After last year’s Google Maps NES cartridge had us scrambling to play the ‘Quest’ game, April Fool’s Day has become more than an 8-bit joke for the gaming industry – from console mergers to fake releases, the internet has had it all. But can 2013 top its predecessor years by pulling the wool over our eyes, or have we finally ‘cottoned’ on? Here’s our Top 5 April Fool’s Nintendo Pranks for this year.

1. The Nintendo/EA Merger

Circulating rumours of a possible merger between EA and Nintendo were quite a shocker this year – apparently, they’d been in cahoots for quite some time with EA, who were attempting to buy out Nintendo between May and June. It was even corroborated by GameFAQs website, asking members through a daily poll if they thought the merger was a good idea. Of course, when the last poll option says, “not funny guys, I forgot what today was, and you [just] about gave me a heart attack”, we are almost certain this is false information.

2. WayForward’s New and Original Game

It’s no wonder a game called Cat Girl Without Salad is a meal best served to a fool, as it satisfies every players’ whim, need and appetite. Promising to feature every genre in the gaming catalogue – from puzzler, platformer, shooter, RPG and even visual novel – WayForward says it’s a cut above the rest. Plus it’s even available on each and every console! The company, who brought us Duck Tales Remastered, tweeted earlier today: “We can finally spill the beans on the latest WayForward original! Head over to the blog for all the juicy details!!!” Blimey, they’ve clearly put a lot of effort into that. Look out for it on the Nintendo 3DS, DS, Wii and Wii U.

3. BA Hons in Pokémon Mastery

Let’s be honest, this isn’t the first time ‘Mickey Mouse’ courses have been offered at universities across the world, but this next one would definitely be the icing on the cake. The official Pokémon Twitter page for North America announced today (and so did we *wink*) that starting from September 2013, students could take up a degree in Pokémon Mastery. But who knows, maybe in the future this could be more than just avid fan speculation.

4. The Luigi Code Since 2013 has been dubbed ‘the year of Luigi’ it’s high time he gets his own ‘code’ to project onto various virtual consoles to be released this year. By all accounts, you’ll be able to transform Dr. Mario into a green-skin aptly named ‘Dr. Luigi’, and he’ll also get a suit on Super Metroid – cool, huh? The ‘Luigi code’ will be very similar to that Konami code that’s been kicking about for years, apparently. We think it will do well.

5. Satoru Iwata’s Apology on YouTube

This fan-made video has been making quite a spectacle on YouTube today. The video, which sees Satoru Iwata address the audience about recent Wii U sales and other such problems, is certainly an entertaining joke – even if it is a satirical one at Nintendo Direct’s expense. Luckily for Iwata, the maker of the video has noted an apology, detailing that it really is just an April Fool’s joke.

Let us know if you’ve seen any other April Fool’s Nintendo jokes this year in the comments below.