In a recent JJ Abrams interview on the Star Trek video game associated with the movies he stated it did not fulfill his needs as a vehicle that expanded the story or bridged the two movies successfully.
While that is an artistic bummer for Mr. Abrams it makes one wonder why he continues to dismiss Star Trek:Online, the massively multi-player online game as the perfect vehicle for such purposes.
Before Abrams took the center seat, most of the Star Trek gaming community was gathered in the forums at Startrek.com where we asked then, Executive Producer of all Star Trek games, Harry Lang to help ensure whomever took control of Star Trek had enough understanding of the coming MMO to leverage it, not only for expanding the content of the new movies but mostly to begin working out the details that would one day allow for Star Trek TV show / MMO tie-ins.
James Cameron had just finished a stint at NASA and was looking for his next big project. I suggested him right away as one that could helm Trek and do it justice and leverage a MMO. Most laughed and dismissed this. Yet a few months later, Cameron stated his next project would be something called 'Avatar' and that he had decided to do it because 'some gamers' called him up and pitched an idea that would work as a movie and as an MMO. Well, Avatar most certainly worked as a movie but without a solid name brand in a bad economy I had no faith it would work as a profitable MMO... ...and to this day no Avatar MMO has come to be.
When JJ Abrams came on-board he made plenty of statements that he was into 'video games' and would do 'something'. He knew about Star Trek: Online as early as 2007 and 2008 and when interviewing Cryptic Studios CCO, Jack Emmert described the relationship between Cryptic and Abrams as 'strong'.
Other than Romulus being destroyed in Star Trek:Online there has been very little if any tie-ins to JJverse in the three years it has been in operation.
One of the biggest WTF moments came at the release of the Star Trek:online when Zachary Quinto was asked to provide voice overs and NOT be the voice of Spock. He instead was to be (and is) the voice of an, Emergency Medical Hologram that assists new players on their very first mission.
So what has become of this once supposed 'strong' relationship? Why has JJ and company seemingly walked away from leveraging the MMO for his artistic needs when it has the ability to do everything the stand alone video game could not? Is it because he and the CBS do not own it or control it directly and therefore only get their licensing fees and do not get the lion's share of the profits? Many including myself said CBS/Paramount should have bought a MMO developer and should have owned it from the start. Rick Berman later suggested they should do it as well.
Could this be related?: If what I have heard is true, Abrams asked that all prime universe merchandise be pulled from store shelves so his new content would not have to compete. CBS Consumer Products declined.
It is unfortunate. MMO's need constant content and JJ has these unfulfilled artistic desires the Star Trek video game could not satisfy. Star Trek Online and JJverse remains a potential match made in heaven that can serve not only his movies but the NEXT TREK on TV.
Why do you continue to shun Star Trek:Online, Mr. Abrams?
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