10 Video Game Hoaxes That Completely Fooled Everyone
9. Street Fighter II - Ryu Vs. Sheng Long
In Chinese (pinyin to be specific) the translation of Ryus iconic Rising Dragon Punch (Shoryuken) is sheng long. So, as a result of a mistranslation on a Ryu victory screen in the original Street Fighter II arcade machines (which should have read you must defeat my Rising Dragon punch to stand a chance, but actually read you must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance) this hoax began to circulate more by word of mouth than anything else. When thousands wrote to Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine desperately asking for confirmation on whether or not a mysterious fighter named Sheng Long was actually hidden within the game, they did what any self-respecting publication would do: they fabricated a hoax. In April 1992, they released an article explaining that Sheng Long did exist. And he could be fought. All you had to do was, while playing as Ryu, beat the entire game without taking damage and upon reaching M. Bison neither hit him Nor let him inflict any damage until the time limit expired. Only then would Sheng Long be revealed. Simple, right? It all turned out to be an elaborate hoax, which many, many SF fans fell hook line and sinker for. Although the console ports came around the same time, I imagine thousands of SF fanboys globally squandered their entire net worth on a task that was as fruitless as a McDonalds Apple Pie. Still, pretty funny though.
In Chinese (pinyin to be specific) the translation of Ryus iconic Rising Dragon Punch (Shoryuken) is sheng long. So, as a result of a mistranslation on a Ryu victory screen in the original Street Fighter II arcade machines (which should have read you must defeat my Rising Dragon punch to stand a chance, but actually read you must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance) this hoax began to circulate more by word of mouth than anything else. When thousands wrote to Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine desperately asking for confirmation on whether or not a mysterious fighter named Sheng Long was actually hidden within the game, they did what any self-respecting publication would do: they fabricated a hoax. In April 1992, they released an article explaining that Sheng Long did exist. And he could be fought. All you had to do was, while playing as Ryu, beat the entire game without taking damage and upon reaching M. Bison neither hit him Nor let him inflict any damage until the time limit expired. Only then would Sheng Long be revealed. Simple, right? It all turned out to be an elaborate hoax, which many, many SF fans fell hook line and sinker for. Although the console ports came around the same time, I imagine thousands of SF fanboys globally squandered their entire net worth on a task that was as fruitless as a McDonalds Apple Pie. Still, pretty funny though.