When a press release hit our inbox with the header “MTV Games and Paramount Pictures Take STAR TREK and Rock Band ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’,” we swore it had to be an April Fools’ joke. As it turns out, it’s not. In fact, there’s nothing funny or even preposterous about the promotion, which is unfortunate.
MTV Games and Harmonix are teaming up with Paramount Pictures and Spyglass for a promotion leading up the May 8 release of the Star Trek film, directed by J.J. Abrams. Starting today, you can register for a 15-day sweepstakes where they’ll be giving away 500 free Rock Band Music Store downloads from April 7 through April 21.
Then from April 20 to April 27, bands can complete in Rock Band 2‘s “Battle of the Bands” mode to try to win the top score in the “Star Trek Ultimate Battle.” Bands of three or four compete to win a screening of the film in their hometown for their band and friends; 20 randomly selected players will win a Star Trek/Rock Band prize package.
As if that wasn’t enough, starting on April 27, there will be an avatar creation contest launched. Using the in-game character creator, fans who design the most futuristic-looking rocker and then upload him or her to the Rock Band Web site can win a whole bunch of (probably) cool crap.
See, there’s nothing remotely funny about this; it’s totally legit. Now if they’d only release a black metal version of Jerry Goldsmith’s “Enterprise Theme” as downloadable content…
MTV Games and Paramount Pictures Take STAR TREK and Rock Band® “Where No Man Has Gone Before”
First-of-its-Kind Promotion to Rock Fans During Month Lead-Up to the Film’s Release on May 8, 2009
New York, NY, April 1, 2009 – MTV Games and Harmonix’s Rock Band® are joining forces with Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment to celebrate the May 8th theatrical release of the film STAR TREK from director/producer J.J. Abrams. The first-of-its-kind collaboration will fuse together the massive cultural followings of both STAR TREK and the video game phenomenon Rock Band to engage fans with free music, an in-game battle of the bands, and futuristic avatar creation contest.
Beginning today, fans can register for a 15-day sweepstakes that will give away 500 free Rock Band Music Store downloads each day from April 7th through April 21st for the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360® and PlayStation®Store for PlayStation3.
And if that’s not enough – fans will want to fire up Rock Band 2’s online Battle of the Bands mode to participate in the STAR TREK Ultimate Battle. Bands of three to four players can battle the Rock Band galaxy. The band with the highest score will win a STAR TREK hometown movie screening for their band and their friends. Additionally, twenty randomly selected players will win an awesome STAR TREK/Rock Band prize pack equipped with STAR TREK and Rock Band gear. The Battle of the Bands component will begin on April 20th and run through April 27th.
The Rock Band and STAR TREK promotion will culminate when the first-ever avatar creation contest launches on April 27th. Fans will be asked to create a futuristic avatar in-game and export it to RockBand.com for the community and Harmonix team to judge the winner. The Duke of Gravity will ultimately decide which avatar has what it takes to rock with the Enterprise crew. The winner will be chosen on May 11th and win “The Future is Now” prize pack including the top of the line Rock Band game accessories.
For more information on Rock Band and STAR TREK’s collaboration, visit www.ROCKBAND.com/StarTrek.
