PS3 April Fools - roundup of the ruses
It's April Fools Day, and you know what that means.So rather than come up with an elaborate 1st April story ourselves, we thought we'd round up what other sites have been touting as the truth so that you, the loyal reader, can divine the real from the rip-off.
Let's get started with the number one ruse of the day:
1. World of Warcraft coming to consoles - FAKE
The award for this year's 'greatest production values in an April Fool' goes to Blizzard, who not only put up a convincing WoW page for a game called The Molten Core, but also produced a full blown (and pretty funny) trailer for the fake game.
Of course, you'll immediately be tipped off by the features: 'glorious 2D animation' - 'full 192i resolution' - 'move in any of 8 unique directions' - 'has SOUND'...
The game is due to be released for the Atari 2600 platform, according to the site.
I particularly like the 'concept art' versus 'screenshot' section at the bottom of the page. Well worth a visit.
1. CBR 600 motorbike in GT5: Prologue - FAKE
The guys over at PS3 Addict put up a photoshopped picture of a Honda CBR 600 stating that "when you win every event in every class (C,B,A and S), this amazing bike will be delivered to your garage, free of charge."
The fact that they used screenshots that had the wrong icons included on the menu should have been enough to alert everyone to the fakeness of the news, let alone the obvious Photoshop cues and slightly wrong shadow. Still, it's a fun idea.
2. Microsoft own a patent on custom soundtracks - TRUE
Our friends at Ripten found a great piece of news yesterday and immediately it became one of the hottest topics on N4G. Why? Well, because most people called it an April Fool in the comments section!
The fact is, this patent exists and the news is real. However please don't be fooled into thinking that this stops Sony going ahead with custom soundtracks (which, of course, they have already announced will arrive in the Summer).
You can't patent an idea, just a method. Sony can do all the same things as Microsoft but just use a different method. And they can then patent that method also (which they probably already have).
It was still a good story and a great find by Patrick Steen of Ripten, who had this to say about the piece...
The guys over at PS3 Addict put up a photoshopped picture of a Honda CBR 600 stating that "when you win every event in every class (C,B,A and S), this amazing bike will be delivered to your garage, free of charge."
The fact that they used screenshots that had the wrong icons included on the menu should have been enough to alert everyone to the fakeness of the news, let alone the obvious Photoshop cues and slightly wrong shadow. Still, it's a fun idea.
2. Microsoft own a patent on custom soundtracks - TRUE
Our friends at Ripten found a great piece of news yesterday and immediately it became one of the hottest topics on N4G. Why? Well, because most people called it an April Fool in the comments section!
The fact is, this patent exists and the news is real. However please don't be fooled into thinking that this stops Sony going ahead with custom soundtracks (which, of course, they have already announced will arrive in the Summer).
You can't patent an idea, just a method. Sony can do all the same things as Microsoft but just use a different method. And they can then patent that method also (which they probably already have).
It was still a good story and a great find by Patrick Steen of Ripten, who had this to say about the piece...
"It's not an April Fools. I'm doing more research to confirm the validity of the patent. Some seem to think that it is tied to actual Xbox programming, but since it was filed using Xbox 1 diagrams and then approved in 2006 (when the Xbox 360 had taken over), it is certainly not tied to a particular system and/or software program. As seen in this section of the patent; 'Although the invention has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claimed invention'."
3. GTA IV delayed by Byron Review and Grand Theft Childhood - FAKE
Industry veteren Bruce Everiss has a great blog over at Bruce on Games, and he came up with this 'exclusive' this morning.
However, you should have spotted that the names of the spokespeople in the story are all characters from GTA: San Andreas. Carl Johnson. Frank Tenpenny. Melvin Harris. They're all there.
Nice work Bruce, but the wool and my eyes never did meet.
And whilst we're talking about Bruce, we think he tried to make the GTA story more credible ny posting the much more obvious 'Microsoft and Nintendo to merge' story first. Double bluff attempt - denied!
5. Sony launches a $150 PS3 with no Blu-ray drive - FAKE
Over at PSX Extreme they continued their story from yesterday about a new SKU at the FCC with the statement that Sony have announced a $150 PS3.
The reason for the massive price drop? No Blu-ray drive! You can only play downloadable games on this puppy.
You should have been tipped off by the absurdety, but in case you needed a real April Fool clue, the name of the SCEI spokeperson is Aperelli Doorichka. Not only does this person not exist, we're pretty sure that this is the phrase 'April Fool' in a different language.
6. Firmware 4.1 now supports HD-DVD playback - FAKE
Over at HDDVD.com they have proved they have a sense of humour too by claiming Sony will support HD-DVD playback in their new firmware.
Apart from the version number of the firmware being enough to tip us off, the piece contains some nice touches:
When asked why they waited this long to announce these breakthroughs, Microsoft pointed the finger of blame in Sony’s direction saying that Sony only downloaded the 360’s HD DVD emulator when it finally become free. Sony spokespeople responded that they’d have downloaded it months earlier had their Xbox Live account not been banned due to Halo 3 cheating, and mentioned problems using Visual Studio 2008 on their “Vista Capable” workstations.Good work guys.
Did we miss your favourite? Is there a piece of news you think is fake and you need it checking over? Let us know in the comments...
posted by DolphGB @ 13:10 
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4 Comments:
You forgot the Final Fantasy one...
Here's one you should verify for us :
http://www.videogamechat.net/news/industry-news/Take-Two-accepts-Electronic-Arts-buyout-635
tanks
This story about EA and Take Two is most likely a fake.
Take Two are currently polling the proxy advisory firms and have got one yes and one no so far on the subject of re-electing the board.
The 'yes' has been filed at the SEC.
The next big action won't happen until April 17th when T2 hold their AGM. That's when we'll find out if the shareholders keep or dump the board. If they dump them, it's because they want to go with EA...
http://www.gamefocus.ca/?nav=new&nid=369
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