It's once again upon us, the worst day for journalists around the world who are trying to report the news. It's April Fools day. The day when sanity and good taste all go out the window. Who will be the first to drop a bogus press release? Well it was iBUYPOWER computers:

iBUYPOWER, a leading innovator of delicious gaming PCs, is excited to announce a new addition to their product lineup: Custom Gaming Burgers, built specifically for hungry gamers looking for an edge.  The new iBUYPOWER Custom Gaming Burgers come loaded with options, including impact-resistant Kevlar enclosures, and brand-name components, like Oscar-Mike Beef. 

“Custom Gaming Burgers is a natural ‘next-step’ in evolution for custom system builders,” said Carl McDonald JR, head of iBUYPOWER’s new food service division, “You’re going to start seeing a lot more custom builders start offering custom-configured hamburger-like products. It’s inevitable.”

Of course that one was easy enough to spot. But some others may not be. That means there may be some erroneous reporting today in the gaming world, just take it all in the spirit of the game. Last year we got hit by one we didn't see coming. Hopefully, this year we'll be far more alert to it all. I'll try to keep a running list here of the day's bunk.

iBUYPOWER Custom Gaming Burgers - Players looking for a pick me up during a long night of gaming can upgrade to a high-energy carbo-fortified wheat bun, caffeine infused special sauce or overclock their bodies with steroid enriched beef. Hey, that doesn't sound too bad, totally unhealthy, but tasty.

Lead and Gold Surpasses 2.4 Billion Copies in Pre-orders - Paradox Interactive today announced initial pre-order sales data for the upcoming team-based shooter, Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West. In pre-orders solely for the PC, Paradox has confirmed sales of at least 2.4 billion copies. That's roughly every 2nd person...in the world!

Extinct Species Brought Back to Life by the Power of Game Consoles - ‘Consoling Farm’: a network of thousands of handheld video-game consoles helps rebuild genome of extinct Dodo bird. A spoof for the upcoming Nintendo DSi game DodoGo! from Alien After All.

Celebrity Bejeweled - Available in a limited edition retail box crafted from cubic zirconia and sold only at PopCap.com, Celebrity Bejeweled replaces the traditional gem pieces with holographic likenesses of gem-named superstars from popular film, television, music and sports. Further, the special collector's edition package includes actual genetic samples of featured celebrities, for use in home chemistry experiments, various forms of extortion and/or sale on eBay.  Celebrity Bejeweled carries a suggested retail price of £2000. (Due to live DNA samples, this product requires hand-delivery to addresses in Norfolk, The Channel Islands and remote parts of Scotland.  Further, some copies may contain trace amounts of Alec Baldwin spliced with Lady Gaga.) Heh.

New Extreme Diplomacy Game Mode for Sid Meier's Civilization V - Extreme Diplomacy would allow two world leaders to enter a death match and fight to the finish, using special attacks and finishing moves. Two world leaders enter; one world leader leaves. The victor will obtain complete control of the challenger's world empire. Uber Edition of Sid Meier's Civilization V will include an optional eight-button joystick to bring the classic fighting arcade game feel...  A lot of thought went into this as they even included a screenshot Additionally, each world leader will have unique special attacks and finishing moves, including:

Finally, one that slipped through the cracks Section 7 was also a prank. If TimeGate suddenly sees a dip in coverage, it will be because we won't be sure what's real and what's not.

Outside of the gaming realm, YouTube announced a new Textp mode which will save them $1 for ever second of streamed video. Essentially they're transcoding the video into moving ASCII art. Unlike 720p or 1080p, Textp will use little bandwidth. Read my whole story at ReelSEO.