Yeah, it was a joke. The bad news is that the press noticed the havoc. There is a story from CNN on r/Bitcoin. This is going to take more than a few days to repair public perception. MtGox have to take full blame and publicly apologize not to stain Bitcoin or they'll loose their business and everybody else's.!
This is exactly what i have been screaming for years!! The 2011 crash was single handedly MtGOx's FAULT. Mark Karpeles is retarded. Have anyone here had a conversation with the dork? He is so fucking stupid, and these are the results of his "work".