Kotaku: April Fool's Day

It's Your April Fools' Day Round-Up

Mike Fahey — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:00:00 EDT

Never trust anything you read on the internet, and that goes doubly today. It's April Fools' Day, and we're rounding up the very best and very worst of what the gaming industry thinks is funny. More »

WARNING: It's April 1

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 01:30:00 EDT

Good morning, Kotaku. It's April 1. April Fools Day. A day when the internet becomes a wasteland of bad jokes and annoying fake news. So wherever you tread today, be cautious. And if it's any consolation, we won't be trying to trick you. Seriously. More »

The Creator of Resident Evil Gets His Own Truly Bizarre Action Figure

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:40:00 EDT

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Shinji Mikami, the video game creator behind games like Resident Evil, God Hand and Vanquish, is finally getting his own action figure, now available for pre-order at the web site of Tango Gameworks, the developer's new studio. Featuring "real shaving action," 256 points of articulation and alternate zombie heads, it may be the best Shinji Mikami action figure of all time. More »

It's Over!

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 02:00:00 EDT

Did you survive? Starting right now, it's April 2nd KT (Kotaku Time). Thank goodness! Hopefully the internet can get back to, you know, "normal" — or close to it. Next up, an imaginary bunny carrying a basket of eggs! More »

Your April Fool's Survival Guide [Update]

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 02:30:00 EDT

Oh dear. It's now April 1, making this officially the worst day of the year for all things internet. Over the next 24 hours things might get a little rough. But it's OK. We can get through this. Together. More »

Virtua Fighter's Final Showdown With April Fools

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:20:00 EDT

It's still March 31 by the official Kotaku calendar, but it's April Fools' Day in Japan, something you should take into consideration while watching Sega's new trailer for Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, its latest fighting game update. More »

Kratos' Companion Cube Gets Unchained

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:20:00 EDT

Did you know that there's an extremely well-hidden cameo in God of War: Chains of Olympus? It's the much deadlier, more ancient Companion Cube, the omega of all cubeforms, capable of kicking serious ass. More »

Valve Takes The Piss With Team Fortress 2 Sniper Class Update

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:20:00 EDT

Valve's Team Fortress 2 team pranksters have joined in on the April Fool's Day fun, issuing what is (thankfully) not the Sniper class' first unlockable, the jar of urine known as the Jarate. No shit. More »

Syberia 3 Links PC And PS3

Mike Fahey — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:20:00 EDT

Benoît Sokal's award-winning adventure game series Syberia continues next year with Syberia 3, with PlayStation 3 and PC versions encouraging players to pool resources between them. More »

Wii Fit Says April Fools

Brian Crecente — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EDT

This is pretty neat. Booting up your copy of Wii Fit today will earn you a couple of pretty obvious April Fool's jokes. More »

World of Warcraft Gets Its Atari 2600 Port

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:40:00 EST

Earlier this year, Blizzard once again impressed us with its ability to churn out a handful of April Fool's Day news pranks that were not only hilarious, but were uncharacteristically delivered on time. One of those was the announcement of World of Warcraft: The Molten Core, the first WoW release for a console, the Atari 2600. The game is a fabrication no longer — someone's made it. More »

New Duke Nukem Screen (Har Har)

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:00:16 EDT

Today, April 1st, 3D Realms released a new corporate logo plus new Duke Nukem Forever concept art. That, after the jump. More »

NetDevil Half-heartedly Pokes At April Fool's

Mike Fahey — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:00:00 EDT

I'd like to say I saved the best April Fool's Day post for last, but then I'd just be fooling myself. The bad news is, all Jumpgate Evolution and LEGO Universe developers NetDevil managed to pull together for this festive day was a logo swap accompanied by a brief announcement.

Today, NetDevil announces a new name change to NetAngel. This new company name establishes a clearer link to our commitment to make immersive and socially responsible massively multiplayer online games. This change takes effect on April 1st, 2008.

Bleh. The good news? All the time they didn't spend going the extra April Fool's Day mile is time spent honing LEGO Universe into the best LEGO MMO it can possibly be. Always look on the bright side, that's what I say. More »

Mister Chief Visible From Space!

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:40:36 EDT

Either there has been some impressive organization between the hardcore Halo 3 community in the Congo, Uganda and Tanzania or the boys at Bungie are pulling a fast one on us. Considering that it's *sigh* still April 1 Pacific Time, we're guessing it's the latter. Kudos to the Halo teamsters for their subtle and cheery geek map. More »

LEGO Halo Online And On Time

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:20:05 EDT

If you missed it the first time, 1UP's coverage of LEGO Halo—which actually debuted about a month ago in the April issue of EGM—is now online, on April Fool's Day, for your mock-up viewing pleasure. No, it's not real, in spite of the genuine looking pair of screen shots, and that fall release date isn't happening. It's a respectably sound idea regardless, as I would expect half of everything will be LEGO-fied within the next decade. Someone at Microsoft and LEGO has to be seeing the profit potential on this crossover. More »

Amazing Zelda The Movie Prank

Brian Crecente — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Click to view More »

Sheng Long: We Won't Get Fooled Again

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:40:03 EDT

Clearly, this April Fool's Day thing has gone too far. Joke's over, people. We simply can't revisit our painful teenage years, when so many of us were legitimately fooled by EGM's legendary Sheng Long gag while loitering near the Waldenbooks magazine rack. More »

The Kaketakumentary

abarenblat — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Happy April Fool's Day everyone! I finally get to introduce myself. I'm Adam Barenblat, successor to Tori Floyd and the second intern for Kotaku. I do understand Tori will be one hard act to follow and I will be a little different. Instead of writing, my internship focuses on bringing you the Kotaku reader engaging and awesome video content. So I am proud to present to you my first small assignment on this April Fool's Day, The Kaketakumentary. More »

That was fun... Now back to your regularly...

Brian Crecente — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:55:00 EDT

That was fun... Now back to your regularly scheduled program. Keep your eyes out for Intern Adam's first every Kotaku video later today for Kaketaku's last hurrah. More »

Cake Decorator's League Announces 2008 Pro-Icing Tournament Schedule

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:04:00 EDT

The Cake Decorator's League announced the locations and dates for 2008-2009 North American professional frosting league matches today, with the pro-cake icing qualifying competitions kicking off this June in Wisconsin. That will give the Milwaukee Frost the home field advantage against the Boston Creamers, the first official match to kick off the '08 pro cake decorating season. You may remember that the Creamers drafted Loren "P-Bag" Friberg—last year's Lambeth Cup winner—after he became a free agent at the close of last season. Should be a good match up. More »

Gingerbread: Tapping the Casual Cake Market

Brian Crecente — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:01:00 EDT

Some hardcore cakers (coughFaheycough) will tell you that Gingerbread cakes aren't in fact cakes. Well that's insane. Take for instance this amazing Companion Cube cake created by surprise birthday cake given to Game Cake's reader Fred Zeleny by his mom. Sure there's no frosting, really. Sure it lacks toppings. (Not even a whisp of fan-fave Ganache). But it's sweet, you eat it, and it's about a game. I think what Zeleny's mom has taught us all is that the audience for game cakes is much broader than what the big cake companies will have us believe. Sure the triple-A Mario cakes will always be top sellers, but that doesn't mean you can't have a success with something as simple and down-to-earth as gingerbread. More »

Cake? Check. Cross-Stitch? Check.

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:59 EDT

Cakes, cakes are great, but if you ask me, cake-related craft is even better. Kotakuite LonelyKitten just sent us in this wonderful game/cake/cross-stitch her mother put together for her, which not only features a few of my favourite things (ie cake, spoons and love hearts), but some special slime as well. The piece is vertical, so hit the jump for the full version. More »

Hooray! Kotaku Purchases GameCakes.Com

Mike Fahey — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:58 EDT

It's a wonderful day in the history of video game cakes! Back at GDC 07 when I first approached Crecente about my idea for an all video game cake website, he told me that it was a great concept, and that it was destined for great things. Now, a year and a month later, GameCakes.com proudly becomes a wholly-owned member of the loving Kotaku family. I'm so excited! I never thought when I first started the website that things would skyrocket like they did. More »

Kaketaku Teeth-On Impressions

Brian Crecente — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:57 EDT

The pink and green frosting of this single-layer, fancy-top sheet cake hides a delicate yellow sponge filler that blends well with it's decoration. More »

Delicious DDR!

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Dance Dance Revolution makes you sweat. Cake makes you fat. This? This looks yummy. Created by blogger Lafemmereaper, this 20cm Dance Dance Revolution cabinet fruitcake (yes!!) is covered in marzipan and fondant icing. More »

Most Exciting Cake Clip Today

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

This post is a lie. This post is a lie. This post is a — blah, blah, blah. Alright, we get it. More »

Objection! THIS is the Greatest Cake Ever

Brian Crecente — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Born of marzipan and frosting, this Phoenix Wright cake shows how game cakes don't have to be all about complex desert layers. Sometimes a baker can deliver without a lot of cake fanfare. Notice the smooth white backdrop supporting those stunning high-res figures. It's all about the character development people. All about the characters. More »

Game Pies, Fact Or Fiction?

Mark Wilson — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Label this as mega rumor for now, but if a reliable Kotaku source is correct—and we think they are—this is the first leaked press shot of an upcoming game pie. Yes, you read that right, game pie, not cake. We realize it's like saying we have acquired a shot of the Loch Ness monster or McWhertor in Wal-Mart jeans, but trust us, we don't put our reputation on the line for every teenager that sends us some store-bought pie with Mario painted on with icing. More »

Confectionery Mods: Pac-Man Cookies

Mark Wilson — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Surfing the forums for breaking news this morning, we came across this wicked cookie mod from MasterDarkXSugarZero39 in which he took one normal sugar cookie and, with two to three hours of sweat and toil, transformed it to very closely resemble one of gaming's most iconic characters. So close, in fact, we can't remember if that's the cookie picture above or the Pac-Man photo intended for the side-by-side comparison. More »

Game "Decorated" Cakes Aren't Game Cakes

Mike Fahey — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

This is not a video game cake. Here at Kaketaku, we are constantly getting submissions like this, and quite frankly I am getting sick of it. Any Publix baker can make a plain vanilla sheet cake and paint Mario on top of it with colored frosting. Hell, I could make a sheet cake and paint my ass on top of it but you wouldn't see it being posted on a sex cake website. Effort, people. You have to build a video game cake. Shape it Mold it. Sure, pixel cupcakes are just tiny frosted cakes, but the come together to form something. Effort was put into composition. If you're going to create a square cake and paint something on top of it you might as well just buy some Betty Crocker and stick the DVD case of your favorite game on top of the frosting. Some of our commenters argue that video game cakes started off as simple frosted sheets, and I agree...but unless you are throwing a retro kitsch party than that shit doesn't fly anymore. Just my two cups of powdered sugar. More »

Topping Death Match Final: Fondant Versus Ganache

Mike Fahey — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

It's time for the final round of our cake coating death match! Only two confectionery contenders remain standing from our initial field of thirty cake toppings: fan-favorite fondant, which gives a cake that smooth, professional look, and the surprise challenger, ganache. Who'd have thought that plucky ganache, the chocolate cream creation from the mid 1800's would have toppled the more versatile butter cream? Well topple it did, and now it all comes down to this...the icing on the cake, as it were. Make your vote be heard, faithful Kaketaku readers! More »

Atari 2600 Icing Tech Demo Proves "Normal Frosting" Textures Possible

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

We were pretty excited to see this Atari 2600 cake show up in our Cake Tips line, showing off a proof of concept of the icing advancements shown at the recent Cake Developers Conference. Sure, you're probably aware of our distaste for black icing, but the iced texture tech from the developers at Cakes By The Pound have made us forget about the black toothed cake party hangover that we hate so much. The team is more of a casual cake dev, but it's clear they've got hardcore appeal. Thanks to Jeff and Gabriel for the heads up! More »

European Cake Release Delayed

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Sorry, Europe. While Japan and the US scoff down slice after delicious slice of cake, a European release date has yet to be announced, sparking fears that they'lll miss the summer cake-eating season all together. Most industry pundits now expect the cake to be baked sometime around Christmas. Bummer. Anyone who can't wait that long should know that a packet of FreeBaker mix (be sure to add 2 extra egg whites!) will let you import Japanese and/or American ingredients, but there's no guarantee of these working in future baking tray releases. More »

New Cake Screens Leaked

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Courtesy of an anonymous tipster, here's the first shots of a new cake in development. Yes, it's early days, and yes, I'm sure they'll add a bit more polish when it's done, but in 2008, I expect cake bakers to be bringing the next-gen shit, not this tired old spoons and frosting crap. Though, to be fair, I guess the multilayer shots look more promising, as it's been too long since we got our mouths on a good, old-fashioned lemon layer cake. More »

Forget White Tiers, Have A Console Wedding Cake Instead

Maggie Greene — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Wedding cakes, even the most elaborate ones, tend to be reasonably boring: tiers, white or off white, flowers, topper. Why not spice your wedding up with a celebration of just how geeky you are and buck the routine of 'same old, same old' wedding cakes? More »

Sometimes Simple Is Best: 1UP Mushroom Cake

Maggie Greene — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

What an elegant little game cake! We see a lot of cakes here at Kaketaku (naturally), ranging from the sublime to the bizarre, and this entry is one of the more elegant and understated I've seen. The little beauty not only looks pretty, but sounds delicious (chocolate buttercream under the sugarpaste icing and raspberry creme filing? Sign me up). The creator has even posted the recipe and a nice visual how-to for those of you who prefer not to set off into uncharted culinary territory without a little help. More »

CakeStation Store Update: The Cupboard Is Bare

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Sadly, not much in the way of premium content in today's CakeStation Store update, with much of the week's content padded out by the latest batch of updates for Tom Clancy's Cuban Cinamon Crisis 2. Fans of the series will find a carrot cake recipe ($3.99), a Sgt. Jack Rutgerson baking tray skin ($1.99) and a couple of candle arrangement plans (FREE) waiting for them. Those who aren't fans of the series? For you, not much. More »

Japan Goes Bananas For New Banana Cake

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Japan does not like portable caking. Japan freakin loves portable caking. Evidence: the launch last night of the latest portable cake sensation, which drew crowds of hundreds to stores across Akihabara for midnight openings. While it's already been available for years in chocolate and vanilla, and was relaunched last year as a limited edition sponge cake, the promise of a banana cake variation was just too much for the die-hard, with most stores selling out before they could satisfy the midnight crowd, let alone the fresh batch of campers who turned up before regular opening hours. More »

Dead Space Cake Bullshot?

Brian Crecente — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

I was pretty psyched to read about the Dead Space team's recent grossest-cakes bake-off. The folks worked around the clock to try and out do one another with a bit of frosting, cake and ganache. More »

Lord of the Rings Online Kicks Off April Fool's With The Battle of Amon Hen

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:20:00 EDT

It may be March 31 on the Kotaku Tower desk calendar, but it's April 1 somewhere in the realms of The Lord of the Rings Online. Turbine has decided to make with the massively-multiplayer hilarity, announcing that a new playable race, the Fowl-People, would join the currently playable Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits, bringing new epic quests and new housing options (coops, henhouses, etc.). More »