virtual Quest" and "PlayVacation VR" consoles.
Pokémon Sleep World Championships
There's a competitive scene for all kinds of Pokémon players these days, including Pokémon Sleep pros, it seems...
PowerWash Simulator's New 'Dirt' Mode
"Become a menace" and "cause property damage" in PowerWash Simulator's new 'Dirt' mode where your objective is to turn squeaky-clean objects into mucky messes. Okay, we really wish his one was real.
SEGA Dreamcast Mini Announced
Does this one play with our emotions a little too much? Maybe. But hey retro gaming podcast @RetroBlastUS tweeted the 'official reveal' of the SEGA Dreamcast Mini. That hurts.
Elon Musk Buys Rockstar Games
Horrors like this belong on Halloween, not 1st April. Touché, @videotechuk_, this one is evil.
Guilty Gear Perfume
The official Guilty Gear Twitter account went all-out this year with the reveal of a massive Guilty Gear comic series. While we will have to wait another 150 years to see the finished product (according to the announcement tweet) the team did reveal a "sample" of what's in store, including an ad for the "Smell of the Game" perfume.
Introducing The 'Virtual Boy Pro'
We have to hand it to IGN, this one is a belter. Check out the following trailer for the "newest member of the Nintendo Switch family".
There's a small selection of some of our favourite gaming gags so far this year — but we'll be keeping an eye out for more over the course of today!
What's your favourite so far? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 56
Man the Elon musk one actually made me double take
EDIT: I NEED VIRTUAL BOY PRO!!!!!!!!! IT HAS TO BE REAL PLEASE
Because of the magic of timezones we have more than 20 hours left to go when this article dropped, so buckle up everyone.
Earlier this morning I saw an article claiming Nintendo was selling a third tier of NSO which would include 3,000 more games including Mario is Missing.
I'm still waiting for all the YouTube fake Switch 2 announcement videos.
Happy Trust Nothing day everyone!
Dreamcast Mini as an April Fool's Joke is just hitting below the belt. Shame on you!
No mention of IGN's Virtual Boy Pro commercial? lol
I say it every year: what's the point of a day of trying to trick and fool people on the Internet a domain that is all about trying to trick and fool people all year round?
Removed - inappropriate
May the people who fell for the Dreamcast mini one, find comfort and peace.
IGN's Nintendo New Virtual Boy is okay. I actually think the Switch2 will have a head-housing that allows for VR/AR on it. LABO was the testing ground.....
Honestly, all things considered the Guilty Gear perfume would totally be a legit product given the weird promotions they be having in Japan.
Pokemon Sleep Tourney and Dreamcast mini got me chuckling, though.
@Jhena
MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 2 was the big tip-off for me. THAT one will be a hard get (depending on Capcom's agreement with Marvel).
THE LINK THAT IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE DAVE THE DIVER ONE IS A RICKROLL!!!!!!!
@WhiteTrashGuy
Thanks, I did not know about the licensing difficulties.
Best one is ign with the virtual boy lmfao
The sega dreamcast mini really is a shot below the belt though. I want one so bad xD
Limited Run Games often do an April Fools release, and this year they're doing a 3DO re-release of Plumbers Don't Wear Ties.
https://limitedrungames.com/collections/all-games/products/plumbers-don-t-wear-ties-3do
One day only, if you actually want to own a copy. I'd expect demand would be pretty low as I don't imagine there's many 3DO owners out there, and those that do might already own a copy of this infamous title.
yeah I hate this. AFD is the worst "holiday" ever. 👎
@Uncle_Franklin - I like your style. Also, isn’t Jesus the world’s first zombie?
@CRB1984
I think there were a few claims of ressurections in the ancient world, just as there were quite a few prophets and messiahs.
Removed - inappropriate
Ugh totally forgot the date. Time to get off the internet. See y’all tomorrow.
Nintendo life's Nintendo Direct youtube video got me. I didn't want to actually watch the recap without watching the direct so I looked for a couple minutes and when I couldn't find it started the NL video and then realized I had been duped. Well done.
Arc actually had 2 April Fools jokes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y1AuYcgY50
Sega Bits did a pretty good one. Article claimed a study had proven that all the bright blue skies in Sega games like Daytona have actually been damaging our screens and eyes for years.
As usual, putting your own April Fools' prank in the "best" pranks of the year is not only ego-stroking, but also factually incorrect. At least it wasnt as bad as that "movie" prank you did a few years back (that ye've also deleted in the meantime, thus making it infinitely harder to prove it ever existed)
Muskrat buying Rockstar would truly be the stuff of nightmares. Imagine the number of PIB Bots... 😱😱😱
I love how Power Wash Simulator is just the gameplay in reverse
Xbox being sold to nvidia was pretty good. I think any April Fools joke should at the bottom of the article say "April Fool's". I mean that is how it works in real life. You play the joke and then say April Fools.
🎵"Fool Mii once, shame on you! fool Mii twice, shame on you! fool Mii three times hol up rewind thats not even possible!"🎼
GamExplain has a pretty good one, I think it'd actually be a sick game
Following the runaway success of their new magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum NEXT, Fusion Retro Books are merging CRASH & ZZAP!64 to make room.
It’ll be called CRAPP! and the first issue will feature listings to double your Speccy or C64’s clock speed.
Part of me wants the PowerWash Simulator one to be real. XD
Sega just tweeted out CLC - Cartridge Loadable Content. It's pretty funny.
https://twitter.com/SEGA/status/1774844250976309518?t=0FIoG7DW4Pr-An0dxRUmiA&s=19
Gamexplain had a hilarious bit on Metroid Prime 4.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqw896T9Y3U
YMMV if it counts, but Switch newsfeed's Nintendo News channel just did its next game spotlight and dedicated it to Waluigi. Granted, they spotlight a lot of common grounds in these, but this character on this date...🤔😏
Surprised no fake switch 2 announced post. But maybe virtual boy covers that lol 😜
And there's a fake metroid prime 4 video. I knew I should have gone radio silent. But didn't watch fake video.
My April fools Day is switch 2 release date is tomorrow! 😉
1st April, when everyone working in communication get a brain injury.
This one was my favourite.
Among Us has a new update…a necks gen update! I would check it out (or just go to innersloths website
Yeah. AFD sucks. I don't mind obvious fake news but most of the time the "jokes" are really upsetting like the Rockstar one. Just stop.
In the distant future, the April Fool’s people will live on a different planet than the rest of us.
@FishyS the YouTuber nin10doland didn’t just do a switch 2 announcement. He did a whole direct.
The DreamCast mini was just cruel
Ouch. The DreamCast mini hurt. I am first seeing the article for it from this list, so knowing the headline is April fools, and it still hurt as much as if I believed it to be real.
Shovel Knight skin care products? Guilty Gear perfume? These seem plausible.
Still waiting for a Persona 3 headache remedy or Switch game card-flavored mints.
I stayed offline all day, I've always hated the "holiday".
@Uncle_Franklin Interestingly, that one was actually real. Interesting timing for that announcement for sure
@-wc- color me surprised
I only saw Nintedo Life's (the one on the site, not on the channel) and Pokémon's yesterday, but some of the other ones here were great, too!
Musk buying Rockstar would probably end up being a good thing in the end.
The nightmare would be if they were bought by Disney or Sony.
The best one was the Scottish government releasing a pretend law on April fools. A lot of people fell for it.
You guys missed my favourite, the 'Switch U' announcement. 'Because the Wii U didn't fail because of bad design decisions, it failed because it didn't have enough screens!'
@Fiskern
"color me surprised"
☺️
@SoIDecidedTo
"I think any April Fools joke should at the bottom of the article say "April Fool's". I mean that is how it works in real life. You play the joke and then say April Fools."
extremely good point! "April Fool's" is not just about deception, after all 😅
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