GameTech: Pranks a lot for tiresome Fools cons

Bayonetta may finally come out in a 2D version, writes Ronan Jennings.

FOOL me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, however, and we’ll just call it marketing, shall we?

Video games have a long history with April Fools’ day, one that often highlights the odd relationship between developers and fans.

In the past, we’ve seen exciting announcements made on April 1st that turned out to be, well, just lies.

For example, Cliff Blezinski, the creator of Gears of War, once announced that the Microsoft-published series would be heading to arch-rivals PlayStation.

It wasn’t true, but there were probably some disappointed PlayStation owners out there.

In recent years, though, April Fools has become more of a marketing tool and 2017 was no different.

SEGA teased a 2D Bayonetta for the third year running, but this year it looks like the game might actually be happening.

Bayonetta is one of the best third-person action titles ever made, so a 2D version would be welcome, but this announcement was hardly comedy gold, or even fool’s gold.

Meanwhile, one of the world’s largest graphics card manufacturers, N-VIDIA, announced the ‘G-Assist’, a piece of hardware that uses artificial intelligence to assist you with gaming — the video claims you can even step away from the PC and let the G-Assist play for you.

It was a cute product reel that no one believed for a second.

Meanwhile, gaming accessory company Turtle Beach revealed the ‘Feed Bag’, an accessory similar to feeding bags used for horses, so gamers can eat without leaving their desks or using their hands.

While these products were more traditional marketing gags, other companies used April 1st as a chance to introduce wacky additions to their games.

World of Tanks launched Mars Mode, a low-gravity version of the tank battling game based on the red planet. Mars Mode ran for two days and was removed.

In the Witcher 3, the notorious glitching horse (famous for appearing in the strangest places on Gerhalt’s adventures) briefly appeared as the lead player on Gwent, the game’s card-battling mini-game.

The award for best attempt at an actual April Fool’s gag, however, goes to website IGN.

They revealed a launch trailer for a Grand Theft Auto TV show by American broadcaster AMC.

Not only was this a believable piece of news, AMC (creator of Breaking Bad and Mad Men) would be the perfect fit for a Rockstar series.

Finally, there’s always room for the traditional subversive gag, the April Fools’ prank that turns out to be true.

The best of those was the return of Freeman’s Mind, a decade-old machinima series based on the adventures of Gordon Freeman, the mute star o.f Half-Life YouTuber Ross Scott made a name for himself doing comedy voiceovers narrating Freeman’s thoughts during the events of Half-Life.

Now he has returned to narrate the events of Half-Life 2. It’s a brilliant series that you’d be a fool to miss.

CAMPUS GAMERS

A scholarship for playing games? You’d be forgiven for thinking that was an April Fools’ joke too, but that’s not the case.

Illinois College in Jacksonville, US, has announced that it will be fielding an eSports team in 2017-2018 and that scholarships are available for prospective team members.

The college will be playing League of Legends and the school’s head of eSports, Christian Matlock, says team members will need to be dedicated and hard workers ‘just like in traditional sports’.

Illinois College isn’t the first to do this, however. In fact, it’s not even the first college in Illinois — Robert Moriss college has had an eSports team at its Chicago campus since 2014 and their PR statement is that these students are ‘considered athletes just as much as basketball players and the football team’.

MASS MISS

From sports stars, to fallen stars. Mass Effect Andromeda, a game in which you travel to the stars, appears to have missed its mark. The sequel to one of last generation’s most popular series has underwhelmed both critics and fans.

It’s been criticised for below-par animations and ‘average’ story and gameplay.

In a year where Zelda and Horizon Zero Dawn both surpassed expectations, it’s a shame to see Mass Effect fall so far from grace. We’ll have our review soon.