And so the reveller that is the internet groggily cracks open one eye, peers around the wreckage of the party that was April Fool’s Day, declares “man, I was so wasted”, tries to piece together what happened over the last 24 hours between the pulses of an industrial hangover, and gets that feeling of creeping horror as it remembers what seemed like a really hilarious idea after a couple of pints of Crème de Menthe and a Co-op cider chaser…

Amidst the vast sea of Fooling, the BBC’s flying penguins (also in The Telegraph) were very well done, bonus marks for effort there. I missed their ice-skating greyhounds, though.

Blizzard kept up their usual standard, my favourite being Molten Core for the Atari 2600. There was also the Bard (though I still reckon the lute bayonet is a winner there). On a similar note, GAME’s Double Bass Controller would seriously rock (somewhat reminiscent of The Onion’s Sousaphone Hero). Actually, that’s a point, what do The Onion do on April 1st?

NCsoft’s Visual Sounds for City of Heroes announcement is disqualified, as it’s not Foolish at all, it’s a bleedin’ brilliant idea. FREEM! Also getting in on the Atari 2600 act, there’s a rather splendid fan-made effort.

ThinkGeek have a whole heap of excellent products, and I should probably wrap up here, as I’ve probably inflicted a billion years of bad luck on myself for linking all this stuff after April 1st.

For anyone starting work on next year’s drollery, just try and remember that madcap japes and pranks work best if they’re in some way humorous. For example:

“The government are going to raise income tax by three percent”.

That’s not an April Fool, that’s Making Up Stuff That Isn’t Funny.

“The government are going to start taxing something highly improbable. Spokesperson Geoff MySurnameIsAnAnagramOfAprilFool said ‘this is bound to have hilarious consequences’.”

That’s a (rubbish) April Fool. If you’re having trouble, maybe a hearty breakfast will help you come up with something.