Monday, April 2, 2012

Here lies Erdrick - Google Maps edition!


 April Fools has come and gone. Pranks have been pulled with laughter and tears abound but Google's prank has taken the day, (and many old-school gamers' hearts). Yesterday, Google released a fake advertisement of an upcoming product for the Nintendo Famicom: Google Maps 8-bit. Built like a Famicom cartridge and featuring a style ala Dragon Quest, Google Maps 8-bit uses its own line to connect to the internet. Of course, this product isn't real, but you can check out what our world would like in Dragon Quest. Just go to Google Maps and click the 'Quest' option in the upper right-hand corner - and voila! 8-bit conversion complete! EDIT: Unfortunately, this feature seems to be no longer available.

 I thought this was a really cool, (yet cruel), prank. I own a Famicom and if this product was real, I would buy it immediately. Unfortunate as that is, the internet version is sufficient to satisfy my Famicom fanboy-ism. Either way, Google has excellent taste and I have even more respect for the Google team.

AND YES, this does mean there will be more Dragon Quest related posts in the future! I've been experiencing this great series as of late and I plan to share my experiences with these games.