Author Archives: LKP

The Hero of Time [Ocarina Review]

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I know growing up I loved playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This past autumn, my love was renewed with the release of the updated 3DS version. One of the Special Editions of the game came with a plastic replica ocarina and songbook. I was so put out that I couldn’t get my own ocarina and play all my favorite melodies…until I used my noodle and Googled it up. My savior came in the form of STL Ocarina and their vast selection of a variety of ocarinas. I ended up getting myself a nice little set of clay ocarinas; a 12-Hold Ocarina of Time and matching 6-Hole Rupee ocarina (found here).

Pros:

  • Both ocarinas are easy to learn on
  • The set I got came with two song books and fingering charts for both ocarinas
  • They both came with cords to go around your neck to avoid damage to the ocarina (this does NOT hamper sound)
  • STL Ocarina has a slew of online teaching tools to help you along (including videos)
  • STL also has a helpful Finger Composer program for 12-Hold C Major, 12-Hole F Major, 12-Hole G Major, 6-Hole, Double and Triple Ocarinas

Cons:

  • STL does assumes you know automatically know which Major Scale your 12-Hold is in
  • They are made from clay and have a higher chance of being broken from a fall (The 12-Hole does come with a thin case)
  • Although the set I got came with two books, they teach you in tabs/number charts, rather than in sheet music. Some people might find this easier, but I found it annoying. It was okay for little tunes, but when trying to learn more complicated music, it becomes an annoyance as you have to re-learn how to read the music.

Overall, I would suggest getting the ocarina if you want that nostalgic feel as well as the fun of learning a new and pretty easy instrument, but start with sheet music and a fingering chart as soon as possible so you have more variety for when and if you choose to expand from the Ocarina of Time melodies. I highly suggest to people wanting to start playing (or even just getting this for fun) to check out The Ocarina Network. TON has a ton of great resources for new and experienced ocarina players, and it was thanks

To their community that I learned that my 12-Hole was in the C Major scale.

I hope this helps any nostalgia hunters or people interested in the ocarina as an instrument!

- Lauren

Online Comics (hopefully) for Gamers

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I’m Online Comics today, kids! Most of us enjoy the Sunday Funnies or at least remember getting an Archie comic or two when we were kids. As with most things, there’s the Rule 34 online variety. From Rage Comics with troll-faces to weekly strips you find on deviantART’s front page every time you log in. By the end of this post I hope you’ll find a comic to your tastes.

The first comic I’ve found is of the adorable variety. GaMERCaT reminds me of Garfield, except rather than eating lasagna and tormenting his owner’s dog, this cat drinks Mountain Dew and eats Doritos while playing a variety of video games. Between the cute adaptations of gaming and internet memes and the fun of just seeing an animal play video games, I love it. Maybe I should be on 4chan? Kitties <3

This next one is more on the…muscular side. Literally. Manly Guys Doing Manly Things is just that. Although it centers around an employment agency for retired game heroes like Duke Nukem and Kratos (from God of War) who need help rejoining society, I found myself entertained by the antics of Commander, Jared and Mr. Fish and loved seeing characters from games I haven’t played in a while (like Dragon Age! Makes me want to go back and make a new character. Oh the Pigeons!) Speaking of birds, it has silly references to little things like Shale’s hate of them. She’s from Dragon Age, for those who don’t know. Maybe I’m just a sucker for men with bulging biceps, but I doubt it. Have you seen how skinny my boyfriend is? Well, anyway…

This one is a bit more of a Nintendo throwback. It Sucks To Be Weegie is about that green guy from the Mario Games. Remember him? What was his name? Centered around how there are very few Luigi games and he’s almost never in the Mario games. It’s cartoony and witty and makes you wish that there were more Luigi’s Mansion games…or, well, more Luigi games in general. The guy’s depressed enough. With a gay best friend (Link) and an older brother with a shadow WAY too long for his height, Luigi’s got a lot on his plate. I especially like bar strips! Those cute little Potions for drinks! It’s awesome. Check it out when you get a chance!

Minor Acts of Heroism (or MAOH) is about little heroes! This is a very stylized and colourful series with fun characters–WITH SUPER POWERS! I love the idea of becoming friends with the Superhero, or kid in this case, you idolize. This comic has magic in it. You begin to love the characters as soon as you meet them and kind of wish you were younger and use some sort of rift-opening device to enter the comic and hangout with these kids.

Here we have Paranatural. The premise is that Max and his family have moved to a new town and live about his father’s convenience store. But Max isn’t quite “normal.” HE SEES DEAD PEOPLE!! Actually, he sees spirits. Along with the rest of the Activity Club at his new school, he gets into shenanigans fighting evil spirits and possessed toilet plungers.

From gaming kitties to little boys with super powers, I enjoy these online comics! I hope you will, too. As I get back into online comic reading/following, I may add more or make another post. For now give me suggestions!

- Lauren

P.S. I’m a big sister now! =D

Assassin’s Creed III Revealed

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There’s been a lot of hype this week starting with the leaked image sent to Kotaku featuring Ratohnhaké:ton pronounced Ra-doon-ha-kay-toon (or simply as Connor), our protagonist for the upcoming Assassin’s Creed 3 with the original continental flag behind him (see Kotaku’s original article here). Between that post early Thursday morning and now, Ubisoft has released the official box art, a teaser video telling us that “all would be revealed March 5th“ and the Announcement Trailer that was broadcast today live by IGN.


As you saw, assuming you watched the trailer, the North American release date is October 30th along with a pre-order bonus. Although I’m not big on the American Revolution, this story arch in the series can tie in very well with the previous games and the 2012 storyline. Other than the video and a few screenshots, not much is confirmed about the story line or gameplay.

Game Informer will continue to provide coverage for Assassin’s Creed III through their AC3 Hub here.

- Lauren

The First of Many…

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Going live Today (Sunday) at 6:00pm http://www.livestream.com/xds_rebel .

I’ll be hosting a Sunday LiveStream weekly at the above link. Start time and length will vary occasionally, but I’ll be posting a link on my twitter the day before and as we start every time. Games and guests/hosts (other than myself) will change frm time to time.

This week we have myself (Lauren), Harrison, Will and a surprise “guest.” We’ll be playing some of the Mass Effect 3 Demo multiplayer (about 3 games) before switching over to Gears of War 3 multiplayer (gamemode yet to be determined). If you’d like into the gameplay, feel free to add my Xbox Live Gamertag: XDS_Rebel and send me a note either on XBL or in the Stream chat. We’re looking for a team of 4 for the ME3 demo (if we get more people wanting to play, we’ll switch out a few people per game) and a full team of 5 for GoW3 (again, switching out as need be).

In future, if you’re looking to be a part of the Skype call of hosts/guests, add me: XDS_Rebel (easy with them all being the same). Let me know during the week if you’d like to be apart of the stream for the coming weekend or even if you’re just looking to see what we may be doing.

Again…

Skype: XDS_Rebel
Xbox Live Gamertag: XDS_Rebel
LiveStream: http://www.livestream.com/xds_rebel
Twitter: https://twitter.com/xds_rebel

We look forward to seeing everyone there tomorrow!

- Lauren

Silent Hill Gazette

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Silent Hill – Not so Silent Anymore

Hello again and welcome back to Silent Hill. It’s time to hit the streets of Silent Hill’s fog world again in two new games and two re-vamped old games this month. To add to the fog horn ringing in your ears, I’ll be starting a Let’s Play: Silent Hill series for the first game this month!

Let’s head straight to the first of these to be released: Silent Hill Downpour. Downpour will be the eighth installment in the main series and will follow a prisoner stranded in Silent Hill, Murphy Pendleton. Get pre-ordering at GameStop Canada, kiddies, because this game’s coming out March 13th.

Next in the line-up is the re-make of Silent Hill 2 and 3. Called Silent Hill HD, it comes packed with both full games, updated graphics, alternate Voice-overs (and the choice between new and old voice-overs), as well as Achievement for Xbox Live and Trophies for PlayStation 3. If you’re as psyched as I am for this, you’ll have it marked on your calendar as March 20th.

Then comes Silent Hill: Book of Memories. This little bad boy is for the new PlayStation handheld, the Vita. Book of Memories will be the first Silent Hill to feature any multiplayer gameplay (up to 4 players). It will feature returning monsters from previous Silent Hill games and allows you to customize your character. Expect to see this in-stores March 27th.

Lastly, I want to tell everyone about my awesome find, and subsequent Let’s Play series. We have a used game store in the mini-mall by my house called We Got Games. Harrison and I stop in whenever we’re around to see if we can snag an awesome deal or find a game we’re looking for (usually GameBoy Colour or Nintendo 64 games). The second I saw Silent Hill, I told him to stay put and disappeared across the store to get in line and buy it. Getting back to the Let’s Play; I’ll be posting at least one video a week to my YouTube and doing a LiveStream every weekend (preferably Fridays). Videos will be of Silent Hill for now and Streams of whatever myself and anyone watching pleases (and I have access to…). I’ll be starting the Let’s Play on March 8th.

So with three new releases and a Let’s Play series coming this month all revolving around Silent Hill, I fell a bit like a planet revolving around a Silent Hill Sun or maybe just one of those beetles you always find around Pyramid Head… Regardless, I’m looking forward to this month like you wouldn’t believe!

Remember to turn on your radios and have a lead pipe at the ready this month!

Lauren

Warning! Incoming Game…

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Hi, I’m Lauren. And 100 Points to your House if you got that title. I’m a 19-year-old Female Gamer who lives with her boyfriend (and his parents…). His computer’s light-years better than my crappy laptop, which means I can actually play Minecraft, Skyrim, or any other game I so please. By the way, Pokémon was what taught me that Light-Years is a measure of distance, not time!

Aside from PC gaming, I’m having an affair with my XBOX 360 and quickies with my new 3DS on the weekends. My type of gaming is more like a spectrum of colour – rather than a speck of light. I enjoy shooting games more than most of my other vaginally-challenged gaming friends, but I’m a sucker for anything with a good storyline. Still, if I had to pick my favorite three games, they’d probably be… Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Gears of War 2, and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

“Gaming Background,” or rather: Childhood. I grew up playing the N64 more than the SNES. When I was eleven, we moved and I no longer had access to my after-school sitter’s consoles. I begged and pleaded for a Gameboy Advanced. My gaming until high school consisted of playing and replaying The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Then this big new fad called Guitar Hero came out, and my mom jizzed her pants and bought a brand new PS2… Which is now broken. Next thing I knew, behind her back I bought myself my Xbox and started my journey to what borderlines on obsession.

Luckily I snagged myself an awesome boyfriend who shares my interests to the tee and fans the flames of my gaming desires. Other than gaming my passions are Art and reading.

I’m spent. Have a good one fellow gamers!

- Lauren

P.S. My Gamertag on Xbox Live is: XDS Rebel.