What better way for a bunch of geeks to donate to Make a Wish Foundation than to involve the Force. Lucasfilm Ltd., Nerdist Industries, Octagon and Machinima have teamed up to create a lightsaber relay leading up to San Diego Comic Con.

The relay will start from Santa Monica on July 7 and end in San Diego on July 11. At every quarter-mile there will be a new participate to hand off the official Course of the Force lightsaber to. This coincides with San Diego Comic Con which starts July 12-15.

The relay will benefit Make a Wish foundation and there will be many ways for fans to get involved and donate. Any participants in the relay are encouraged to come decked out in their Star Wars gear, but they also want to encourage any cosplay or pop-culture themed gear.

“The Course of the Force lightsaber run is a great cause that combines fitness with helping others, principles that aspiring Jedi Knights can embrace. We have long supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and this is a great opportunity to raise funds and awareness while letting Star Wars fans celebrate their favorite saga,” said Kayleen Walters, Sr. Director of Marketing for Lucasfilm.

Nerdist’ Chris Hardwick will be broadcasting live from the course. There will be Star Wars themed parties, contents and more for fans.

“We aim to build on the excitement leading up to San Diego Comic-Con International, to raise awareness for the wonderful Make-A-Wish Foundation and to ensure that Course of the Force becomes an evergreen part of the pop culture lexicon,” said Nerdist Industries’ principal and Course of the Force creator and executive director Peter Levin. “Partnering with Lucasfilm, Octagon and Machinima creates a trilogy of cachet, profile and execution expertise. As a wise green man might say, ‘succeed we will, for a good cause’.”

I love this and definitely encourage everyone to stay on top of the information at Courseoftheforce.com. Great to see such a positive event kick off San Diego Comic Con this year!

Last week, Sony invited GamingAngels to visit the new launch of the Vita Social Club. I visited the Los Angeles location. The Vita Social Club is the coolest way to experience the PS Vita for yourself before you buy.

The Vita Social Club is in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Atlanta, New York City, Boston, Chicago and Austin. You can check out the official site to get more information on dates and address.

At the event, go with friends or alone, you’ll get some serious one on one time with the PS Vita. You’ll get to choose from a menu of games to try like SoundShapes, UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss, LittleBigPlanet, Little Deviants, WipEout 2048, ModNation Racers, Reality Fighters, and Hot Shots Golf.

I’ll be heading back this weekend to get more time with the PS Vita. I wanted to take one home with me at the event, but just so you know, the security is pretty good there. I’ll have another article about my experience playing the games, but until then, visit the Vita Social club and check the PS Vita out for yourself!

Despite planning ahead, illness has made me late again this month. Once again, I am wishing I had an unlimited travel budget, along with no other job or family to tie me down to home. There are a lot of fun things happening!

Note: I have tried to include information on a variety of science fiction/fantasy, gaming and generally geeky conventions, but I am not guaranteeing this covers everything. Please feel free to suggest other conventions, for this month or future months in the comments!

Hurricane Who
November 3-5
Orlando, FL

Naoko Mori from Torchwood and Arthur Darvill (Rory) will be at this convention, which seems totally cool for a Dr. Who Convention. Also featured are Jeremy Bulloch, who played Boba Fett in the Star Wars franchise, and Paul Bradford from Ghost Hunters, who seem a bit more tangential to the theme (although Jeremy Bulloch has guested on Dr. Who), but still fun. A unique cool feature: the day after the convention, a SciFi cruise departs with Bulloch and Paul Marc Davis as special guests.

Comikaze
November 4-5
Los Angeles, CA

@GamingAngel went to this one. The list of Guests of Honor is impressive, with Stan Lee and Elvira at the top of the list, but it was the list of Featured Guests that got me really excited. Ben Crowder from Farscape, Bonnie Burton, both Robert Beltran and Jennifer Lien from Star Trek: Voyager (along with much of the rest of the cast, except for Kate Mulgrew, alas)–these are just some of the awesome people featured. I can’t wait to hear all about this one.

Steampunk Masquerade Ball
November 12
Atlanta, GAThese people are serious about the costume policy–you come in formal wear or a period appropriate costume, or you will have to buy a mask or leave, no refunds. Which, if you think about it, makes for a much more awesome experience.

Kollision Con
November 18 – 20
St. Charles, ILThis is an anime focused con with lots of artists, gaming, panels and late night karaoke. There are a lot of fan panels, and the fans seem to be really into Mahjong, which is kind of cool.

Pure Speculation Festival

November 18 – 20
Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaJo Walton is the Author Guest of Honor at this con. They have a neat event called A Taste of Pure Speculation, which involves all of the main guests doing *something*, preferably something extra that they don’t normally do at cons. If you want to go to this, buy your tickets before 11/11/11.

Darkover Grand Council Meeting
November 25 – 27
Timonium, MDThis is a small con over Thanksgiving weekend, which makes for more opportunity to actually meet the special guests personally, and attend all of the workshops you want to see. Also, the Gaylactic Sprectrum Awards will be awarded at DarkoverCon this year.

Anyone attending any conventions in November?

While wandering through the city, one of the first things I noticed was the addition of a Moogle sidekick for the party; which were also conspicuously [mostly] absent in the game’s predecessor, despite being a staple of the series. Moogles are the party’s handy little comrades and will help you get through hidden obstacles to find treasure, while offering tips occasionally as well. I also learned that the game would have quite a bit in common Square-Enix legend, Chrono Trigger, in that it would time travel would be a prominent story element, along with multiple endings depending on the decisions you made throughout the game. Some of these choices are dialogue options you’ll have to make when in a situation; these will usually determine your approach to enemies or conversations with other characters. As mentioned above, time travel is a huge plot element in XIII-2. And it’s implemented quite nicely, with the new addition of mini-games as well. (Something else that was a staple in many Final Fantasy games.) At one point during the demo, Noel and Serah fall into a time flux of sorts, and must solve a puzzle to escape and move on. In short, this was an overhead mini-game in which entailed disappearing floor tiles as you moved across them. The objective was to collect all of the crystals on the way to the finish line, in the correct sequence so you wouldn’t cut yourself off from the goal. I was informed there would be a large variety of mini-games available to the player too, most of which would be available to play at any time during a point in the story, much like the Gold Saucer in Final Fantasy VII.

While fighting my way through the city, I was able to recruit monsters to assist me in battle; Apparently hundreds of different monsters can join you, each with their own job for the Paradigm. You’ll know you’ve gained a new monster when a small crystal appears at the end of a fight; you can then add any monster in your arsenal to your party to suit your needs, each with its own unique abilities. Random encounters have also been brought back, though only to an extent. Enemies will spawn randomly, however you have a set amount of time via the Mog Clock to either engage enemies for a pre-emptive strike or escape the encounter entirely. It’s also possible to gain the aid of NPCs, like soldiers in the area to assist you as well.

When it was finally time to face Atlas again, who had begun to attack the city, I was faced with a choice; Attack him head on, or look for another method of defeating him. I went with the latter, and decided explore a bit to activate a device that would weaken him; apparently the game will be enveloped in choices like this that will impact the outcome of the story and characters, while setting you along a branching path for your ending. While fighting Atlas, I also noticed another new feature in combat; Staggering an enemy will not only weaken them for additional damage, but also trigger a “Cinematic Action” sequence. These are similar to quick time events in games like God of War, but more forgiving and strategic in nature. You can trigger one at the correct time to disable one of Atlas’ hands, which cause the most damage to the party. Paradigm shifting will also be more strategic now as well; rather than changing at one point to meet your needs, players will have to watch the enemy and shift accordingly to its actions. Such as, when Atlas is about to smash the party with his fist, it’s important to switch to a more defensive Paradigm to minimize damage taken.

Overall, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is shaping up beautifully; Many issues gamers had with XIII are being addressed, while fans of the previous installment will get a more fleshed out story and expanded universe to enjoy, with a host of new characters and diverse game play experience as well. FFXIII-2 will be released in December for Japan, and in January stateside. Be sure to check back for our review of the game!

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Off the Record brings back  Frank West, the hero of the first game. Meaning we get to take awesome zombie pictures again! This expansion to Dead Rising 2 seemingly enhances the game, and gives players new missions to play through with an old favorite.

As I said, I got to play around in the more creative challenge mode, which is basically like a giant sandbox play zone where you can just relentlessly kill zombies to your hearts content with whatever weapon you choose to use or combine. You can pick and choose what challenges you want to do, and your score will be posted on leaderboards for other players to try their hands at. But I mainly just liked finding random items and using them to kill zombies. It took me a minute to remember the controls, but once I got them it was easy to pick up and go again. Graphic wise the game looks great, and the zombies are rendered nicely, just as they were in the previous games.

It reminded me a lot of God of War. Once powerful, loses power and swears revenge? Check. Very angry over his situation? Check. Shirtless? Check. Is all of this necessarily a bad thing? Not really. The basic story hearkens back to that of Kratos’s, however that kind of tale can be found in several heroic stories from various cultures.

Gameplay wise, it went smoothly once I became familiar with the controls. They are similar to those of God of War in the sense that you’re given button prompts, but that’s about it for similarities. And the boss I had to face? Pretty big bordering on epic. Not only did I have to fight him through several stages, but in the last stage he grows to a size that dwarfs the planet that Asura is on and turns into a god that reminded me of Hindu gods.

All in all the game has some promise but I would want to see more of it before making a final decision.

Archon
September 30 – October 2
St. Louis, MO

This past weekend, there was actually a convention close to my own home, but I still couldn’t go, what with 4th grade soccer, groceries and a sore knee. I am going to try for next year, though. This group put on the WorldCon in 2007, so they have a lot of experience putting on a good convention. They have gaming, filking, cosplay (with contests), children’s programming and a wide variety of panels for adults from anime to the business of writing to crafts to fannish discussions.

Hawaii Entertainment Expo
September 30 – October 2
Honolulu, HI

The describe this one as Hawaii’s newest multi-genre convention, but judging from the program, it is heavy on the anime and cosplay. I know @gamingangel would be glad to be there, too–they had a Lolita fashion show! Plus, what is not to like about a convention in Hawaii?

Manjiro Festival
October 1
Fairhaven, MAThis is a fun looking festival put on by the Whitfield-Manjiro Friendship Society to remember Manjiro Nakahama, the first Japanese citizen to visit the United States. When he was 14, he went on a fishing trip that ended in a shipwreck, and he ended up coming to Massachusetts with the whaling captain that saved him and the rest of the crew. The Firendship Society has a small museum and a tour of the town that commemorate the friendship between Manjiro and Whitfield. There was be Japanese and American music, food, arts & crafts and martial arts, Taiko drumming, tours of the Manjiro trail, and our @GeekWoman was there.

Webcomics Con
October 1 – October 2
Norwalk, CT

This one is just what it sounds like–webcomics only. A lot of the programming is for the creators, with programming on technical details as well as the creative process, but they also planned a large exhibitor hall and lots of cosplay.

GeekGirlCon
October 8 – 9
Seattle, WA

This looks like a neat group of people that do a lot of community work in addition to putting on the convention. They have a lot of cool programming, but I was particularly excited to see @GailSimone and Katie Goldman. You may have heard about Katie a while back, when kids were making fun of her for liking Star Wars, saying that is for boys–that got a little bit of press. I tell you what, as a mom and former girl geek, it still makes me tear up when I think about little Katie being teased for what she loves, and also when I read about all the wonderful support she got thanks to the internet.

New York ComicCon/New York Anime Fest
October 13 – 16
New York, NY

When we talked about upcoming conventions at our staff meeting, @stealthyslyth told me she was going to New York ComicCon, and @VesVespaa said she was going to New York Anime Fest, I did not realize these are really the same convention! Apparently, though, the ComicCon hosts the Anime Fest and they are all in the same place at the same time, which just sounds like a recipe for more exhaustion and less sleep to me, . Obviously, there will be a lot of anime and artists of all kinds, but there will also be speed dating, lots of guests, and some great looking programs.

CapClave
October 14 – 16
Washington, DC/Gaithersburg, MA

A convention that tags itself as a place “Where reading is not extinct” is a convention that I like. Also, Catherynne Valente is the guest of honor, and the focus is on the short fiction form, which I really enjoy.

Memphis Comic and Fantasy Convention
October 14 – 16
Memphis, TN

This convention has one of the coolest features I have ever seen–Geek 101 school field trips. They have a public school district approved program designed to stimulate interest in careers as an artist or a scientist. They also have laser tag and a lot of cool looking programs, largely centered around comics, costuming, movies and fiction.

BlizzCon

blizzcon

October 21 – 23
Anaheim, CA

Blizzard Entertainment is putting on this celebration of all things Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo, and it looks like a great time. There will be an opportunity to play the latest versions of their games, discussion panels with developers, contests, tournaments and commemorative merchandise based on game universes. @gamingangel and @stealthyslyth will be there and reporting back to us, but if you are interested in watching live, you can get a virtual ticket for streaming online or on DirecTV.

MileHiCon
October 21 – 23
Denver, CO

The website for this con does not provide a lot of details, but they do seem to have an interesting event I have not seen before–a Critter Crunch, which appears to be some sort of transforming robot battle, although whoever wrote the rules seems to assume you already know the gist of the competition, so the rules are focused on details. Otherwise, there appears to be gaming, programming, a kids track, costuming, parties and many SF authors attending.

Necronomicon
October 21 – 23
St. Petersburg, FL
The name comes from the Halloween time of year. Ben Bova is the Guest of Honor, and among other things, he is on the panel of one of the coolest programs I have seen lately: Science & Math in Everyday Life. There are a lot of interesting looking panels on how real science intersects with science fiction, like Women in Science, How Science Literacy Affects Your Perception of the World and Teaching Science, the Challenges and Rewards, plus programs on filking, writing, anime, art, gaming, Dr. Who, and many more.

World Fantasy Convention
October 27 – 29
San Diego, CA

The World Fantasy Awards will be given here. Once again, the nominations for best novel look great (Lauren Beukes, Zoo City, N K Jemisin, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, Graham Joyce, The Silent Land, Guy Gavriel Kay, Under Heaven, Karen Lord, Redemption in Indigo, and Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death), and once again, I am pulling for Jemisin or Okorafor to win. I loved those books!

Icon
October 29 – 30
Cedar Rapids, IA

Jane Yolen is the guest of honor at this one. You know, Iowa is only, what, a 5 hour drive from St. Louis? And I could sleep in my car and bring granola bars to save money. Might be worth it to see Jane Yolen…