'Star Trek' to Be Revived by Videogame

The 75-year-old actor will reprise his role as the commander in chief of the most famous starship that ever existed. Or, at least, he will do that partially, because the 'Star Trek' franchise is launching a new videogame to cover a one year gap between other products.

Basically, by the end of last year, the TV series 'Star Trek: Enterprise' came to an end and, until 2008 when the latest feature film will be released, there is no other project in the works. The main problem the stellar crew and the producers of one of the world's legends are being confronted with at the moment consists of the total lack of interest coming from the public.

William Shatner, the actor who played the daring Captain in the first television series, which began airing in 1966, told Reuters, during an interview via phone: 'The interest in 'Star Trek' has waned in the last couple years. It's been around a long time, it's a staple of American life and I think we need something new and different in 'Star Trek''.

Although the actor confessed that he doesn't like playing videogames at all, he has a nephew who is willing to teach him. But that wasn't the most overpowering argument when he accepted the offer to voice over Kirk again: he admitted to feeling a bit territorial when it comes to his favorite character of all times.

'I couldn't imagine someone else playing Captain Kirk, even in a video game for handled devices, as well as an online computer game that will let huge numbers of players seek out a new life and new civilizations simultaneously. If it's a good game, keeping true to the characters the best they can and having an interesting story that branches, I think a game can bring a freshness to a franchise like 'Star Trek'', the veteran actor said.

Nevertheless, this is not the first time that Shatner gives voice to Kirk for a game, as he also collaborated on the 1997 'Star Trek: Strafleet Academy'. But, this time around, William won't be the only one to play the Captain in the video game, because its story will combine elements from all five original series and all five actors who starred in them will lend their voices for the 'Legacy'.