April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day (also known as April Fool's Day or All Fools' Day) is an international day of pranking celebrated yearly on April 1. Usually, these pranks involve playing practical jokes or spreading hoaxes, which are either obviously fake or explained in the future. Sometimes, real events or serious announcements are saved for April 1 in a form of ironic humor.
Bandai Namco is no stranger to April Fools' Day and has subjected the Ace Combat series to the tradition over the years.
MiG-21bis marketing stunt
On April Fools' Day 2011, Bandai Namco announced that they used the entire marketing budget for Ace Combat: Assault Horizon on refurbishing a MiG-21bis that was "due to be scrapped by the Estovakian Air Force". They claimed to spend just over £285,000 (around USD$460,000 at the time) on the aircraft's restoration, hoping to beat Capcom at the marketing game.[1]
Other details in the announcement include a website named "weinsureanything.com" reporting that it would be impossible to insure a MiG-21bis for road travel, as well as transporting the aircraft to the United Kingdom aboard the Admiral Kunzetov.[1] Along with the audacity of the prior details above, it should be noted that neither the website nor the aircraft carrier actually exist; in the latter case, the aircraft carrier's name was a misspelling of the Admiral Kuznetsov, the flagship of the Russian Navy.
In December 2022, after watching the Netflix documentary Pepsi, Where's My Jet?, Bandai Namco UK Marketing Director Lee Kirton reminisced about the April Fools' post on social media,[2] stating there was a "lot of explaining to do internally".[3] Kazutoki Kono responded on Twitter with laughter, saying that it brought back memories and confirming there was a "big fuss" over the prank.[4]
In August 2011, four months after the prank, Electronic Arts actually had a MiG-21 repainted and transported from Berlin to Cologne[5] to promote Battlefield 3 at Gamescom.[6] The cost was estimated to be in the "low five-figure range in Euros";[5] according to some YouTube comments, the MiG-21 on display appeared to be either a stripped-down early prototype or a scale model rather than a functioning airframe.[7] It is unclear if EA was inspired by Bandai Namco's prank, though the next game, Battlefield 4, featured a map of Strangereal within a DLC map, indicating their awareness of Ace Combat.[8]
Infinity Events
On April Fools' Day 2015, Project Aces announced there would be a Special Raid featuring a large number of ASF-X -Happy New Year- 
on April 1, 2019. The event's reward would be an Aigaion-class heavy command cruiser.[9]
The Aigaion -NUGGETS- icon
On April Fools' Day 2016, Project Aces announced that they would host a Ring Battle tournament on April 1, 2020.[10] The only aircraft players could use in the event were the P-1112 Aigaion, the P-1112 -NUGGEGAION- (available as a rental), the P-1113 Kottos, and the P-1114 Gyges. The top prizes would include the P-1112 -NUGGEGAION-, the P-1112 Aigaion Event Skin #02, and the "SUKIMANIA" nickname.[11]
On April Fool's Day 2017, the "NUGGETS VS SWEETIE" Team Deathmatch tournament was announced for April 1, 2021.[12] The only aircraft players could use in the event were the ATD-0 -Happy New Year- , the ASF-X -Happy New Year- , and the A-6E -Nugget- . The top prizes would include the ASF-X -Sweetie-, the "ROOKIE SWEETIE" emblem, and the "Onii-chan" nickname.[13]
Interestingly, the "SUKIMANIA" nickname and the "ROOKIE SWEETIE" emblem later became actual in-game rewards. Players could earn "SUKIMANIA" by completing a Ring Battle point challenge with the B-2A Spirit. "ROOKIE SWEETIE" was available in the "Yo, Buddy. You still alive?" Team Deathmatch Ranking Tournament in June 2017.
Trivia
- In the Strangereal universe timeline, the Republic of Emmeria Air Force engaged and destroyed the Chandelier superweapon on April 1, 2016.[14]
- The PC version of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon completed its transition from the Games for Windows LIVE service to the Steamworks service on April 1, 2014.[15]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 News. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Official website. Published April 1, 2011. Retrieved through the Web Archive's version as of August 16, 2011.
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/leekirton_watching-the-netflix-pepsi-documentary-where-activity-7010309673144733696-pE9e
- ↑ Kirton, Lee [@LeeKirton77] (18 December 2022). https://twitter.com/LeeKirton77/status/1604543191448944641. X.
- ↑ Kono, Kazutoki [@kazutoki] (20 December 2022). https://twitter.com/kazutoki/status/1605380024877449216. X.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://www.engadget.com/2011-08-09-how-to-promote-battlefield-3-at-gamescom-bring-a-jet.html
- ↑ https://www.engadget.com/2011-08-17-seen-gamescom-the-battlefield-3-mig-21.html
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWau7r4Cbvc
- ↑ File:Strangereal Battlefield 4.jpg
- ↑ @PROJECT_ACES. Twitter. Published March 31, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
- ↑ @PROJECT_ACES. Twitter. Published April 1, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
- ↑ Ace Combat Infinity website through the Web Archive. Archive version as of April 1, 2016.
- ↑ @PROJECT_ACES. Twitter. Published April 1, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- ↑ Ace Combat Infinity website through the Web Archive. Archive version as of April 1, 2017.
- ↑ Chandelier, Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
- ↑ Ace Combat Assault Horizon enhanced Edition title Update - Game for Windows Live functionalities replaced by Steamworks funtionalities. Steam Community. Published February 24, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
