Only 364 more days until the next April Fools’ Day, meaning that there is another year of boring news, mundane announcements, and horribly contrived reality.
Every year, the gamer & nerd cultures spring to life with renewed exuberance over the first-day-of-April festivities. From Google’s 8-bit Google Maps to The Rock Band Board Game (only $179.99!), this year didn’t disappoint.
Source: Harmonix
Whatever your feelings are on the whole what-makes-a-good-prank spectrum (ranging from “It’s supposed to be believable enough to make people fall for it” to “War of the Worlds was for wussies”), it’s always good to see a group of people not take themselves so seriously for a day at least, even if this year’s crop of jokes were as self-deprecating as they were passive-aggressive.
It makes you wonder if there isn’t some sort of connection between gaming culture and April Fools that rests deep within our collective psyche. We spend our time forging alliances through new worlds, shooting aliens/monsters/zombies/terrorists in the face, flinging birds with slingshots, and nurturing online personae. We live in the not-real world. We feel the pit of our stomach drop as we accidentally drive off a hill in Liberty City. We pause before responding to the pissed-off Krogan. We laugh at the chicken prior to kicking it. We get nervous when we see the dragon’s shadow on the ground.
Source: Thinkgeek
And for a day, we get to watch the rest of the world grapple with a world that almost, but not quite, exists.
And one where Half-Life 3 is now available.
What a wonderful world.
