Hoaxes have always been a part the video game community. Since gaming increased in popularity in the early 1980s, rumors spread about exclusive content. Most gamers want to be the first to make the news go viral to gain popularity. Others may be heavily invested in a series and wait impatiently for news on a new game.

Gamers deliberately spread this false information to weed out the casual and hardcore gamers. Some may just believe it when they read it, and others will attempt to find the hidden content in the game for themselves. Now gamers can use the internet to research a hoax thoroughly before investing their time in finding the hidden secret. It was almost impossible to prove someone wrong before the internet was in most households.

Though friends may share rumors, gaming publications are not innocent in spreading hoax information. While some information may be an honest mistake, in earlier gaming days, it was deliberate. When all gamers had was the latest GamePro or Electronics Gaming Monthly, they believed in everything these magazines printed. It was hard to prove these magazines wrong, and young gamers would invest their time into finding the hidden treasures their favorite games.

Though most news released by popular news outlets is genuine, there are some hoaxes you’ll kick yourself for believing. We’ve compiled a list of some of the most hyped video game news and hidden content that turned out to be nothing but a hoax.

15 Unlocking Sheng Long In Street Fighter II

Mistranslations have long plagued the video game world. That's why the existence of Sheng Long in Street Fighter II was believable. In the Super Nintendo port of Street Fighter II, a mistranslation of the phrase "If you cannot overcome the Rising Dragon Punch, you cannot win!" to "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance." made gamers believe that Ryu was referring to a person and not an attack move.

Though the hoax was clarified, gamers still believed Sheng Long was an unlockable character. Gaming magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly only fueled the hoax hype in 1997 by announcing Sheng Long was unlockable in Street Fighter III. The hoax would soon become a running joke for decades. In 2008, Street Fighter IV Producer Yoshinori Ono announced his team was turning the hoax into a reality. Thanks to numerous fan requests, Sheng Long finally appeared in Street Fighter IV.

14 Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask HD

After the successful HD remaster of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, fans hoped for the same treatment of other Zelda titles, such as Majora's Mask which was originally released on the Nintendo 64. Fans hoped for an HD release on the newest Nintendo console.

In June 2012, fans believed Nintendo fulfilled their requests. A Majora's Mask HD trailer popped up on YouTube. Fans didn't consider that the trailer the video was not uploaded on an official YouTube channel. The description also stated that it was created by a small team who work in the video game industry. Since June is also E3 season, fans believed the trailer was real. News of a Majora's Mask HD release spread like wildfire online. Though this hoax was unintentional, the timing of the trailer and E3 caused many fans to get their hopes up.

13 Fallout 3's Morse Code Predicts the Future

The Fallout series contains many hidden secrets. This hoax came to life after a set of conditions was completed in Fallout 3. Three Dog is the upbeat DJ of Galaxy News Radio. If you decide that Three Dog must die, he is a non-essential NPC and can be killed. Three Dog will be replaced by a technician named Margaret. Instead of informing residents of news and playing music, Galaxy News Radio will become a Numbers Station, which broadcasts messages in code.

After time has passed, you'll hear Three Dog on the radio again, even though he's dead. He's not his usual upbeat self and starts saying numbers. These morse code messages were then interpreted by gamers. Some of the messages were news of actual real life historical events. Others accurately stated the time of Gary Coleman's death and predicted the BP Oil Spill. Bethesda has denied all claims that Fallout 3 can predict the future.

12 Bigfoot In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Bigfoot is not only a hoax in gaming but also a fictional creature many claim exists in real life. The large ape-like creature is said to be roaming the forests in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Gamers claim Bigfoot can be found roaming the countryside in the areas of Flint County and Whetstone since there are many forest areas and more creepy hidden areas.

To prove Bigfoot is in the game, players have taken video using mods or gone so far as to edit screenshots. One mod creator developed an elaborate side-mission to find Bigfoot, but it was not an official part of the game. The co-founder of Rockstar Games, Terry Donovan, tried to end the rumors by stating "There is no Bigfoot, just like in real life," but there are some gamers who refuse to believe him.

11 Mushroom Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts combines characters from several different Disney and Final Fantasy series. In 2007, Electronic Gaming Monthly released news about Sora traveling with Nintendo characters instead of the Final Fantasy cast. A promotional image was printed of Sora, Mickey Mouse, and Mario ready to take on a new threat together. Sora would take his adventures into Hyrule and meet popular Nintendo characters, such as Mario and Zelda. He would also get to travel to space with Samus from the Metroid series. Over 41 characters would be featured in the game. Mushroom Kingdom Hearts would have been released on the Nintendo Wii.

Since EGM was becoming more notorious for their elaborate April Fools Day pranks, many gamers took to the internet to discuss the validity of this news. Unfortunately, Mushroom Kingdom Hearts turned out to be another April Fools Day prank.

10 Unlocking Street Fighter's Akuma In Resident Evil 2

Electronic Gaming Monthly had a large part in many video game hoaxes in the 1990s and early 2000s. In another hoax, they claimed that Akuma was unlockable in Capcom's Resident Evil 2. The player first had to complete the game six times as Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield on A Rank, only using the handgun and knife. With a variety of weapons, including a grenade launcher and shotgun, it was a difficult task, but not impossible. EGM stated that to unlock Akuma, gamers had to type in "AKUMA" instead of "GUEST" on the computer in the laboratory. This would allow you to create a seventh saved game and choose Akuma instead of Leon or Claire. Akuma would attack the undead with fire attacks instead of firearms and did not have to use any keys. Fans believed this hoax since many game developers will feature their characters in other titles as hidden content.

9 Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball Code

In a majority of video games featuring beautiful women, there are usually rumors of nude codes to accompany it. Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball was first released in 2003, taking the female characters from the battlefield onto the beach. In the volleyball game, there are a wide variety of revealing swimsuits to show off the game's jiggle physics, but some gamers wanted to see the women naked.

In another attempt to troll gamers, Electronic Gaming Monthly revealed a nude code. The magazine stated that using the code would unlock a new game mode that made all of the characters topless, while still keeping the game's Mature game rating. Unfortunately for gullible gamers, the code turned out to be another one of their infamous April Fools Day pranks.

8 The Existence Of Herobrine

Herobrine is a darker character resembling the male lead character of Minecraft, Steve. He is often featured by Minecraft's community as a secret, hidden character. However, he had not been present in any version of Minecraft. Gamers claim that Herobrine is Notch's dead brother that haunts the game. He appears when you are mining with a diamond pick axe. After encountering Herobrine, gamers claim their game started acting strangely. Crafted items suddenly appeared, trees went missing, pyramids appeared in the ocean, and 2x2 tunnels lined with redstone torches appeared underground. Notch tried to put the rumors to rest. After getting a flood of emails and Twitter tweets about the character, he stated "I don't have a dead brother, and he never was in the game. Not real. Never was."

7 Obtaining The Golden Warthog In Halo 2

The M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle, or Warthog, is one of the most well-known vehicles used in the Halo series. It features a mounted Light Anti-Aircraft Gun. Using it on the battlefield will make you a harder target to hit for players running on the ground. Though there are different versions of each Halo game, the golden version in Halo 2 caught players' eyes.

There is a billboard of a golden civilian model of the Warthog featured in Halo 2. It has no weapons attached to it and looks like a regular vehicle. That didn't stop gamers from desiring it. Gamers began creating fake videos, explaining how to obtain it. These videos were often low quality and provided unhelpful information. The Golden Warthog turned out only to be a billboard and was unobtainable in-game.

6 Unlocking Luigi In Super Mario 64

The main feature of the Super Mario Bros series is getting to play as Mario or Luigi. It's rare that one of the brothers is not a playable character. Luigi was not playable in Super Mario 64, but gamers still tried to prove he was playable. The hoax stated that in the courtyard, there is an inscription on a statue. Gamers claimed the scribbled inscription read "L is real 2401." Many interpreted L to stand for Luigi and 2401 was the exact number of coins that had to be obtained to unlock him. Though this was a hoax, it was a stretch from Luigi fans. The statue is only there for decoration, and developers added a plaque beneath it to make it more realistic. Fortunately, the Nintendo DS port allowed gamers to play as the green plumber.

5 Every Bond Is Playable In Goldeneye 007

When first developing GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64, Rare planned to make every James Bond movie character playable. Rare wanted to add some of the most popular actors into the game, such as Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan. This feature would be called "All Bonds" mode in multiplayer. The feature was later scrapped and cannot be accessed in-game without using mods.

Electronic Gaming Monthly twisted the All Bonds mode by releasing the "All Bonds Cheat." For this cheat, the Bonds would be unlockable in both multiplayer and the main campaign mode. Gamers had to finish the Aztec mission on 007 Difficulty. The level had to be completed within nine minutes with all enemy settings set to the highest difficulty. They later revealed the cheat was part of their annual April Fools Day pranks.

4 Capturing Mew In Pokemon Red/Blue

Mew is one of the most difficult Pokémon to obtain. The most valid way to get the 151st Pokémon was to attend a Nintendo event. A Nintendo staff member would link your GameBoys and upload Mew to your cartridge. You would also receive a certificate of authenticity. Most gamers didn't have access to such events and tried to find Mew's location in Pokémon Red/Blue instead. You had to access a hidden part of the map using the movie Surf. In this area around a boat was a truck parked outside of the SS Anne. This truck didn't appear in any other part of the game. Gamers claimed that Mew was hidden inside the truck. Since this game was released before one could verify it with multiple sources online, many gamers believed the hoax.

3 Unlocking Sonic And Tails In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Super Smash Bros. Melee had a large roster of playable characters from new and old franchise. Rumors soon spread that both Nintendo and Sega characters would be playable. It was reasonable to believe since the Sonic series of games were being ported to the Nintendo GameCube in 2001, the same year Super Smash Bros. Melee was released. It made sense to gamers that the rivals Mario and Sonic could finally face off in a game. To first Sonic and Tails, players had to defeat twenty wire frame enemies in Cruel Melee, which was the most difficult mode in the game. After defeating them, you would unlock both Sonic and Tails. Gamers started putting the rumor to rest by uploading videos of defeating hundreds of wire frame enemies, which didn't unlock the Sega characters. Fans could later enjoy a game featuring both the Nintendo and Sega mascots in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games.

2 The Existence Of Polybius

Polybius was said to be an arcade machine created in 1981. The existence of the machine was not proven to be true, but news of it spread in the late 1990s. Gamers claim that the game was part of a government-run psychology experiment. Polybius would make gamers extremely addicted and have various brain reactions. The arcade machines would be visited by government officials to gather the data and analyze it for their experiments. One month later, as mysteriously as they appeared, Polybius disappeared from arcades.

Polybius could have easily been proven false by the name itself. Polybius was a Greek historian who was known for believing that historians should never report what they cannot verify. Snopes also debunked the hoax stating the mysterious men taking notes from arcade machines were just arcade employees and game companies writing down the names of players with high scores.

1 Reviving Aeris Gainsbourough

The unexpected death of Aeris Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII shocked gamers. Wanting to believe Aeris would come back to life, rumors began to swirl that the flower girl from the slums could be revived. Aeris's death is vital to the story progressing, but some gamers couldn't let go. Lengthy revival processes were published on various fan sites and forums. The rumors varied from making every character in your roster reach Level 99, collecting rare items, or apologizing to the Revive materia in front of a waterfall. Another theory stated to be kind to Aeris at every opportunity. She would awaken from the dead to be with Cloud again. These hoaxes were claimed to have originated from Squaresoft employees, but they have all been proven to be false.