Discriminating Gamer

As reported yesterday on various popular gaming sites, singer/songwriter Jonathan Coulton’s catchy and hilarious tune “Still Alive,” from the closing credits of Orange Box gem Portal, is available today for download and play in Rock Band on Xbox 360. Sorry PS3 owners, you have to wait until April 17th to rock out with your Portal guns out.

When news broke that the song would be released on April Fool’s Day, some people were understandably skeptical about its legitimacy. Although the scenario is rife with prank potential, I can confirm from first hand experience that the song is available and indeed free. In fact, I tested it out just this afternoon with my best GLaDOS impersonation. No word on how long the tune will be free, so go get it now. However, if you haven’t played Portal, go buy that first because, 1. It’s amazing, and 2. the song contains plot spoilers.

I enjoy a well-executed April Fool’s gag as much as the next person, but the video game industry has taken the practice to extremes of late. Maybe because gaming nerds and fanboys are such easy targets, blinded by a volatile combination of unbridled fanaticism and wishful thinking. Still, game-related pranks have become increasingly obvious; expected, even. Electronic Gaming Monthly has run an April Fool’s joke every year for the last 17 years. At this point, it’s more of a tradition than an attempt to fool anyone but the most gullible readers.

EGM brought game-related April Foolery to the mainstream, but many industry publications and game makers have since followed suit. Case in point: someone at IGN obviously put a lot of work into this Zelda movie trailer, but I only had to read the headline to immediately know it was a fake. Watching the better-than-homemade-but-still-straight-to-video-caliber trailer only confirmed it. The actor playing Link looks 35 years old, for crying out loud. Anyway, the video game industry needs to take a break from April Fool’s Day for a couple of years.