Kinect Star Wars now features five modes: Jedi Destiny: Dark Side Rising, Podracing, Rancor Rampage, Galactic Dance Off and Duels of Fate. (No, Galactic Dance Off isn’t a typo — that mode features Star Wars-inspired pop tunes. And you battle Darth Vader on the dance floor. Yeaaaaaaah.)

Buy the bundle and you get an extra unlockable for that Galactic Dance Off — C-3PO. I bet he’s really good at doing The Robot. Just a guess, though.

You can preorder the bundle on Amazon here (and ignore that June release date).

I don’t make a very scary Darth Maul do I? Well it’s super easy to see if you do! Explore your inner dark side by visiting StarWars.com and checking out the free Darth Maul Me application. This can also be run on your iPhone.

Darth Maul Me takes a picture of you which you can line up to make sure it looks okay and then you select which Darth Maul you would like to be. I did another one where it just made my eyes red and glowing. The Sith power was flowing within me.

Check it out because it’s easy to do and fun. You can also easily post to Facebook and let others comment on how evil you look. Unfortunately, I am not very evil as my friends have commented. No smiles allowed for Siths.

Mimoco is the company behind those adorable and stylish USB storage devices. At CES today, Mimoco announced their latest line of USB Flash Drives, Mimomicro. The Mimomicro is a smaller line but also has increased functionality. The USB flash drive has interchangeable microSD memory cards but can also be a reader to transport data between digital devices.

The Mimomicro has a flip-out USB plug and a built in keychain with a LED indicator light. It’s only 1.6″H and 1.0″ W which is super tiny. In March, the first two collections will launch featuring designs from Star Wars and DC characters.

“As the pioneers in the licensed flash drive marketplace, Mimoco is excited to unveil our first new product line to build upon the success of our popular MIMOBOT platform. MIMOMICRO leverages compatibility with both USB and microSD enabled memory devices and taps into the growing usage of mobile memory solutions,” said Evan Blaustein, CEO of Mimoco.

The devices are so cute (I want Wonder Woman!) but no mention of price. We’ll update you in March with that info!

Mimoco introduces MimoMicro! from MIMOBOT & mimoZine on Vimeo.

Last night TLC premiered Geek Love a tv show featuring geeks trying to find love at a comic book convention center. The show occurs at New York Comic Con at a speed dating session.

Ryan Glitch, is the founder of Sci-Fi Speed Dating. He helps other geeks looking for love and explains how it’s the best place to find a mate because they understand. I’ve always encouraged my single geek friends to attend conventions to meet people. It makes perfect sense. While I’m geeking out over that cute chocobo plushie, a guy would have the perfect opportunity to come over and chat Final Fantasy with me. It’s an obvious lead in for a conversation. Which is the toughest part in meeting others to date.

Glitch says, “Everybody is looking for that special someone. And here are people who happen to be extreme fans. Step into our world for a little bit… The thing these people all have in common is that they’re really passionate about the thing they’re into. Even if they don’t like the same stuff, they’ve got a huge passion they can build from. It’s what makes my speed dating work a little better than the average.”

Currently Glitch does not make money from the speed dating, but hopes the series could take off. The show follows three particular geeks and their speed dating experience. In the first show we follow Sal who is dressed as Iron Man. He works at GameStop, has his own place and can’t seem to find a girl who understands him. We follow a girl who loves Harry Potter and bonds with a guy over his Tardis t-shirt and a guy that only talks in Wookie. The second episode featured a Boba Fett looking for Star Wars true love which happened to have with the other featured girl. The third girl made her own Robin suit and found a nice guy to talk with. The show follows a few of the speed dates and then an after date if they have one.

I have to say that I approached the show with a feeling of negativity. Last thing I want to see is TLC making fun of cosplaying nerds at a convention trying to find love. But this show surprised me. I found myself cheering my fellow geeks on in their quest for true love. There were moments that were so cute I had to squee. I didn’t care for Glitch and his narrations, but the show overall has promise.

With or without the show, the message is that conventions are the best place to meet people that have the same interests as you.

After finishing my second beta weekend, and with the NDA lifted, I wanted to splurge about how much I love the new Star Wars: The Old Republic – and how I don’t see it as an MMO. And that’s what’s getting me to play it (I’m not much of an MMO player).  A Bioware game through and through, there are a lot of things that I love and that have got me excited for the release this December. A warning for possible spoilers, though I’ve done my best to avoid anything major.

As of now, I’ve levelled two different classes into their mid 20s, and my partner has played two as well – Sith Inquisitor and Smuggler for me, and Sith Warrior and Republic Trooper for him. We played on PvE servers for the most recent beta, and got to see both the Imperials and rebel scu – I mean, Republic side of the galaxy. I won’t deny – we ended up playing dark side for all of them. Sorry, no screens from the gameplay – I forgot, and was too busy playing! 

1. The Voice Acting

Bioware has lauded this as the main reason for what makes this MMO different – and there is no escaping it. YES this makes the game different, it’s engaging, it’s hilarious, it made me interested in the characters and what they were doing. The voice acting is amazing, not only for your PC and companions, but for everyone you interact with as well. Nuanced, talented and varied, the voice acting adds a level to this game – and honestly? This is what makes it a Bioware game to me. 

2. Companions

You get a variety of companions based on what class you play, and your actions in the game affect their opinion of you. It’s an affection system, with them approving or disapproving of what you do – and you can go in the negative! You also gain experience from interacting with your companions! Which I thought was a great motivator. 

Your companions are engaging – if they’re present when you’re in a conversation with an NPC, they often chime in. As they start to like you more (based on conversation approval/disapproval and gift giving), they want to talk to you about your life and theirs. They have interesting back stories, are the types of companions you want (one word – WOOKIE), and make the game more immersive. 

My example for this is the smuggler merchant you get with the Smuggler class, Corso Riggs. A chivalrous farm boy who went to find adventure after personal tragedy, his attitude fit perfectly with the swarthy, snarky smuggler I was playing. He’s sweet, he’s tough, and he’s on your side. To me, he seemed cater made for someone wanting to find the ‘Bioware touch’ in this game – loved him to bits. He makes me want to play Republic, when I’m a pretty hardcore Imperial!

3. The Stories & Writing

I’m not a classic MMO player. I’ve looked forward to SW:TOR because of the RPG aspects, and I don’t think Bioware let this one down. I think it’s been worth the wait – and I can remember when they announced the Star Wars MMO all those years ago. The quest lines I got involved in were engaging, got me charged – and I can’t wait to play again because I want to find out what happens. Even side-quests seem worthwhile and have stock – in many ways, because of the voice acting. 

The writing does not let down in my opinion, and stays true to what Bioware has established themselves as – great writers of story AND dialogue. The lines the characters use are hilarious, snarky, cruel etc. — I listen to it all, because I want to know what they say and how they react. And yes – you can flirt with lots of people hah. Which I loved (and may have done, making poor Corso incredibly jealous).

4. The connections to KOTOR

Yes! They are there! In any of the classes I played, it was possible to come across side quests that related back to things that happened in KOTOR. It tickled me pink to see this – to see what happened to some of the people and places. 

Seeing Taris a few hundred years after the orbital bombardment was stunning. Learning what people think of Revan (you know I have a soft spot) got me giggly. There’s more too, but I don’t want to give too much away.  

5. Alone or with friends

My first beta weekend I was playing by myself – I got in, and my partner didn’t (much to his dismay). I can be pretty anti-social, so I went at it alone. I mostly followed my class quest story-line. It was easy enough to do – though I did find random groups for some flashpoints and heroic (harder) group missions with relative ease. This past weekend, my partner and I were able to play together almost from the get go, because we chose complimentary characters – we were on the same starting worlds. It was fun to see the quest lines (you watch other classes as a spectator – and get to see the cut scenes), I loved the cut scenes, I loved the dialogue – it felt like a co-op RPG most of the time. There were the two of us, and our two companions, kicking ass and taking names. And we were all out of bubble gum. 

When you’re in a group, you roll for dialogue options – but are still rewarded if you are the one to speak or not and there’s a dark/light side choice involved. NPCs also acknowledge that you’re in a group a lot of the time, which I was surprised by.

6. Expansive worlds, environment/presence

The worlds feel big – and honestly? I found them beautiful. They aren’t Skyrim quality, but for an interactive, expansive galaxy, I found the landscapes and cityscapes made you feel small. I wanted to look at them. I wanted to go through them. The architecture suits Republic or Sith, and it adds to your experience. I am the type to get in the head of my characters, and think about where we’re going and why, and the environments helped do that.

As well, the music in the game is amazing. I love the Star Wars themes, and a lot of them make a reappearance, in addition to new themes. It changes based on battles and location, and it can really add things to not only fights, but cut-scenes and quest lines. 

7. Light Side/ Dark Side — ethical quandries

If you want to be evil, you can be really REALLY evil in this game. I don’t have as much experience with the light side choices, I won’t deny. You can shoot people in the back when they don’t do what you want, you can threaten to torture children, you can electrocute prisoners to gain information from them, take bribes, or sell plague cures for profit – and more! 

Sure you could do this in any other MMO, but in this game you hear it all. Once more, this is where the voice acting really shines. When you threaten people, they beg and plead, when they die, they scream and cry. I wanted to see how far my character could go – how evil and malicious they could really be. You hear the indignation, you hear the suffering… and you end up feeling bad for it. 

8. Multiple games

Overall, I think it’s obvious that this game has been in the work for as long as it has been – and that it’s been worth the wait. The care and time put into it shows – it’s amazing. I don’t know what else to say about it. I want to play each of the classes because I want to experience their story lines, companions, loves, hates, trials and tribulations. I’m going to sink a lot of time into it. But I think it’ll be worth it. I never felt like I was grinding, because I loved the stories, the side quests, the voice acting and interactions. Classic MMO players may not like it because it is an MMORPG – with stress on the RPG.  There is a lot you can do in SW:TOR. Whether it’s questing, grinding (if it’s your thing, not mine), there are space battles (simple, but I won’t deny I loved them), exciting PvP warzones that are a game (huttball) or actual combat. I tried them all, and I liked them all. You can go do different activities based on your mood – and you get rewards and experience for all of it. 
As well, there were visible and worthwhile improvements from one beta to the next (a month’s time) – so I have no doubt only more time and love will go into keeping it amazing. I want to see the end games – I want to see if there are ends to these characters stories. For the few months I played WoW way back when, I can’t ever remember thinking anything remotely like that. Sounds more like a stand alone RPG, eh?

I’m eagerly awaiting mid-December – when my pre-release access opens and you’ll all stop hearing from me. Needless to say, I’m concealing the real reason for my ‘staycation’ this holiday season.

God I want that PJ set soooo badly. The Battlestar Galactica pajama set is only one of the new items added to the Her Universe store for the holidays. I love that the pjs say good hunting! These new items will premier on HerUniverse.com on Cyber Monday. New items cover Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Warehouse 13 and Eureka.

I mean just cause it’s the holidays doesn’t mean you can’t buy for yourself right? The first 500 orders will received a free limited edition Star Wars holiday pin of Yoda and a signed card from Eckstein. Orders of $40 or more will also get free shipping.

“Available for the first time this holiday season is a new thermal hoodie design with original art by Star Wars artist, Cat Staggs. Also from the beloved Star Wars franchise is a regal sterling silver plated Jedi charm to add to the already popular Star Wars charm bracelet. For Syfy, Eckstein has created several new products for their television shows including a Battlestar Galactica pajama set and a stunning, sterling silver plated Battlestar Galactica necklace featuring Admiral Adama’s senior pilot wings. For followers of Warehouse 13, Eckstein has produced an ultra-soft WH 13 logo burnout tee so you can imagine you’re a Warehouse agent seeking supernatural artifacts while you “snag it, bag it and tag it.” As a fan of the Syfy series, Eureka, Eckstein has created a useful holiday tote bag featuring the cast of Eureka in animated form with exclusive art from the holiday episode of this fan favorite show.”

This is so cute for families that have kids that are Star Wars fans. I don’t go trick or treating any more, but this cute bag could be used for grocery shopping! This Earth friendly, cotton Star Wars tote bag featuring original artwork by artist Katie Cook is perfect for fans of any age for school, practice, work, grocery shopping, Star Wars collectibles and, of course, trick or treating! The tote is 14″ X 16″.

The tote bag sold out the first day it was listed, so it’s nice to have a chance to purchase it. Until October 9th, there is free shipping offered at www.heruniverse.com. In order to guarantee a bag, please place your pre-order by October 12th for shipping no later than October 17th.

Celebrate geek and may the force be with you!

For a change, if you’re not on the bandwagon for an MMO early on, you might have to wait to play.

EA announced at a Gamescom press conference yesterday that they’ll be limiting the number of copies of Star Wars: The Old Republic available at launch.

Why do this? Well, at launch, many MMOs experience server crashes and really long queues to even enter the game you’re paying for monthly. EA is trying to avoid this — to give a great experience to a lot of people instead of selling copies so quickly that everything’s overloaded on Day One.

As of now, EA hasn’t said exactly which number they’re hitting before shutting off the sales, but they know what it is and it applies to both retail and digital copies.

(Via Game Informer, since it’s not like we’re in Germany or anything.)

It’s hard to deny the impact that Star Wars has in Pop Culture. The 1977 film, and all the following films in the franchise have allowed generations of people to enjoy and fall in love with the Star Wars Universe. Because of that, it’s not hard to believe that artists are inspired by Star Wars too.

Art for a Galaxy Far Far Away will be held at Hold Up Art from August 20 through September 5, 2011. Professional illustrator and painter Randy Martinez and Denise Vasquez will be showing their Star Wars-inspired works.

Denise has a background in custom vinyl toys and Randy has been working in the Star Wars Universe for a very long time.

Here is the location for the exhibit:
Hold Up Art
358 E. Second Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
www.holdupart.com

The Opening reception is August 20, 3022 from 7-11pm.

How cool that there are still deleted scenes to be revealed after all this time!