Tuesday 26 April 2011

Star Trek attraction coming to Spain

Paramount have announced plans for a new theme park in Murcia, Spain, which will feature attractions based on several Paramount properties as part of development to rival Disneyland in Paris. The Star Trek element has been described as part of the park's "Plaza Future" area, where it will be the highlight of that area featuring: "Total immersion combining motion simulation and highly advanced technology to give visitors an experience they will never forget."

That part of the attraction will also have War of the Worlds and Paranormal Activity inspired elements, while other parts of the park will be based on Tomb Raider, Titanic and Mission Impossible.

Construction is set to begin later this year or early next year with a projected opening in 2015. You can follow progress on the development at the Murcia Daily News blog.

IDW Trek returns in September

Trekweb have got confirmation from IDW that they have not given up on their Star Trek licenses and that Trek comics will return later this year. Chris Ryall commented:

Sometimes the licenses take small breaks, but there's definitely more Star Trek coming, including something that should take everyone by surprise. First up, we'll have a new Trek project launching in September.

Five months to go *rocks*

Games update

It looks like Gameforge are starting to build some hype for their forthcoming browser game, Infinite Space; with various interviews and features over the last few weeks, like this video talking about the game:



You can also find an interview with the Executive Producer Ralf Adam at MMORPG, and with Mike and Denise Okuda (who have been consultants for the game) at TrekMovie. Both sites also have some new screencaps as does IGN. Here are a couple of examples:

 

Meanwhile over at Cryptic, there have been several additions to the Star Trek Online Cryptic Store. Including the Oberth class, Bajoran Militia uniforms and various TOS uniforms which are also available in a TOS bundle; with TOS ship interiors phasers, and shuttlecraft!

 
 

Away from your home computer, if you're a gambler you might want to check out Battlestations, the latest Star Trek slot machine game. Startrek.com has a video highlighting some of the nifty new ships designs featured in the game. Vanguard fans might also want to take a look, as the Watchtower class starbase makes an appearance too!


And finally, any from any computer at all, StarTrek.com also has a feature on the forthcoming Heroclixs game, Expeditions, which is described as follows:
In the game, it’s 2259 and the Enterprise ventures to a planet, Nibia, that’s recently petitioned the United Federation of Planets for membership. Only, when Kirk and crew reach Nibia they discover that there’s a Klingon Battle Cruiser in orbit, that civil war is this-close to breaking out and that Nibia and its president are re-thinking their UFP membership request. And so it is the crew’s mission – and thereby YOUR mission – to quell the brewing civil war, contend with the Klingons, and convince Nibia to join the Federation. Oh, and you only have 30 days – each day is a turn -- to pull it all off, or else a Klingon battle fleet will soon swoop in and compel you to withdraw (or, in game parlance: lose).
They also have a remarkably detailed video explaining all the ins and outs of the game - It sounds hideously complex to me, but I'm rather curious given it will be the first product to give us a story set after the new movie.

 

Monday 18 April 2011

IDW update

IDW has released its July solicitations, and one more time they feature exactly no new Trek titles, or even reprints! The June solicitations however it seems were incomplete, as StarTrek.com have announced two new reprints from IDW.

One will be a general release of the plush Khan cover of Khan: Ruling in Hell issue one, originally released as a convention exclusive.

The other will be the Star Trek Movie Omnibus, which was originally solicited back in 2009! They've changed the cover art, to a different issue of the Wrath of Khan adaptation; although startrek.com claims the Sharp brothers will be providing a cover (rather than the Chee Yang Ong cover currently being displayed). The contents will still consist of the comic book adaptations of all six prime-TOS movies, newly "re-colored and re-mastered"!

Cross Cult update

Cross Cult have released their latest new New Frontier cover, this one is for Fire on High:

They have also released the German version of the cover for John Byrne's Leonard McCoy, Frontier Doctor, retitled simply to McCoy. According to my German correspondent, UnrealitySF's Jens Deffner, this comic release will be a something of a tester for future releases; unlike Cross Cult's previous comics this one will only be available in paperback, and its success will determine the future of Cross Cult's Trek-comics line. Jens also points out a cunning bit of marketing, with this release coming alongside the Cross Cult edition of the McCoy book in the Crucible trilogy.

Jens also reports that the Cross Cult translation of Vanguard: Declassified is being targeted for simultaneous release with the English edition!

Simon and Schuster update

Loads of book news from the last month or so! Starting with new blurbs from Simon and Schuster's online catalogues:

Voyager: Children of the Storm
“YOU WERE TOLD NOT TO RETURN TO OUR SPACE.”

Little is known about the Children of the Storm—one of the most unique and potentially dangerous species the Federation has ever encountered. Non-corporeal and traveling through space in vessels apparently propelled by thought alone, the Children of the Storm at one time managed to destroy thousands of Borg ships without firing a single conventional weapon.

Now in its current mission to the Delta Quadrant, Captain Chakotay and Fleet Commander Afsarah Eden must unravel whythree Federation starships—the U.S.S. Quirinal, Planck, and Demeter—have suddenly been targeted without provocation and with extreme prejudice by the powerful Children of the Storm . . . with thousands of Starfleet lives at stake from an enemy that the Federation can only begin to comprehend. . . .

Starfleet Academy: The Gemini Agent
In The Gemini Agent, as first-year final exams week kicks off, several incident reports with serious allegations against James T. Kirk end up on the Commandant of Midshipmen’s desk. None of the allegations are true, of course… or are they? Kirk is being plagued by mysterious blackout periods, so he finds the allegations difficult to refute. During these blackout periods, he has no recollection of what he did, save for some very disturbing and disjointed memories. Kirk needs his friends, Bones and Uhura to help prove his innocence. Who is targeting Kirk, and why is he being targeted? And how far are they willing to go? Someone close to Kirk holds the answers to all of these questions, but can he put the pieces together before it’s too late?

Starfleet Academy: The Assassination Game
The rules are simple: draw a target. Track him down and “kill” him with a spork. Take your victim's target for your own. Oh, and make sure the player with your name doesn't get to you first. No safe zones. No time outs. The game ends when only one player remains. James T. Kirk is playing for fun. Leonard “Bones” McCoy is playing to get closer to a girl. But when a series of explosions rocks the usually placid Starfleet Academy campus, it becomes clear that somebody is playing the game for real. Is it one of the visiting Varkolak, on Earth to attend an intergalactic medical conference? Or could it be a member of a super-secret society at the Academy dedicated to taking care of threats to the Federation, no matter what rules they have to break to do it? Find out in The Assassination Game.

Doug Drexler's latest cover, for Vanguard: What Judgments Come
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And some new book project announcements: Greg Cox has revealed his TOS novel will be titled The Rings of Time, but otherwise revealed no more than it will feature Shaun Christopher.

Christopher L. Bennett has announced two new projects, the first of which sees a return of ebook exclusive Star Trek novellas! Typhon Pact: The Courage of Conscience will follow on from the recent novel series and feature the only member of the Pact not to make a substantive appearance in the series, the Kinshaya. This book is currently listed on Amazon as Civil Disobedience, but this is apparently a short-lived working title. Amazon also lists a publication date of October this year, but this has yet to be confirmed.

Bennett's second project is a TOS novel which is "about Kirk and the Enterprise crew, but it also deals with the origins of the Department of Temporal Investigations". The working title is Forgotten History, and it is possible the novel will be marketed as a second Department of Temporal Investigations novels but this hasn't been decided on yet.

Finally the ever brilliant UnrealitySF has posted an interview with David A McIntee which discusses amongst other things his recent novel, Indistinguishable From Magic. No news on new Trek projects, but lots of coverage on his work so far, so certainly worth a read!

Find Star Trek comics, toys, statues, and collectibles at TFAW.com!