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Activision Sues Star Trek Over Franchise Decay
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a press release announcing that Activision is suing Viacom for breach of contract over the Star Trek game license. The article summarizes Activion's complaints: "..through its actions and inactions, Viacom has let the once proud Star Trek franchise stagnate and decay", and furthermore that "..a continuing pipeline of movie and television production, and related marketing, is absolutely crucial to the success of video games based on a property such as Star Trek." Activision has terminated the contract agreement, and looks to recover damages and advances from Viacom - according to a Dow Jones story, "..the initial license agreement included $20 million in advance royalties and warrants, with additional payments to be based on game sales."
Viacom should just pay up, or better still promise to invest the 20 mil. in the next ST movie.
Let's see a show of hands for everyone who thought Nemesis was the best Star Trek yet?
[crowd remains motionless]
The likely problem I see is that damned corporate pride. There are all kinds of fun things to do in the StarTrek universe still. The Viacom execs. must have convinced themselves that "StarTrek is dead and we have the ratings from Nemesis to prove it."
I certainly hope someone at that company has the balls to say Nemesis sucked because we made it suck, and shop for a decent script for a new movie.
Viacom decided not to pursue any more ST TV shows or movies. Could this be because the latest series isn't as good? Could it be that the movies/TV programs have become less popular?
And Activision wants Viacom to continue to invest in a less-than-profitable franchise so Activision can continue to ride their coattails & sell a few games?
Lame.
Cruising the internet on my TI-99/4A @ a whopping 300 baud!
Viacom. Doing what angry Trekkies have wanted to do for years.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Yeah, right Activision. And I'm sure making craptastic games had nothing to do with poor sales.
Riiiiight.
Its all his fault Star Trek sucks.
Now if we can get a lawsuit going on George Lucas then things will get interesting.
Mesa thinks de star wars franchise jumped the shark a long long time ago.
-Dipster
I certainly hope someone at that company has the balls to say Nemesis sucked because we made it suck, and shop for a decent script for a new movie.
A few weeks ago us.imdb.com had a brief blurb stating that Patrick Stewart had formally decided that Nemesis would be his last Trek. He said he was bitterly disappointed with the poor reception of the film and he thought it was actually quite good. Apparently he's pissed off enough that he's vowed never to do another Trek. He said that he was sorry that it would have to end on a low note but that he had lost all interest. Sorry I don't have a link.
GMD
watch this
The original StarTrek was cowboys in space.
It died the day they turned it into Science Fiction.
"What must have happened is a shift in the space time continuim" yawn
It must be a non story because there's nothing on here about it
All a big shame because I was really looking forward to being Nelix' apprentice and learning to fry insects in the MMORPG. Maybe I can be a space gardener instead!
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
Could Starter or some other athletic wear manufacturer sue Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neil, Allan Iverson or Jason Kidd because their respective teams did not win the NBA championship? A loosing team does not sell merchandise as well as a champion...it has noting to do with whether the jacket falls apart or not.
The cancel button is your friend. Do not hesitate to use it.
A few weeks ago us.imdb.com had a brief blurb stating that Patrick Stewart had formally decided that Nemesis would be his last Trek. (...) Sorry I don't have a link.
Link
Sheesh.
Life is like surrealism: if you have to have it explained to you, you can't afford it.
That's not to say that low sales are wrong, but Activision should realize that it acquires a highly profiled franchise, which will not appeal to the same number of people as games like The Sims or the Command & Conquer series.
is to stop trek for about 5 years, fire Berman, and his other buddy, and come back with fresh new ideas. Enterprise doesn't seem bad though, just I wanted it to continue in the future, future not 150 years, though the termporal cold war is an intresting idea so we can have some connection to the future. Though if they did that Activison would still be suing them.
After the craptastic Star Trek: Nemesis and the lame Enterprise, Activision is actually the only entity that wants Viacom to make more Star Trek.
Vincent J. Murphy
Spandex Justice
Man, I hope Star Trek gets a good lawyer, or the Enterprise might end up getting repo'ed.
Guys, can you change the title to something that makes sense?
I are flabberghasted!
Forget the whales - save the babies.
from just about anywhere but the USofA.
This past weekend my wife and I went to "Bend It Like Beckham," a wonderfully fun movie. At the same second-run theatre we saw that Matrix2 was there already, and XMen2 had been playing for a few weeks.
I'm convinced that it's a general problem with American business. First off, IMHO they believe that "business" is more important than other factors like talent and originality, and that a good manager can manage anything into profitability. Second, I don't really believe that they're even good businessmen, because a good businessman is willing to take a risk and make it work, or accept the consequences of failure. It's perceived as less "risky" to follow a franchise than to try something original, hence the collection of sequels and comic book adaptations.
Gee, these sound like the same problems hounding the music industry - promoting "safe" rehashes of the same old stuff.
But of course it's not really "safe", because movies are bombing and music sales are down. Oh wait, we can blame that on Internet piracy!
The real issue is that it depends on what you mean by the word, "safe," and not in a Clintonesque way. There's "safe" in the media boardrooms and meeting rooms, and there's "safe" in the marketplace. These days, there's little correlation.
Actually, "safe" in todays marketplace should mean taking risks, and that means that sometimes you'll bomb. But is that any worse than today's sequelmania? Consider that today's sequelmania is producing dismal results, is a bomb or two really that bad when originality will probably also bring some HITS?
Plus, as others have said, big budgets and special effects do not necessarily correlate with a good movie. "Bend It Like Beckham" looked pretty cheap to make, as did "The Full Monty" of a few years back. Good writing and good acting are much more important.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Suggestion for a new "Star Trek Decay" icon: ....a still snapshot of "The Simpsons" episode where a very round Scotty was waving his arms and complaining that he was too fat to reach the controls.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I didn't see Nemesis, but regardless of film quality, if Patrick Stewart (btw, isn't it Stewart?) thought the film was good and won't do any more because the movie didn't do that well, I just think that sounds a little childish. That's sort of like "You won't do [whatever] so I won't be your friend anymore!"
One would think he'd take extra care to make sure that the next movie (if there is a next movie) was damn good, as to not duplicate Nemesis's's's poor performance.
There are only 10 kinds of people in this world... those who understand binary and those who don't
Activision isn't suing Viacom because everything since TNG has sucked, they are suing because they made a decision to stop producing any more series or movies. Your (4 Insightful, why??) analogy is way off. The proper analogy would be if the athletic wear manufacturers sued Shaq or others because they decided to quit their sport in the middle of a long term advertising deal, which would be a fair and lucrative suit.
Also, please explain the concept of a loosing team. I am familiar with teams that lose games, and are hence labled 'losing teams'. Maybe the two terms are related?
I know more than you drink.
I'm a Star WARS fan, so anything knocking Trekkies makes me feel a bit better, but after playing through Elite Force I'm singing a different tune. Elite Force KICKED ASS and is one my favorite FPS. I have a feeling it was meant to tie in with a movie or something, because it felt very heavy on emotion, but that could just be me.
I can't say that I blame him. Star Trek:TNG was never about action, and thats all people want to see anymore. Nemesis tried to be successful by making a good movie, instead of action and cool effects.
The same can be said for Insurrection. I really liked that movie (though alot of people didn't), it and nemesis were more like episodes than movies.
Part of Activision's statement in the article says that the suit is being filed because Viacom has let two series end since they signed the contract.
In other words, they are suing because DS9 and Voyager ran for "only" seven years apiece.
I call Shenanigans right there.
"You're never ready, just less unprepared."
If he really said that I've lost some respect for Patrick Stewart. It was lousy.
(I don't doubt you - i read the bit on IMDB and other places as well)
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
Both of which seem to have been 'over-anticipated' in retrospect. I guess they both made money, but neither really made fans happy.
I guess a Fan and his money are soon parted.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Viacom believes they can halt the decay by reversing the polarity of the positron flow.
Chris Mattern
...to take over the Star Trek franchise entirely if they want. What's stopping them? Buy the rights from Viacom and then they could make the shows any damn way they felt like. Decent shows (not sci-fi that's softer than baby shit) would be the best advertising their games could get, if that's what they wanted.
And then they could stop sueing and we could stop tuning into more disappointing episodes (hoping against hope that this will be the turnaround episode were something fun happens).
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors - Plato
Thing about Nemesis is... they did a really good job on a mediocre remake of Wrath of Khan. And that's just all there is too it. I look back on Nemesis and just weep at all the effort they wasted on a screenplay they already bloody shot !
It looked good, the acting and direction were good, the script was good, the editing was good...
oh yeah, pulling a major villain out of your ass just plain sucks.
Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
It is official; Activision confirms: Star Trek is dying...
Repton.
They say that only an experienced wizard can do the tengu shuffle.
From the publisher's point of view, you can see the attraction of a well-known franchise. Here's Star Trek, with legions of fans. The publisher, being a bean counter first and foremost, isn't really disposed to thinking, "I wonder what makes ST work," or "I wonder if we can translate what makes ST work on TV and in film to games," or "When are people going to get tired of this ST stuff, anyway?" No, the point is to pay the licensing fee and milk the sucker for all it's worth.
And so this banal relationship begins. The games are ciphers; they depend on the movies and TV to create and sustain the characters that they will borrow for skin deep, formulaic exploitation.
But - heh - what happens if the TV and cinematic franchise has been doing the same thing, cannibalizing its own better past for years until the cash cow is picked clean? Then the bean counters have a problem, don't they. Maybe they should have run their tricorder over the deal a few more times before signing.
Or better yet, make a Cocoon 3 where all the Star Trek cast members are revitalized by alien pods in a pool.
Ooh! Ooh! I know this one: loosing teams are naughty groups of sex-offenders that work crowds in packs, distracting girls with rude puppet shows, while their mates sneak up behind them and unfasten their bras.
Am I right?
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors - Plato
A few weeks ago us.imdb.com had a brief blurb stating that Patrick Stewart had formally decided that Nemesis would be his last Trek.
Strange, in this article he is advocating another one.
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. . . dispite recent history. I'd like to see this finally convince Viacom that they need to do something about the eroding franchise. Of course, it's equally likely that they'd just use this as another excuse to abandon it all together. Given that they lost money on the last movie, the TV show's ratings are less than stellar, and now a licencee is suing them, they may vary well want to get rid of it all together. If so, I just hope they sell it to someone who'd do justice to what little dignity it has left.