Over the last day or so, social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) has been awash with crazy PlayStation-based rumours — and they all stem from a single post by Mega64.

On the 7th September, the comedy outfit presented a fairly provocative post, writing: "We are hearing INSANE leaks that Sony may announce something huge tomorrow. Stay tuned around 10AM PT."

The post attracted hundreds of replies, but the bigger picture was that numerous gaming-focused accounts — some with tens of thousands of followers — and even several websites, ran with the story as if it came from a trusted source.

Of course, all it takes is some incredibly basic research to learn that Mega64, as mentioned, is a comedy group who have been around for decades. This kind of prank is nothing new for them — and honestly, it's still very funny to see hapless news aggregators and so-called social media 'insiders' completely jump the gun.

In typical Mega64 fashion, the tease eventually led to a YouTube video titled 'PS6 Hardware Reveal Trailer', which at the time of writing has 156,000 views.

Riffing on Sony's decision to stop manufacturing PlayStation discs, the video unveils an imaginary console.

"No Physical Console. No Physical Limits. Imagine The Possibilities," it states.

It's a good laugh, and I'd like to think that the initial prank hasn't left too many people in a mood.

It just goes to show, though, how quickly baseless rumours can spread across social media. As noted, even the most casual glance at Mega64's profile or associated YouTube channel page reveals that they're rarely serious — but that didn't stop thousands of users from taking the relayed information at face value.

Needless to say, a lot of 'insider' posts on X have since been deleted.

[source youtube.com]