Confessions of an online prankster: A good laugh with Ben Esposito

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April Fools is a dead sport. One popular, though extremely contested belief is that the holiday was created when Pope Gregory XIII switched to the Gregorian calendar, shifting New Year’s Day to January and leaving the uninformed rubes celebrating in March. It had lived for centuries, only to die on the internet. Pranks are lovely, but with every brand, website, and their dog planning to roast up something stupid on April 1st—defaults these days being fake trailers, mock hacker attacks, or just 24 hours of opposite day—the rest of the world rolls their sleeves up, already annoyed, One might long for the days of switching the sugar with the salt.

Capsule Silence XXIV should be a considered a triumph in that regard. It began when the chiptune band Anamanaguchi gave a preview of the title on GameSpot, telling the site that a multi-million dollar game was being made under their guidance, that it would star members of the band. GameSpot presented it earnestly, even though screens from the game showed the band rendered like waxy Unreal Engine models, decorated with ocean waves and Photoshop flames like a forum signature clumped at the end of a post. It seemed like GameSpot was being taken on a ride, and lo and behold the page has been updated to the point that the original preview is gone without a trace.