Stars trekking towards games frontier

THE ACTORS who played Captain James T Kirk and Spock in the 2009 film reboot of Star Trek will give voice to those characters in a video game based on the beloved science fiction franchise.

Paramount Pictures and game publisher Namco Bamdai Games America Inc announced on Tuesday that actors Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto will reprise their roles from the Star Trek film directed by JJ Abrams.

“We are thrilled to have these incredible actors lending their voices to the legendary characters of Kirk and Spock in the video game realm,” said LeeAnne Stables, head of Paramount’s video game unit. “Players are in for a truly authentic experience.”

The Star Trek video game is scheduled for release early next year, with versions tailored for play on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game consoles as well as on personal computers powered by Windows software.

“There are certain elements at the core of Star Trek – insurmountable odds, exploration, villains such as the Gorn and heroes such as Kirk and Spock,” said Namco vice-president of marketing Carlson Choi.

“Our goal is to pull gamers as deep into the Star Trek universe as possible and an integral part of that is the talent that makes these characters their own.”

An original storyline for the game was being created by Marianne Krawczyk, a writer known for her work on the hit God

of War video game franchise, and people working on a forthcoming

Star Trek film, according to Paramount.

“The Gorn are among the most iconic villains in the Star Trek universe and their role in this game certainly lives up to that persona,” said Paramount lead game producer, Brian Miller.

“Captain Kirk and Spock find themselves in an incredibly challenging amount of mayhem as they confront the Gorn throughout the game.”

The game is being developed by the Canada-based studio Digital Extremes, according to Namco. – Sapa-AFP