Ümloud 2010 is a Rock Band night designed to benefit Child’s Play, a charity started by Penny Arcade’s founders that provides games and other fun items to children’s hospitals across the United States.

This year’s event, led by Chris Kohler (Wired.com), Joe Markert (Gamehelper) and John “Seg” Seggerson (Telltale Games), will take place at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco on December 9, 2010. The venue will be outfitted with a full Rock Band stage with all the latest Rock Band 3 gear, not to mention a giant set list to choose from, all thanks to Harmonix. A $10 fee is charged for entry to the 18+ venue.

A silent auction and raffle will also take place at the event, and the full list of prizes will be available on the official site, www.umloud.org, soon. The website also gives a few more details – including the fact that if you want a reserved play time on the big stage, you’ll need to drop the bucks for an Ultimate Band pass (not on sale yet).

You can also win a chance to be a Headliner Band. The website provides the full details:

In the month of ROCKTOBER, we’ll be auctioning off one (1) “Headliner Band” package. Win this auction, and you’ll be the stars of Ümloud. You’ll play a two-song set list. We’ll make you a killer introductory video. Ümloud’s designers will create your very own logo and a Fillmore-style band poster. And more to be announced, all for one very special band that proves how special they are by giving us the most money. Watch this space.

“This year, we’re upping our game to ensure Ümloud! is bigger, better, and more importantly, louder than ever before,” said Ümloud! co-founder Chris Kohler. “There’s never been a better reason to get together with your friends and play Rock Band.”

I’m inclined to agree.

Of course, tribbles aren’t the only tempting, adorable thing that graces this convention’s floor. There was the large number of simply cute and adorable cosplayers. Admit it: a 5-year-old dressed up at girl Batman with her daddy is just cute. I don’t have a picture, but take my word on that one. There was also a demo booth of a wii game called Just Dance, and I saw numerous little kids get up there and show us older congoers just how to move it.

Now, for my fellow Magic: the Gathering players, the card Howling Mine should be very familiar. This version of it was $1 per pull, and you were guaranteed to pull at least a rare magic card if not something more. It was quite addicting, and it took about $10 from my wallet. It was one of the first things I had seen during my day at the convention, and it made my day, as howling mine is one of my favorite Magic cards in existence. I found this at one of the many card merchants, and they had all sorts of Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.

On top of the excitement of that, many game, manga, and comic companies ventured out for the day. I saw the VIZ vendor, and I saw quite a few of the titles they’ve been putting out lately as well as getting to say “Hi” to one of the editors of the Shonen Jump magazine. The Dante’s Inferno demo area had a lot of traffic and tons of people stopping to pose with the statue just inside the area.

One of the unexpected things were the two DC comics giveaways. There were about 20 different comics, numerous buttons, and a comic ring from a series I don’t know, but I’m sure many of you comic fans might know. The line was longer than just about any other line I had seen all day, yet I stood there, with a couple of my friends and a very nice woman named Dee that I talked to about GamingAngels (and how awesome we all are!), and scored my very first comic books ever. I haven’t gotten to read any of them yet, but there’s a giant stack by my desk. I loved getting to see all the fans out and supporting their favorite artists.

Like last year, I explored artist’s alley. I found this booth that sold bead sprites and saw some absolutely beautiful ones. I bought a moogle, a health and mana potion, and a companion cube sprite, just because I absolutely loved the maker’s work. She did a wonderful job with all of them; she even made a foot-high Samus bead sprite. She had very colorful hair ribbons, too, so she was one of my favorite outfits for the day.

All-in-all, it was a very fun day, and I already can’t wait to go back next year!

For those of you familiar with Neil Gaiman’s works, you should recognize these two lovely ladies as the character Death. The shorter girl is a friend of mine, and the girl on the left is a young lady we met and chatted with at the con. To talk about the art of cosplay, let me talk about this for a minute: this is a great, simple cosplay that isn’t hard to pull off. It features articles of clothing that most people will have in their closet. The ankh necklace that my friend on the right is wearing was made out of tin foil just an hour before the con started, so it’s easy things to make at the last minute. I think both ladies very much liked being recognized and all of the photo ops that arose for them.

Most horror fans should recognize these characters. Yes, the picture is blurry, but I think that the epicness and horror of Pyramid Head and his trusty Nurse makes it work anyway. This couple is pretty well-known on the DeviantArt community, and they did a wonderful job pulling off these costumes. I didn’t get to ask, but I’m sure many people wonder how exactly, the pyramid is made. I could only imagine that it’s very heavy. A cosplay like this is great for serious fans of a game or comic that have the time and money to spend to make something as close to perfection as they can. The young woman playing as the nurse did a great job with the torn, messy, bloody dress and bandages. I really must give them props for this one.

Then, of course, we have Con Security… or this lovely Storm Trooper. There were so many of them running around, and there’s even the 501st Legion in San Francisco. These guys (and gals!) were great to see wandering around, posing with people for pictures. I remember a group of young women that grabbed their guns and held them hostage for a few minutes, looking oddly awkward and laughing a little too much. It’s always great to see cosplayers that are really cool and willing to play in character with other con-goers and normal, uncostumed people. I didn’t pose with anyone, but when you see people like the Storm Troopers or the one man dressed up like a taco… it’s kind of hard not to be tempted!

So there we have it. Some of the different complexities and highlights of the cosplayers of WonderCon 2010. Keep a look out for my other con coverage coming this week, and remember to appreciate the hard work these cosplayers put into their work and it’s okay to compliment them or take pictures… but remember to  always ask first!

San Francisco had an Operation Tron event recently and where hundreds of people showed up for the announcement of Space Paranoids Online. But they didn’t know that during the celebration for the game, a helicopter would stop by and a jumper would stop in.

That jumper was Kevin Flynn’s son, Sam. He was there to take over the event with Flynn Lives posters and t-shirts everywhere.

Here’s a video from the event:

Some of the people of interest that will be there is Max Brooks, author of the popular book World War Z and the Zombie Survival Guide. Colleen Doran, who has done art for Neil Gaiman and Anne Rice’s work, among many others, will also be at a booth to sign autographs. For a complete list of guests, please follow this link.

When you’re not walking the floors, there’s always the slew of panels and events that happen every day. Disney will be hosting a panel for a few of their new films, one of which is the much anticipated Prince of Persia movie, and they will also be talking about the upcoming Toy Story 3 and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. There is also a panel about the new Resident Evil movie, too. Some of the more light-hearted panels are “Body Casting 101 or ‘How to Clone Your Friends Without Really Trying’” and the GaiaOnline panel. Again, for a full list of programming for Friday, Saturday, and/or Sunday, follow the links.

So, I bet you all want to know how much it’s going to cost to get into such an amazing event, aren’t you? On-site registration for all 3 days is $40 for adults and $20 for juniors/seniors. For just Friday or Saturday, adults pay $15, and juniors/seniors pay $8. Sunday prices are $10 for adults and $5 for juniors/seniors. For clarification, Juniors are12-17 years old and Seniors are 60+ years old. Children 11 and under are free with PAID adult membership. Also, active military will pay the junior/senior price. So for a day of awesome fun (or a whole weekend!), it’s pretty affordable for most people.

If you have the chance, I encourage you to get out for at least a day. There’s so much to do, and even just one day at WonderCon’s worth it.

If you actually go, you can attend hundreds of sessions (over 400!) that include lectures, demos, roundtables, and even the Game Developers Choice Awards. Pretty much every aspect of the industry is covered, from mobile phone games to AI and game localization.

This year’s keynote will be delivered on Friday by Sid Meier, who will speak on the psychology of game design.

We do have a contact at GDC, and I’ll be doing my best to keep GamingAngels readers as up-to-date as possible on news that happens both in and out of the Moscone Center.

Can’t wait to see what the rest of the week has in store! (I hope you’ll follow along with me, as well.)

The movie follows a young woman named Saori as she attempts to repay a debt built up from her mother’s hospital bills. Her father left her mother to live his life as a gay man. He started a bar for gays, which later closed. He then opened up a retirement home for gay men called “La Maison de Himiko”, where this film gets it’s title.

Saori is very sore about her father leaving her mother and holds the grudge against him through the entire movie. She begrudgingly takes up a part-time job when approached by her father’s very young and handsome lover. At first she’s very uneasy and finds the men that live in the retirement home disgusting. She even openly admits that she’s only there for the money. Slowly but surely she comes to like the men that are there and helps them through some problems as well as confront problems of her own.

I don’t want to say too much about the story, but the cast of characters are very likable. To an American audience that may not be familiar with Japanese style movies and some of their common items and themes in movies, this movie is kind of confusing and not like much else that’s in American movies. The sense of humor and the openness with sexual ideas like homosexuality and cross-dressing is a little shocking, but it really works for this movie. Without it, you wouldn’t know what the movie was about nor would there really be a movie.

Overall, I have to say that I loved this movie. I wish I could make sure I got it on DVD if/when it comes out and add it to my slowly growing collection of movies. My favorite scene is the very end which makes so much sense and pretty much makes the whole movie. If you see it, you’ll understand when I say “Piki Piki Picky”! If you get the chance to see this during the last few days at Viz, then do so. If not, then as soon as it’s available on DVD, check it out.

Saturday, March 6th:
Hisashi Tenmyouya: Samurai Nouveau 1:00 pm
Makoto Aida: Cynic in the Playground 3:00 pm
Katsura Funakoshi: Whispering Gaze 5:00 pm
Daido Moriyama: Stray Dog of Tokyo 7:00 pm

Sunday, March 7th:
Yayoi Kusama: I Love ME 1:00 pm
Hisashi Tenmyouya: Samurai Nouveau 3:00 pm
Makoto Aida: Cynic in the Playground 5:00 pm
Traveling with Yoshitomo Nara 7:00 pm

Monday, March 8th:
Daido Moriyama: Stray Dog of Tokyo 5:00 pm
Katsura Funakoshi: Whispering Gaze 7:00 pm

Tuesday, March 9th:
Traveling with Yoshimoto Nara 5:00 pm
Yayoi Kusama: I Love ME 7:00 pm

Hisashi Tenmyouya is a graphic designer turned contemporary artist. He has a unique style of Neo-Traditional Japanese painting. He has mastered traditional techniques while bringing in motifs taken from tattoo, graffiti, and street gang culture for his own style.

Makoto Aida is known for diverse and controversial works. He works in mediums of paint, video installation, and Japanese manga while tackling controversial subjects like terrorisim, pedophilia, and societal misogyny with cynicism and lowbrow humor.

Katsura Funakoshi is a sculptor that works with camphor wood. He uses simple, warm and gentle figures that can be attributed to the juxtapositions of precise calculations and accidental occurrences. His human-like sculptures are said to draw in viewers with their distant gazes.

Daido Moriyama is a photographer that has been in privacy for a while. He shoots his pictures in black and white most of the time, as well as quick snapshots, out of focus images, and dramatically cropped or tilted images.

Yayoi Kusama is an avant-garde sculptor, painter, and novelist. Her visual style is often characterized by a liberal, excessive use of polka dots and nets to get a so-called “infinity effect.”

Yoshitomo Nara’s work features cartoon-like girls with big heads, chubby faces and slanted eyes. He has captured the attention of the international art world with his characteristic style.

Superfrog and LeBasse Projects have come together to provide an exhibit that consists of work from Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano. Amano is known for designing characters for the video game Final Fantasy as well as for anime films such as Vampire Hunter D, Guin Saga, Final Fantasy, and Front Mission. His DEVA LOKA exhibit first premiered in August at the Superfrog Gallery in San Francisco, and it’s now Amano’s first major show in Southern California in almost a decade.

The exhibit consists of 25 pieces, and be prepared for bright auto paint and metallic glitter which is said to be “an ode to the artist’s love of American comics, culture and automobiles”. The exhibit is launching TODAY (the 20th of February) in Los Angeles, and there will be a special opening reception starting at 7pm and running until 10pm if you would like to help celebrate the launch.

Yoshitaka Amano also has this to say about his exhibit:

“Between the late 60′s and the 70′s, and during my early years in the art world, I was greatly influenced by American comic books and pop culture. I’d like to show my gratitude for the inspiration America gave me with this exhibit. With the theme of DEVA LOKA, all of my concepts and influences are able to come together, centered in one place. I hope everyone enjoys my show.”

DEVA LOKA opens today and runs through March 13th at LeBasse Projects, located in Los Angeles’ Culver City Arts District and is located at 6023 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232. For more information visit www.lebasseprojects.com.

The two launch events will take place in San Francisco on March 8. At the Final Fantasy XIII Experience–a fan-focused, daytime event which will take place across two sessions of two hours each–attendees get to play the game, browse game artwork, watch trailers and meet the development staff. Some lucky fans will also win fantastic raffle prizes at the event. Square Enix Members is offering an opportunity to win one of 200 invitations for two to the event, and Bronze members and above have a chance to win one of 50 invitations for two to the launch party, detailed below.

A select group of guests will also be invited to the Final Fantasy XIII Launch Party that takes place later in the evening. Industry luminaries, including Final Fantasy XIII director Motomu Toriyama will celebrate the FINAL FANTASY series and its latest iteration. This is the party to go to, but it looks like invites may be limited to the media unless you win one.

For information on the sweepstakes, see here.

Leona Lewis is officially the voice of the latest theme song, “My Hands,” in case you didn’t catch that from the last trailer, and they let her play a little early as well – and caught it all on tape. Lewis says she identifies with a strong female lead and feels that her song is a perfect fit for the game. Based on the trailers alone, I’m going to have to agree with her.

Finally, Square Enix sent out a ton of screenshots. Check them out in the gallery below (clicking an image takes you to its full-size counterpart).