This April 1st we bring you a gem* from the archives. Recently dig’d from a super VHS tape it’s Hak5 episode 507 from 1995. We take a peak at a Windows 95 “chicago” beta build, get our phone phreaking on, and review one of the latest SNES games.
I played a really fun game the other night that I’d like to share because it’s a little addicting in that fun team player way 
Synergy co-op Mode gives us an amazingly fun mod called Synergy. You can use this mod for Half-Life 2, ep. 1, and ep. 2. To install it, you basically have to have the Half-Life games, with the SDK Source installed. You then run the synergy installation and it’s all set! Synergy mod even shows up as an independent game in X-fire. It’s pretty cool 
There’s a few kinks I found while playing the game with 2 other people. There are a few places where the game skips (just a few puzzles, the end of a level, etc..). Another thing is the Half-Life games were obviously made for one player mode, and when you have multiplayer- it gets a little easy.
But it’s frackin TOTALLY RAD to run into a level with a team and take it out in minutes~!! omg! Play it!! It’s really fun to go through the Half-Life games on multiplayer!!!
As you all know, I recently moved in with my liek, rad bf. We had to sacrafice a few things already, just so two people could comfortably live in the same room together. We bought this little desk, and modified it to our needs. With that said, I now have dual monitors instead of just the one, and I also have a new Radeon X1900 video card.
I have to say having dual monitors is a really REALLY nice thing. It’s much easier to organize and multitask. I can watch a movie on fullscreen and browse the web at the same time, or play a video game and chat in IRC side by side. The only downfall- video’s run best on the primary monitor than the secondary, and if you want to go dual- get the same kind of monitors. One of mine isn’t as bright as the other. It’s also a bit blurred which is a little bothersome…
After reformatting my computer, deleting a bunch of crap, and upgrading to this new hardware plus some new software… My computer is FINALLY running like new. I’ve been able to install all my games at the highest resolution and they run beautifully, without any rips or tears in the maps. I can’t wait to get my pwnage on!
Yay! Another game review! So I’ve been playing a really cute game called Pokemon Ranger on DS. For all of you that are going lol n00b, I pwn you on UT… well, I play fps too, but at the moment, my computer doesn’t have a video card inside it. So I’m going down the line of hundreds of DS games I have and playin them all.
Pokemon Ranger DS is about your quest to become a great pokemon ranger. You travel from village to village and are given missions from the senior rangers to help citizens and get to a higher level. These bad guys called the Go-Rock Squad end up stealing special equipment from the good guy pokemon rangers team, and they use this to capture pokemon for their evil deeds.
The world you play PR in is pretty small. You get to choose between a male or female character and name them as you want. My characters name was Snubs (go figure). Capturing pokemon is fun. Now, you don’t throw them in a Pokeball and battle other characters. You capture wild pokemon, they follow you around as you travel, then you use them once and they are freed. Of course, you can capture them again if you want. You can talk to all the characters in the game, and their conversations give me the idea this game is made for children and teens.
Leveling up is probably the main reason I’m still playing this. I was able to get through the game in about 3-4 days, and every time I leveled up, I wanted to get to the next level. You also can get up to a Rank 10 in the game as a pokemone ranger.
My least favorite part about the game is the cut scenes. The chat bubbles are slow (even on the fastest speed), and if something is happening that requires a part of the plot, you dont have the choice to skip. This is annoying if you fail a mission and have to restart. You have to sit through all the information again…
I’d give this game a 7 / 10. All around a fun, cute game. It’s easy to pass the time with Pokemon Ranger DS, and it’s a bit different from other pokemon games. I wish I could skip cut scenes and I wish the game was longer. 
Mario Kart Wii
It’s a really fun game. I definetly spent a good afternoon playing Mario Kart Wii with DK while he was visiting. It’s the perfect game to just play circuit after circuit with a friend and pass the controller back and forth. I think the races are a little easy. We were able to unlock all the circuits in no time, getting first place in all but… I think 3 races. Of course, the feeling of acheivement was great! Everytime we unlocked a new car/character/racetrack, I got so excited!! I wanted to keep playing all night!
Mario Kart Wii comes with a new nifty little wheel that you can set your Wiimote in, to ‘drive’ during the game. We found the wheel to be incredibly stupid, and I tried various ways of playing. Because the game is on Wii, you have the choice of playing with the wheel, wiimote, classic controller, etc. I chose the classic controller and found it to be the easiest by far. It’s just like playing the old school games from the old consoles.
The graphics are well done. The edges around some characters and tracks are rough, but the coloring and scenery of racetracks from old games is pure awesomeness. Nintendo kept some of the older racetracks!! There are also quite a few new racetracks too, and I have to say, I love the new Rainbow Road. It’s so colorful and pretty and ghey! lol
The music kicks ass. Whenever you change menues, the music follows you. It doesnt change songs, but changes the mood of the same track by just a bit. It’s really cool! Hey! Listen!
The only issue I had with gameplay was that anytime you get hit by something, it seems like things pile up on you. For example, if I got hit with a red shell, as soon as I get hit, I also get hit with a blue shell, a squid, a green shell, and I get run over by Bowser. It happened to computer characters as well. I’d hit them, and they’d get hit a few more times by other people. It’s annoying!
All in all, great video game. It’s perfect for families, parties, etc. There isn’t any violence at all. It’s so fun!! Even Molly Wood likes it.
I saw the coolest bumper sticker ever and I had to share it with everyone.
If you don’t get it, I really like Half-Life (The video game), and Gordon Freeman is the man. I wonder how many people in Springfield have actually seen this jeep and understood the bumper sticker?
On another note, I got a hair cut! Yay! I found a wonderful hair dresser at Trade Secret, and she basically rocks. It’s a shame I have to find a new hair dresser over the summer when I move!
It’s true!
The Hero of Time (The Legend of Zelda) is an full-length, independent Zelda movie being made by a small group of producers and film buffs called “BMB Finishes”. They have been working on this movie for nearly three years, and it is now nearing completion. It is a fully independent production. All of the people making the movie are big fans of the Zelda series, and they have put a ton of creativity and effort into this film.
I don’t care how b-rated it looks. It’s a low budget indy movie, and anyone who’s got the motivation and time to make a movie about my favorite video game pretty much deserves my 2 thumbs up. I can’t wait til this is out.
…but being surrounded by sorority girls while on this plane is not. Kind of weird, actually. The flight attendant saw the girl beside me wearing greek letters. She goes, “Oh, you’re in blablabla, cool!” Then turns to me and says, “What sorority are you in?” I was like… wtf, are you serious? None. Sorry, I’m not about to throw away my money on a big pretty house to live in, so I can party and deal with drama. Naw, not for me.
I had a great Spring Break. Full of technolust. Fer realz.
I’m willing to say that Williamsburg Virginia is worth a visit. It’s beautiful. Although, dealing with all the other tourists in kinda a pain in the ass, but what can you do? There is so much colonial history, so many things to experience… Just go there
Battlestar Galactica Season 3 just came out on DVD, so Darren got a pre-ordered copy. We basically 
played couch potato and watched almost the entire season, just in the nick of time for Season 4. It’s been a while since I’ve obsessed about a tv show…
Rock Band is AWESOME! Just puttin’ that out there.
Much Hak.5 tech lovin went on this week as well. J!NX had a $5 off sale for 3 days, so not only did I
spend some cash, but DK pimped his t-shirt on teh site as well. J!NX also started a EXP and Gold membership thing. It’s quite fun! Yay for RPG’s! The taping of episode 3×09 occurred yesterday, all day. We ustreamed all day for viewers. I learned how to use the broadcasting box thing… as well as how filming generally goes for each episode. All in all, the best spring break I’ve ever had!
I thought I’d write a little opionated review of this new game, since I recently played it a few weekends ago.
Smash Brothers Brawl had a huge cult following and almost all my friends were excited about the new game for Nintendo Wii. Darren reserved his copy and we waited in line while playing Tetris DS (and I pwned him, btw) while chilling inside the mall. I’ve never been a big Smash Brothers gamer, but I’ve played my fair share of each of the games.
The first thing I noticed was the graphics. The graphics kick ass, and I love the special effects whenever you use your final attack during a battle. The characters are beautiful, and the cut scenes are made so well. Nintendo is really starting to show off what the Wii can do as far as graphics go with this game, as well as with Mario Galaxy.
When you first play the game, I suggest playing with various controllers to figure out which one you would want to use. I personally like the Wiimote + nunchuck, but Darren used the Classic controller. It really just depends on your style.
There’s SO MUCH to do in this game. When you play Brawl (playing against up to 4 people without an internet connection), you can unlock new characters and basically try out each of the available characters and maps to find your favorite. I did not play any of the other battle modes, but I did take some time to check out the trophies, stickers, and maps you can make. I really have no clue why there are stickers and trophies in this game other than to raise your e-peen, but they are interesting to look at non-the-less. There are a few minigames which are fun, but didn’t peek my interest that much. My favorite thing to do, other than playing Brawl tourneys, was creating my own maps. Really cool! There’s lots of different ways you can create a map, and you can even choose your favorite music.
Apparently you can play this game online with other people, but since my Wii isn’t hooked up, I wasn’t able to do this. O wells
All in all, it’s a great game and I suggest it to anyone who likes old school style battle zone type games.
