Activision sues Viacom over lack of Trek

Dark Primus · Post by **Dark Primus** » 2003-07-01 04:43pm

http://www.trektoday.com/news/010703_03.shtml

By Christian
July 1, 2003 - 4:28 PM
Video game publisher Activision announced today it is pulling out of its contract with Viacom to produce Star Trek games, and is suing the entertainment company for damages caused by the declining value of the Trek franchise.

In a complaint filed in Californian court yesterday, Activision accused Viacom of not exploiting the Star Trek franchise in the way it did in 1998, when Activision obtained a ten-year licence to develop Trek games. "Through its actions and inactions, Viacom has let the once proud Star Trek franchise stagnate and decay," the company said in a statement. "Viacom has released only one Star Trek movie since entering into agreement with Activision and has recently informed Activision it has no current plans for further Star Trek films."

The latter statement comes as the first official confirmation that the box office failure of Star Trek: Nemesis has put an end to the Trek movie franchise for the near future.

Other grievances from Activision include the fact the television branch of the audience has dwindled since 1998, when both Deep Space Nine and Voyager were still in production. "Viacom also has allowed two Star Trek television series to go off the air and the remaining series suffers from weak ratings. Viacom also frustrated Activision's efforts to coordinate the development and marketing of its games with Viacom's development and marketing of its new movies and television series."

After Activision obtained the Star Trek game licence in 1998, it embarked on a mission to develop several Trek games per year, quickly announcing titles such as Armada, Hidden Evil and Elite Force. However, most of the Trek games the company released for the PC failed to deliver large sales numbers. Only two games were even released for the consoles: Star Trek: Invasion and Voyager: Elite Force, for the PlayStation and the PlayStation 2, respectively.

The most recent Trek game released by Activision was Elite Force 2, and it seems this will be the last for a while. "As a result of the breaches by Viacom," the company's press release continued, "Activision has terminated the agreement and filed a complaint seeking to recover the damages it has suffered and will suffer as a result of Viacom's failure to abide by its agreement, and its stated intention to continue to breach its agreement."

Besides Elite Force 2, Activision was last reported to have at least one further Trek game in development, the action game Shattered Universe game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It is not known how these latest events will affect the development of this game, which was to have featured the voice of George Takei (Hikaru Sulu).

The full press release from Activision can be found here on its official web site.

Discuss this news item at the Trek BBS!

All of that because of B&B?

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-07-01 05:02pm

So, is Viacom being rightly sued or is Activision being a bit too whiny?

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2003-07-01 05:09pm

I would say a bit of both. Trek did go down the pan, but a great game should sell itself and not rely on a TV show to promote it.

TheFeniX · Post by **TheFeniX** » 2003-07-01 07:29pm

Dark Primus wrote:
In a complaint filed in Californian court yesterday, Activision accused Viacom of not exploiting the Star Trek franchise in the way it did in 1998

That just sounds bad. Maybe I'm just reading too much into media bias...

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2003-07-01 07:57pm

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030701/latu062a_1.html

Activision accused Viacom of breaching its fundamental promise to continue exploiting the Star Trek franchise consistent with its practice at the time the agreement was signed in 1998.

"Viacom also has allowed two Star Trek television series to go off the air and the remaining series suffers from weak ratings. Viacom also frustrated Activision's efforts to coordinate the development and marketing of its games with Viacom's development and marketing of its new movies and television series."

I dunno, I think Activision has a chance. And if Viacom was being needlessly uncooperative, I'd even say they deserve to get slapped.

If only Viacom had the balls to, say, take it out of Berman/Braga's paycheck... that would be sweet justice.

YT300000 · Post by **YT300000** » 2003-07-01 08:43pm

Wow. No more games. No more movies. One shitty TV show that no one watches.

Star Trek is dying.

StarshipTitanic · Post by **StarshipTitanic** » 2003-07-01 11:51pm

Lord Pounder wrote:I would say a bit of both. Trek did go down the pan, but a great game should sell itself and not rely on a TV show to promote it.

But a game that relates to a TV show should have new material to build off of. All Activision has is Enterprise and Nemesis, and barely anyone likes those.

EmperorMing · Post by **EmperorMing** » 2003-07-02 12:33am

This makes me laugh. Hopefully, someone will wake up to this...

Equinox2003 · Post by **Equinox2003** » 2003-07-02 02:01am

That is the first I have heard about there being no more Trek movies.
I sure hope there are more to come. If Nemesis was to be the last of
the TNG movies, they still have Voyager and DS9 to go on. Hopefully
a film about on of those series could generate more interest if they
decide to make one.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-07-02 02:20am

Equinox2003 wrote:That is the first I have heard about there being no more Trek movies.
I sure hope there are more to come. If Nemesis was to be the last of
the TNG movies, they still have Voyager and DS9 to go on. Hopefully
a film about on of those series could generate more interest if they
decide to make one.

Near future.

They really need to rexamine the franchise.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2003-07-02 03:01am

If Star Trek's dying, that in and of itself could mean there's hope. The true glory days of ST fandom were in the mid-late seventies, when there hadn't been a show produced for years. Maybe the excitement that accompanied the release of TMP and TWOK will come again?

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2003-07-02 04:34am

Equinox, how can a Voyager movie be made? They returned home!

I sincerely hope they don't make one. I never want to see any new footage of Janeway again.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-07-02 05:05am

The last thing we and Trek need is more of it.

Post by **Vympel** » 2003-07-02 07:30am

If it's a term of the contract then Activision has a strong case for damages.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2003-07-02 09:13am

Shinova wrote:So, is Viacom being rightly sued or is Activision being a bit too whiny?

I don't blame activision. They have a history of dedication to whatever they work on. Activision cares for the sci-fi universes they work with. The prologue in Bridgecommanders manual tells us that Activision was interested in creating star trek games that are worthy of the name star trek and not using the name as a commercial trick to boost sales figures. They wanted to create games for people who love start trek and to some extent by people who actualy love star trek.

Their work speak for themselves. While not as good as games like GTA III in raw sales figures games like Armada, Bridgecommander, Starfleet Command III had been greatly appreciated by Star Trek fans.

Rick Berman and Berman Braga on the other hand are doing the exact oppsite. They are letting the Star Trek franchise die. The wave of Star Trek that TNG created is now over. Enterprise is a mere shadow of what TOS or TNG was.

However there had been some other things beyond the control of producers going on that also affected star trek. The age of space opera it self is dying. Public tastes have changed and they no longer want sci-fi space action like they once did. Now people want to things like the Matrix or supehero movies like X-Men, Hulk etc. Indeed as Hollywood only tends to produce films that make money we may not see any new great space based adventure saga like Star Trek or Star Wars after episode 3.

If Star Trek's dying, that in and of itself could mean there's hope. The true glory days of ST fandom were in the mid-late seventies, when there hadn't been a show produced for years. Maybe the excitement that accompanied the release of TMP and TWOK will come again?

I am a optimist and I too have hope that Star Trek will rise to it former glory again. Let us hope that after a few years we will again see great Star Trek films and we will able to enjoy new Star Trek shows every week like we once did.

Dark Primus · Post by **Dark Primus** » 2003-07-02 11:35am

I hope this will force Viacom to force Paramount to check out what is wrong with the franchise, why the ratings are dropping, why the quality has dropped etc. And in the end I do hope they find the people responcible for it and sue their asses.

YT300000 · Post by **YT300000** » 2003-07-02 12:37pm

Star Trek's only hope is to make one final movie.

Hire a skilled writer, have a fucking big ass war, and kill a bunch of people. Have a retired Picard commandeer a ship and attack someone. Then, at the end of the movie, in the aftermath, the galaxy is reeling from the losses.

Then pay the Andromeda guys $100 m, and get them to say Andromeda is the future of Star Trek.

StarshipTitanic · Post by **StarshipTitanic** » 2003-07-02 01:36pm

Equinox2003 wrote:That is the first I have heard about there being no more Trek movies.
I sure hope there are more to come. If Nemesis was to be the last of
the TNG movies, they still have Voyager and DS9 to go on. Hopefully
a film about on of those series could generate more interest if they
decide to make one.

And who's going to see them? They don't even have DS9 on TV in reruns and Voyager is over. Not to mention the casual sci-fi fan isn't going to know much about either series. Most people can idenify with a ship named "Enterprise," not with "Voyager" or a generic space station name.

Death from the Sea · Post by **Death from the Sea** » 2003-07-02 01:45pm

StarshipTitanic wrote: And who's going to see them? They don't even have DS9 on TV in reruns and Voyager is over. Not to mention the casual sci-fi fan isn't going to know much about either series. Most people can idenify with a ship named "Enterprise," not with "Voyager" or a generic space station name.

DS9 and Voyager are not in reruns YET! IIRC The NewTNN has aquired the rights to DS9 in 2005 and Voyager in 2007 for syndication.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-07-02 01:59pm

StarshipTitanic wrote:
Equinox2003 wrote:That is the first I have heard about there being no more Trek movies.
I sure hope there are more to come. If Nemesis was to be the last of
the TNG movies, they still have Voyager and DS9 to go on. Hopefully
a film about on of those series could generate more interest if they
decide to make one.
And who's going to see them? They don't even have DS9 on TV in reruns and Voyager is over. Not to mention the casual sci-fi fan isn't going to know much about either series. Most people can idenify with a ship named "Enterprise," not with "Voyager" or a generic space station name.

What do you mean? UPN still plays DS9 on Sundays.

Atavarius · Post by **Atavarius** » 2003-07-02 02:25pm

YT300000 wrote: Then pay the Andromeda guys $100 m, and get them to say Andromeda is the future of Star Trek.

The last thing we need is Captain Dipshit Hercules as Trek's flagship character.

Raoul Duke, Jr. · Post by **Raoul Duke, Jr.** » 2003-07-02 06:00pm

Lord Pounder wrote:I would say a bit of both. Trek did go down the pan, but a great game should sell itself and not rely on a TV show to promote it.

I don't know about that. A great game is a great game, but with a license, they're counting on the show to get people to pick up the box and read the blurb. The blurb and the screenshots are what get people to the register -- not to mention reviews. But reviewers aren't angels, and negative press on the parent material can lend even the most impartial reviewer a biased eye.

Raoul Duke, Jr. · Post by **Raoul Duke, Jr.** » 2003-07-02 06:05pm

StarshipTitanic wrote:Most people can idenify with a ship named "Enterprise," not with "Voyager" or a generic space station name.

Not to mention that most of the people who are familiar with the "Starship Voyager" loathe it. There's a small percentage who actually like it, but that's an insufficient market base all by itself. Same with DS9 fans. Cross-franchise fans aren't unheard of, but the number of people who like both Trek in general and B&B's candy-ass version of it are no more substantial as a market demographic than the other two. Slim pickin's for a major developer like Acclaim.

YT300000 · Post by **YT300000** » 2003-07-02 07:14pm

Atavarius wrote:
YT300000 wrote: Then pay the Andromeda guys $100 m, and get them to say Andromeda is the future of Star Trek.
The last thing we need is Captain Dipshit Hercules as Trek's flagship character.

Hey, I said it was Star Trek's last hope, I didn't say we would like it.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-07-02 10:19pm

Death from the Sea wrote: DS9 and Voyager are not in reruns YET! IIRC The NewTNN has aquired the rights to DS9 in 2005 and Voyager in 2007 for syndication.

WTF? Both series have been shown as reruns on multiple channels for years.