I usually shy away from doing anything news-related on the first day of April, mostly because it has become increasingly difficult to figure out what's real and what isn't. Of course, we can all spot the obvious fakes a mile away, but over the last few years, game companies and even fans have pulled elaborate pranks that look fairly convincing, at least until you remember what day it is. I think that their hard work deserves another look, so here is a rundown of some of the cooler things that we saw earlier this week.

This couldn't really be considered a prank since everyone knows that these characters don't exist in real life, but it was cool nonetheless. Basically, five staff members at Type-Moon took on the persona's of some of the more well-known Fate characters and attempted to make them exist in realty for a day through Twitter. Out of all the ones that are translated so far, I'd say that Rin's entries are the most fun to read since they play off of the fact that she doesn't know that what she is writing can be seen by the public.

edit: Type-Moon typically deletes any traces of its April Fools' Day activities at the end of the day, but thanks to the efforts of Fatuous One from the Beast's Lair forums, we can now view an archive of the event at Tatari.

LINK Tatari's archive for the event
RELATED Tatari's archive for Type-Moon's previous April Fools' Day jokes

edit: Tatari seems to be down. Fortunately, the whole archive is available for download. You can find out how to get it at Beast's Lair.

RIN'S TRANSLATION (translated by Kotonoha @ Beast's Lair)
ARCHER's TRANSLATION (translated by mewarrmo990 @ Beast's Lair)
SAKURA'S TRANSLATION (translated by mewarrmo990)

HOW IT WAS DONE Nasu's diary entry for the event (translated by mewarrmo990)

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I still consider Capcom vs. SNK 2 to be one of the best fighting games Capcom has put together. Unfortunately, since it can no longer be played on Xbox Live, there really is no way for me to play others without making a trek to the closest arcade that still has a machine. So, you can bet that I'm more inclined to pay attention to any news related to a possible sequel. The people in charge of Shoryuken.com know that there are a lot of fighting game fans like myself out there who are eagerly awaiting either an update with online support or a sequel, so they decided to tug on our heart strings a little by creating a convincing (for non-Japanese readers) Famitsu magazine scan that teases Capcom vs. SNK 3. It's obviously fake if you think about it - there is no reason for Capcom or SNK to greenlight CVS3 with Super Street Fighter IV and KOF13 just around the corner. However, despite knowing that it was completely fake, I can't deny that I did feel a twinge of excitement when I saw that fake screenshot.

ORIGINAL STORY CvS3!!! @ Comboadictos.net
HOW IT WAS DONE How We Give You Hope, Then Crush it @ Shoryuken.com
RELATED Capcom vs. SNK 3 Leaked?! @ Shoryuken.com

This is probably the cruelest joke this year. Every fan of the original Blaster Master knows that none of the sequels have surpassed it in terms of sound, music, and gameplay. The recent Blaster Master: Overdrive was close, but a few key problems kept it from greatness. I suppose that the biggest knock against any of the sequels is the fact that none of them were developed by the team that was responsible for the original. But, what if there was an un-released Blaster Master that was made by NES-era Sunsoft? That is exactly what the Blaster Master: Destination Fred teaser page promised. What really made the joke stand out were the authentic-looking screenshots and the well-written press release at Sunsoft's site. That is how you do an April Fools' Day joke.

ORIGINAL TEASER LAUNCHES: Blaster Master:Destination Fred VC @ Sunsoft Games
ORIGINAL PRESS RELEASE Debrief: Blaster Master?: Destination Fred Coming To Wii Virtual Console @ Sunsoft Games
HOW IT WAS DONE New Press Release incoming @ the Sunsoft's forums

PlatinumGames created a little teaser for a possible 2D version of Bayonetta, complete with 8-bit/16-bit graphics and chiptune music. Given PG's history, if the developers were to create a 2D version of Bayonetta, it'd probably look and play more like Viewtiful Joe or the missile stage in Bayonetta. But I'd be more than happy to play a retro-looking game like this any day.

ORIGINAL STORY "【NEWS】『BAYONETTA』を題材にした横スクロールアクション「エンジェルランド」開発決定！" @ BAYO Blog

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