Yesterday it was first revealed that Leonard Nimoy had joined the voice cast for the upcoming Atari MMORPG Star Trek Online. Today they have put out a press release that reveals some more details about Nimoy’s role in the game, and confirming that he is portraying the original Spock.
Nimoy Playing Spock in Star Trek Online – but how does it fit?
According to the press release (below) Leoand Nimoy will be reprising his role as Spock in Star Trek Online. The actor will be voicing the introduction to the game (presumably going over the backstory leading up to the war between the Federation and the Klingons). Atari also revealed that Nimoy will be be "heard during key scenes and events in-game."
As previously reported, Star Trek’s other Spock Zachary Quinto is also lending his voice to the game, however he isn’t playing his young Spock, but an EMH who will guide you in the tutorial.
It is very cool that Nimoy is involved in the game, but it isn’t clear how this all fits together. Star Trek Online takes place in the year 2409 in the ‘prime timeline’. However, the new Star Trek movie shows that ‘Spock Prime’ (Nimoy) left the prime timeline when he fell into a black hole in 2387. That event created the new alternate timeline where most of the events of JJ Abrams Star Trek take place. Atari and Cryptic have maintained that Star Trek Online will incorporate the events of the Star Trek movie that take place in the prime timeline. They even have a page dedicated to explaining this on their site, which states:
Events in the movie that happened in the prime timeline (the destruction of Romulus, and the disappearance of Spock and Nero) have affected STO. You can learn more about the aftermath of these events in the Path to 2409 and in STO itself.
TrekMovie will try and see how this all fits together, look for an update later.
Press Release
LEONARD NIMOY REPRISES LEGENDARY ROLE OF "SPOCK" IN STAR TREK™ ONLINE
Nimoy will voice the introduction to Star Trek Online and key in-game scenes.
New York, NY (December 22, 2009) – Atari, Inc., one of the world’s most recognized videogame publishers, and acclaimed MMO developer Cryptic Studios™, announced today that Leonard Nimoy, the actor who originated the legendary and beloved Star Trek character of Spock more than 40 years ago, has joined the cast of Star Trek Online, the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) ever set in the Star Trek universe.
Nimoy, who recently reprised his role as Spock in 2009’s Star Trek movie, will voice the introduction for Star Trek Online. Nimoy’s voice, known to millions of fans all over the world, will also be heard during key scenes and events in-game.
"I am happy to be involved with Star Trek Online. In this game, the essence of Star Trek – exploration and adventure – lives long and prospers," said Nimoy. "I’m pleased that a whole new generation of fans will be able to discover new frontiers in the Star Trek universe."
"Mr. Nimoy’s participation in Star Trek Online brings the game to a whole new level," said Jim Wilson, President and CEO of Atari, Inc. "When Star Trek fans hear his voice they will know that Star Trek Online truly is part of the Star Trek universe."
Nimoy received multiple Emmy nominations for his portrayal of Spock during the original run of Star Trek in the late 1960s. Besides his on-screen roles in six Star Trek feature films, he directed Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and helped write Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. He has also appeared as Spock in Star Trek: The Next Generation and most recently, starred as Spock in J.J. Abrams’s film Star Trek.
Set in the year 2409, Star Trek Online boasts extraordinary features and lets fans both new and old experience unparalleled adventures. Offering space and ground game play, players will have the opportunity to become a high-ranking Starfleet officer and will participate in missions that will take them into the depths of space, across exotic planets, and even inside other starships. Star Trek Online offers total customization where every ship player’s command can be customized, from color to construction. Additionally, anyone can create their own species in Star Trek Online, as well as customize the look of their avatar’s uniform.
Star Trek Online is a licensed product from CBS Consumer Products. For more information and to pre-order, please visit: www.startrekonline.com and www.atari.com
Video
And if you missed it, here is the behind-the-scenes video of Nimoy doing his voice work for STO.
STO is coming February 2nd, 2010
You can pick pre-order Star Trek Online at Amazon.
Well, maybe Picard, Data, and LaForge find a way to go get Spock Prime from the alternate universe. .
I can’t shake the feeling that they want to be nu-Trek, rather than old Trek. I completely understand that, since it makes perfect sense, from a business standpoint, to jump on that bandwagon. Even if it does make me less likely to buy the game.
well, there is an arc in the game where you travel back in time to the tos era right? you probably interact with spock in some way during those episodes. orit could easily be a historical hologram or recording. cryptic said that you hear spock’s voice over key events the game. they never said you ‘see’ spock. there’s alot they can do and still make it work. i’m just mad theres no announcement for the xbox360. anthony, do you know anything?
i dont see where there is something to be ‘mad’ about. Cryptic have said they will support one of the consoles and that it will be added later. There is nothing else to report, they are busy making sure it works for PC first. Bear in mind that very few MMORPGs have been ported to consoles so even committing to do it is a good thing
Cool, how about The Shat?
One thing I don’t like about this game, and its the only thing I don’t like mind you, is that people can have different uniforms. For Klingons thats fine, but for the Feds? That doesn’t make any sense. Have they forgotten the definition of the word uniform?
Oh well. I’m sure I’ll get over it when I get the game. lol
anthony…why not talk to Cryptic about making it available for Mac too?
Here’s an easy way to explain how Spock is in the game: The film isn’t canon. There! Ambassador Spock can now assist you in the game when needed, and he never vanished.
It’s cool that we get to play in the old timeline’s continuity.
So, how about a Nexus “episode” for the game where you meet Kirk, Guinan and Soran (a bit expensive to bring them all in, but i’ts wishing time, right?).
I don’t get how Spock fits into the Prime timeline since he’s gone from it, but I welcome the superb voice acting of a Trek legend any day. So far Cryptic has done a pretty good job on making things make sense, from a story/timeline perspective, so I hope they come up with a good one for Spock.
I think it’s great that they involved Nimoy…a nod to us old-time fans and a very graceful way to ‘legitimize’ the upcoming game even further. Obviously the *game* isn’t canon, but from what I’ve seen, it takes canon seriously enough to create a plausible ‘future’ in the Trekverse.
It would be beauty if there was a champ/boss mission to go back in time from 2409 and ‘save’ Vulcan in the non-Prime reality…if that ever shows up in this game, I’ll have tears in my eyes. That one mission alone would be worth the $70 I shelled out for the game. That’s my Xmas wish!
People have been clamoring for years for something beyond the TNG era…in a couple months, we’re gonna have it. I’m excited because this game will be a nice fill between ST2009 and ST2011/12!
As for consoles, it’s been confirmed for awhile (about a year) that STO is *already* being used on PS3 and XBox360 for purposes of beta testing. It may be the MMO game that finally accomplishes the breakthrough of MMOs into the console market.
LOL, it may also be the game that bricks some ppls Xboxes/PS3s because of its complexity and CPU demand…
Anthony, the video is messed up. There’s no sound and it skips a lot.
In getting Mr Nimoy to be Spock for the game is a huge deal. it nmakes the game and dare I say. Canon. I love this and am so looking forward to playing the game.
I grew up reading Sci-Fi because in that genre anything is possible. Why is it that some of you fans have such a hard time with multiple time lines? It’s all make believe anyway! I can’t even give you all the excuse that you’re old and set in your ways, because I’m older than a great many of you.
I have no problem with multiple time lines where in one Spock(Prime) travelled to the past and created another universe where the new Star Trek movie takes places and there being another time line where he didn’t and all thing continue on as they were from TOS and TNG. As long as someone tells me in the narration what time line and circumstances I find myself in I’m good to go!
It’s just like starting another Star Trek novel by a different writer. Settings change, go with the flow and enjoy yourselves. This is NEW Trek stuff.
Enjoy it while it’s here!!!!
sorry about the video. The one Atari sent us was messed up. I have put the embed from IGN in there for now while i re-download the one from atari
RE: Mac
again they are trying to make the game work for PC, which is the dominant platform. Only a few run on Mac and not sure any ran on Mac at launch. Maybe they will do it some day but even a poll we did on this site only showed 8% wanted a mac version. Mac people can run it using bootcamp or wait for console or buy a pc. not sure what else there is to say on the matter
13 Mr Nimoy voiced a number of Trek audio books that cannot be considered cannon.
I loved Lenard Nimoys portrayal of Spock over the years, and found him the most interesting character in all of Trek.
I felt very Very old when watching the Captains summit and noticed that my hero now needs hearing aids, god bless him!
Trek 09 was enriched by having Mr Nimoy bridge the gap between old and new trek, but one little nit-pick
Spocks voice is so different now with those dentures.
It literally screams out and having that voice in STO would be cool, it would be incredibly NARLY to hear those dentures slurring from a CGI young Spock during the time travel rumored scenes.
fixed the video, now available in HD, see above
Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek is always a good thing… That said I hate video games and will most likely never play it : )
Well, from how I understand it: Nimoy is voicing things like the tutorials and introductions. What he is not supposed to be doing is reprising the role of Spock. So it’s more of a recognizable voice to guide you and a nod to Star Trek history than a breach of their new canon.
As far as other systems?
-Mac – people have confirmed that the closed beta runs through Boot Camp, so at least there is an option for you guys.
-XBox360 – they’ve said it is almost definite, but the key is that you’re going to see Champions Online get it first as they share the same engine and Champions would be a great way to work out some of the bugs before STO gets the 360 treatment. Also, the 360 controller is supposed to be supported on PC in the meantime if it is some consolation.
Maybe Mr. Nimoy will voice Spock in the TOS era; I heard that time travel will be possible n the game.
Will this game be available on other game systems like X-Box 360??
Spare yourselves a lot of canon nonsense. Treat every Star Trek story as a standalone entity.
Canon exists for writers to have other material to draw upon and to create some kind of consistency and familiarity in a production. It really has no place outside of the creative process.
I bet it’s probably some flashback log or something lame like that.
what about voice acting from Patrick Stewart or Brent Spiner or Robert Picardo or Jonathan Frakes?
I keep hearing about this whole prime universe thing, but honestly, the idea of time travel making 2 separate timelines that exist together goes against just about every time travel episode of Star Trek. Maybe STO is just choosing to ignore that. Or its possible that this doesnt take place in the prime timeline, maybe its the future of the new timeline which would make sense in a way as I dont see it at all likely that in the normal post TNG era that the Klingons would go to war with the Federation. I guess anything’s possible. If there were true, though, than Nimoy could be voicing older Quinto’s Spock.