The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a long (long) history of student “hacks” — harmless but clever pranks. Several tend to show up in any given year. Previous reasonably recent favourites (of mine) include turning a building into The One Ring, flying Nyan Cat through a lobby, and an upside-down lounge.
Alright, it may be a Monday, but it’s still April Fools’ Day over here, a very special day in video gaming. Many related companies, studios and merchants are pulling hoaxes and stunts, and making gag announcements. So let’s round up as many as we can here!
A Dead Space 2 viral campaign launching this weekend took plenty of chutzpah, I’ll give it that. Electronic Arts brought in 200 middle-aged mothers under the auspices of a focus group looking at a new game. They were, aptly, horrified.
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This man is unarguably the greatest maths teacher in the history of maths teachers. Or at least the greatest at pulling off large-scale video projector pranks that leave you laughing, stunned and a little bit awed.
That student who was scheming to turn the student centre at Columbia University into the girder level of Donkey Kong ended up like the dog who caught the car. The scheme’s been called off and all donations have been refunded.
Lerner Hall is Columbia University’s student centre, opening in 1999. Its ramped interior, visible through the glass facade, also resembles the girder level of Donkey Kong. You see where this is headed.
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Aaron Webber, Sega’s community manager, went on a three-week holiday and came back to find his cubicle completely remade into the Green Hill Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog. Check out the video; the attention to detail is impressive.
Cops at an Atlanta shopping centre recently found a box of clothes covered in fake blood – and “Grand Theft Auto in China” promo material. A GameStop employee contacted Kotaku to claim responsibility.
This will teach Matt Cox to take a holiday. Two of the more sadistic employees from Drawn to Life and Lock’s Quest developer 5TH Cell cruelly, but amusingly, gave their lead designer something to tear through upon his return from recent down time. They encased every bit of the 5TH Cell team member’s desk in sturdy-looking brown packing paper, then drew to life everything contained within.
