We’ve come a long way from the days when EGM could print something about a hidden Street Fighter character in their April issue and then sit back and chuckle as gamers spent the next decade trying to unlock it. Today most gamers rightfully assume anything interesting/unusual that happens even remotely near April 1st is probably a joke, so most pranks these days just aim to be funny, not tricky.

So, here are a few of today’s video game-related ruses that were actually funny and/or clever…

via Kotaku (here and here), Destructoid & GameTrailers

Deus Ex: Human Defiance

This one probably gets the reward for fooling the most people (assuming you consider games journalists people) as numerous sites threw up “Deus Ex: Human Defiance to be announced tomorrow!” stories yesterday. The dangers of having a 30-posts-per-day quota for your gaming blog.

Journey Rocket Death Match DLC

The quintessential artsy-fartsy game gets a rocket death match mode! The sad thing is this was almost-certainly actually proposed at some point.

8-Bit Bats In The Belfry

I like this one because it feels like a spiritual successor to the fake EGM codes that started this whole “the video game industry is obsessed with April Fools’ Day” thing. Pop Fact/Faction is a show GameTrailers has been doing for a while, and they play the whole thing straight enough that I could see myself actually being fooled by this one if I forgot what month it is (which isn’t as rare as you might think).

Dishonored Director’s Commentary

This is a pretty sharp satire of director’s commentaries and the over-the-top promises game developers so often make. It’s also very silly.

Goat-Processing

Yup, this dumb thing is the best Sega, one of the most important companies in the history of the medium, could come up with. Good thing I like dumb things.

So there you have it, the only video game April Fools’ gags worth your time. You may now go back to hating this goofy holiday.