Star Trek Online Season 2 Released

Star Trek Online continues to add to its universe with the release of the Season 2: Ancient Enemies update (press release and trailer below). Atari also announced that the price of the game has dropped from $50 to $20 with first month subscription free. With all the recent deals for a just released game, along with quitting of the executive producer (to be with family, always a red flag), it seems the subscription rates of the game is way behind expectations. The just released Starcraft II is unlikely to help to the situation.

The new update increases the level cap from 45 to 51, adds new ranks, new ships, rewards, episodes, and more. Two new races are also added, the Fek'ihri and Deferi. The Fek'ihri is an enemy race to the Klingons, dating back to the founding of the Empire by Kahless. They are why the 2nd season is subtitled "Ancient Enemies." The Deferi is a neutral race which players can aid. The new gameplay options, Federation Diplomatic Corps, gives players not interested in the fighting aspect of the game to seek peaceful solutions to issues as seek out new civilizations. The update also continues the story of The Undine War that the Online continuity introduced, playing off the events first created in the Voyager TV series.

For even more information about the new update and upcoming plans, read the State of the Game article from game Exec. Producer Dan Stahl. Also click here for an interview with Stahl about the season 2 and future plans.

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Trek Cast Talking Sequel at SDCC

The San Diego Comic-Con has come to an end but TrekMovie has done an excellent job of finding the videos, pictures and more from the actors of the franchise and the great costumes fans put together. If seeking information about the Star Trek sequel, it remains in the scripting phase with a production started date of mid-next year. Most of the actors just spoke of how they had faith in the "Einsteins" and that the resultant script would awesome. Hit the links below to year from Karl Urban, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and even an odd moment with Brent Spiner.

Zachary Quinto | Chris Pine | Karl Urban | George Takei | Costumes and Brent Spiner

Orci, Kurtzman SDCC Sequel Update

The San Diego Comic-Con is currently in full swing with Star Trek writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman making the rounds to promote their upcoming television show Hawaii Five-O. MTV tried to get specific details on their progress in scripting Star TRek 2 (video below).

"That's something we've never told anyone," Kurtzman replied. "We actually are making significant process on the story."

"Our [work] days are regimented by the hour, it's the only way to get through it," Kurtzman explained. "The good news is that on [the set of whatever we're working on] we can step into the trailer and do work on 'Star Trek.'" Orci added, "It's been kind of a noon to 2 kind of thing for some reason. Lunch is nice."

"Now that we've set up everybody-- there were new characters in the last one, so we really want to focus in on them," Orci said. "For example Scotty, who you met at the end of the last movie, who [was] so important to the crew but had the shortest screen time, now is going to be in the movie from the very beginning. In fact, the whole crew is in it from the beginning."

In other word, the narrow focus of the last movie will broaden in the sequel. "Now the whole family is there and you want to focus on them first. Before you worry too much about new characters, make sure you have them taken care of."

Which characters will be getting more screen time? No definites yet, but Orci definitely has his ideas. "I loved, and a lot of people loved, Captain Pike. I loved Bones, who a lot of people thought he's too good-looking to be cast as Bones... he was a fan-favorite. We'd worked with Karl way back in TV land days, so to get back together and have him surprise everyone was great."

IDW October Star Trek Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for October. The month will bring two Star Trek comic books and two trades. If you are interested in the books, just let your local comic book store know. For the full details of IDW's TF and other books including GI Joe, Transformers, Angel and more click here.

Star Trek: Khan - Ruling in Hell #1
Written by Scott Tipton and David Tipton, art by Fabio Mantovani, covers by Joe Corroney and Michael Stribling.
When the most infamous villain in STAR TREK history is last seen in the Original Series episode "Space Seed," Khan Noonian Singh's an elegant, proud warrior-king. When he's next seen in STAR TREK II, he's a grizzled maniac, twisted by loss and an unquenchable thirst for revenge. What has happened between these two points in time to so radically alter what seemed to be an unbreakable will?
32 pages, $3.99, in stores on Oct. 13.

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Star Trek Merchandise at San Diego

The San Diego Comic-Con kicks off starting tomorrow and if you are a collector, it’s an awesome time of the year as often the con has exclusive products that are not available anywhere else (at least without paying a premium for them). This year is no different as CBS announced it line-up of exclusives via press release. The products are for Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, CSI and more. One of these years I plan to go to SDCC if can get the money together to do so.

Star Trek has its usual presence with celebs, costumes, etc but I do not expect much information about the next movie to be revealed simply because there is probably no real information available yet since the scripting stage is still in its infancy. Speaking of, hit the link for the Star Trek version of "usual" with a Klingon Trolley Station for the Con.

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Bruce Greenwood, Auction Results, and a Review

On the Star Trek sequel front, there really isn't much to talk about. The script is in the works but it is unlikely that a draft will be completed until the end of the year. In the meantime, here are three links that you might find interesting.

Bruce Greenwood on Sequel
In various interviews to promote Dinner for Schmucks, Bruce Greenwood talked about what he would like in the Star Trek sequel for Captain Pike. "I think with the latitude of the parallel universe I might be able to get out of the chair, and I’m hoping the mentorship between myself and Kirk (Chris Pine) continues." He also mentioned "I gather January 2011 is when they’re going to roll cameras." I wouldn't hold my breath on that. If a draft of the script is approved by the end of the year, I could see pre-production starting in January but cameras will probably not actually roll until the summer. Honestly, I think Bruce Greenwood has too high expectations for Pike. The story is likely to be very Enterprise centric, especially on the Trinity of McCoy-Kirk-Spock. Pike, at most, will have a cameo appearance to issue orders for the mission or deny permission for something that Kirk will do anyway.

Star Trek Live Review
TrekMovie.com has posted their review of the Star Trek themed, NASA sponsored, educational stage show that runs at the Kennedy Space Center until September. A longer version is also touring the country. Hit the link for a detailed description and review. To sum, it’s an all ages show that has a basic set, makeup that needs improvement and well informed actors with strong improvisational skills that handle the unpredictableness of audience participation while successfully remaining in character creating an entertaining and educational show.

The Heritage Auction Gallery Results
Last is news that another Star Trek auction was held last weekend and the results were excellent. The most successful sale was the Kirk's Star Trek II jacket which sold for $37,500. Much of the auction was for costumes across all eras of Star Trek production with most selling for several thousands of dollars a piece.

StarTrek.com Relaunched

For reasons never really explained, more than two years ago the entire staff of StarTrek.com was fired leaving the flagship website for the franchise stagnant and without updates for the entire duration, even with the film coming out. Finally, CBS remembered they owned the site and have relaunched it with a new design, streaming video, online community and more.

Probably one of the most interesting features is the integration of key blog sites (TrekMovie, TrekToday and TrekWeb) into the news feed for the site. This eliminates the need to have their own "reporters" (good way to keep costs down) while keeping the news fresh. It is something I could see as becoming the norm. The video section has full episodes (with ads) of Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: Enterprise, clips from the other series, library of interviews and documentaries and more (not sure if this is new material or stuff already part of site before its forced hiatus).

Click here to check the site out now. After the break is the press release for the relaunch.

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Star Trek Communicator iPhone App

CBS Interactive has released a new iPhone app based on the Star Trek: The Original Series classic communicator. The app has the sounds from the series suck as the noises made when "flick" it open with your wrist, lines from the series as "Kirk" attempts to contact the Enterprise, and dialer page to access contacts (so guess can make phone calls). The app is available in iTunes App Store now for $1.99. Demo video below. (via TrekMovie)

Star Trek Online Updates

Star Trek Online has been out for a while now and seems to be suffering a few growing pangs as a new executive producer takes over the reins about a week before Season 2 update goes live.

Craig Zinkievich, executive producer on the game for much of its development and its launch, is setting down. In a post, "What you leave behind" (reference to DS9 episode), the ex-producer explains he is "taking a break" and doesn't know if he is returning to Cryptic. I get the feeling there is a deeper untold story involved and it is likely due to an overall underwhelming response to the MMORPG.

Taking over at steering the STO starship is new Executive Producer Daniel Stahl who begins shepherding the game with the new Season 2: Ancient Enemies patch that will be released in the next week or two. The update will have new upgrades for various game features such as ship interiors, new non-combat "exploration and diplomacy" missions with formation of The Federation Diplomatic Corps, and more. Features that are being worked on for future updates include a new race, increasing content for Klingons, and more PvE stuff.

To watch a few podcasts and videos about the upcoming changes to the game, click here and here.

Star Trek Producer on Sequel Schedule

Star Trek Producer Bryan Burk spoke with TrekMovie.com about a general shedule that they are shooting for in producing the sequel to JJ Abrams' Star Trek and other details that are being ironed out for the film. Below is a portion of the interview, click here to read the entire exchange.

TrekMovie: You have to deliver a movie to Paramount by June 2012, so when do you expect to start shooting?
Bryan Burk: We will be shooting this time next year. Starting early summer or late spring.

TrekMovie: So that puts pre-production starting around December this year or January 2011?
Bryan Burk: I would like to shoot for that, we will see.

TrekMovie: When you look at this next movie in terms of scale and budget, like the recent Iron Man sequel where they gave them another $50 Million, are you thinking same scale or bigger?
Bryan Burk: Monetarily I can’t talk about anything because there is no script yet. I can tell you as we go into it, that our aspirations are for the movie to be even bigger and better than the first one. I don’t mean that just in scope, I mean content and characters and emotionally. We had a lot of conversations about Batman Begins and how that movie kind of re-invented that franchise, and we looked at what The Dark Knight did and how that really ramped it up and they went to a different place with that film, and how those two films keep re-inventing themselves and are not the same thing every time. So we have strong ideas of what we want to and we are hoping that this one is an even bigger film than the last one.

TrekMovie: Speaking about the first movie. You guys got a lot of accolades from fans and critics, like the NBR Top 10. But in the end you guys did not get onto the list of 10 Best Film Oscar nominees, which did spark some ’snub’ buzz in the media. Was that a surprise to you guys?
Bryan Burk: If we had been on the Oscar list, that would have been the surprise. The fact we are even having this conversation is flattering that anyone would think we would get a nomination for an Oscar for Best Picture. We were nominated in the special effects and sound categories, and I was particularly proud of the team we had working on it. And last year had incredible visual effects movies, and to say that Avatar changed everything is an understatement, let alone the sound design in that movie and Hurt Locker which was incredible work. We won actually for Makeup and I think Barney [Burman], Mindy [Hall], Joel [Harlow] and the whole team did an incredible job. So to say there was a snub — in a million years we wouldn’t think that.