From creepypastas gone viral to fake news articles about video games, we count 15 hoaxes fooling us throughout video game history.
15 – Minecraft – Herobrine,
- Minecraft is one of, if not the, most popular video games of all time and this popularity is one of the reasons Herobrine belongs on this list.
- The general gist of the hoax was that if you created an altar out of gold and some other materials you would summon a character that would haunt your game.
- This creepypasta was never really meant to fool anyone, but thanks to the sheer popularity of Minecraft quite a few people believed in it, and by people I mean children that even Notch made fun of in the patch notes every now and then.
14 – Halo 2 – The Golden Warthog,
- There was a billboard of a golden ‘civilian’ warthog in one of the maps of Halo 2, seeing this made many people wish they could obtain the hog.
- This want caused several people to create fake videos online about how to obtain it, or just a video of them driving around in the golden warthog.
- The videos varied in quality but for the most part they were low in quality and only tricked people that wanted to be fooled.
13 – Fallout 4 – TheSurvivor2299,
- This website popped up out of nowhere one day and gained exposure through sites like Reddit.
- The countdown and clear connections to Fallout made people believe that at the end of the countdown a trailer or teaser for Fallout 4 would appear.
- Instead of an announcement there was a chunk of text saying how the site was a hoax and that he didn’t make the video to disappoint people or be a jerk… because sad music and a nicer way of saying ‘fuck you’ totally doesn’t make you a dick.
12 – Guild Wars 2 – Chinese Monster Hoax,
- Last year, a few images appeared on the internet from China showing a weird looking Gollum-like creature hiding in the bush.
- The man that took the photos was camping when he saw the monster, terrified he snapped pictures of it and left the vicinity.
- Later on it was released that the ‘monster’ was just an actor in some very convincing makeup and was dressed up like an Asura to promote Guild Wars 2.
- At the very least this hoax proved one thing, the desire to put red circles around images of supernatural creatures is universal.
11 – Super Smash Bros. 4 – Karissa the Destroyer,
- A video hit the internet in the face with amazement when it showed a ten-year-old girl playing Super Smash Bros. 4 and winning against anyone that played her, sometimes these people were triple her age.
- However, like most hoaxes, it turned out to just be a viral marketing campaign; this one was run by Gamestop in order to promote the game.
- This one is probably the most believable hoax on the list, it’s also the most depressing one, because who didn’t want Karissa to be a child prodigy of smash?