Having just compiled the best of the April Fool’s Day pranks created by various anime companies, what have the video game companies been up to for this celebration of teasing fans with games they will never have the chance to play? A lot, it turns out. We’ve compiled the best of it here, so please take a look.
A Yakuza turn-based RPG?
In a short ‘leaked’ video released on the Ryu ga Gotoku YouTube channel, in-development footage of a brand new Yakuza game seems to confirm that the combat will be drastically overhauled and the game will now be a turn-based RPG. I’m not gonna lie, I would love to see a smaller-scale project in the series expand on this idea further… alas, for now, it is just a joke.
SEGA Changes Their Name!
The SEGA name and jingle are iconic, and it is difficult to imagine the company ever changing it at this point…
サイゼリヤから秋葉原駅に向かう途中GASEを見つけました(´^ω^｀) pic.twitter.com/oLluEiDEMd
— shioreet（おかわりガーデン楽しかったっ！） (@shioreet) March 31, 2019
Which is why it’s a good thing you don’t have to imagine, as SEGA chose to change their name to GASE, switching the first and last two letters of their name around. It’s certainly different!
Kirby: Putting a Square Peg Into a Round Hole
This is perhaps my favourite April Fool’s Day joke of 2019. Not only did HAL Laboratory create an actually-sort-of-scary render of Kirby with a square body. However the company didn’t just stop there, taking things one step further and making their original character Box Boy into a circle… before putting the character’s eyes on lots of round white objects like golf balls.
だ、大ニュースっ！！
なんと！本日からカービィさんのかたちが「しかく」になりますっ！
どうして四角くなっちゃったんでしょうか…？われわれもリンク先をチェックしなければ～！
四角いカービィさんからも目がはなせませんっ！！#エイプリルフール #四角いカービィhttps://t.co/Ei8jo068Ae pic.twitter.com/u0k5sfeX05— 星のカービィ (@Kirby_JP) March 31, 2019
I love it.
エッ！？
カービィ先輩が四角（ハコ）に！？！？！？#エイプリルフール #AprilFoolsDay#四角いカービィ #マルボーイ#カービィ #キュービィ pic.twitter.com/Ej0ujszI1K— 【ハコボーイ！公式】キュービィの部屋！ (@Hakoboy_HAL) March 31, 2019
So much.
キュービィが丸くなったのでゴルフをしてみました！
キュービィのホールインワン！（ハコボーイはパズルアクションゲームです）#エイプリルフール #AprilFoolsDay#ハコボーイ #マルボーイ pic.twitter.com/Hf3f964Lq1
— 【ハコボーイ！公式】キュービィの部屋！ (@Hakoboy_HAL) March 31, 2019
Hi Score Girl x Capcom!
Hi Score Girl features many gaming properties, particularly fighters, within its manga and anime adaptations. In this incredibly neat April Fool’s Day prank, we have a special manga (viewable in both Japanese and English) and a basic browser-based auto-scrolling shooter.
Definitely worth checking out if you have a spare 5 minutes.
Ash Ketchum Joins Pokemon GO
In a special 1-day-only event, players using the AR snapshot would occasionally find Ash Ketchum as well as a Pikachu wearing Ash’s hat photobombing you in various photos. You even had the opportunity to catch this Pikachu as well, exclusively on April Fool’s Day! Less of a prank and more of a fun event in celebration of the day, it’s welcome either way.
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『ポケモン GO』にサトシの帽子をかぶったピカチュウが登場中！
＼GOスナップショットでサトシの帽子をかぶったピカチュウの写真を撮り、#GOsnapshot #アニポケ でツイート！
投稿写真の一部を、4/7（日）18:00のポケモンアニメで紹介！受付は4/2正午まで！https://t.co/PXMFspCS2u pic.twitter.com/saZm1XtvHx
— Pokémon GO Japan (@PokemonGOAppJP) April 1, 2019
Earth Defence Force 6 Announced Through Rap
I don’t think I really need to say any more about this… Just watch the video
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April Fool’s Day is as fun as it is painful, I find, and this year is no different. You can check out our anime and manga April Fool’s Day coverage here and, in case you missed it, our 2018 coverage can be found here.