Video game:Star Trek: Armada

Few series, if any, have made as large a pop culture impact as "Star Trek." When it first aired in 1966, the television show failed to make a large impression, and NBC cancelled it after only three seasons. However, over the years it has amassed a cult following, several spin-off shows, a movie series, and a library of novels and comics. Beginning with a board game in 1967, developers released many forms of interactive entertainment involving the beloved "Star Trek" characters.

Mike Mayfield developed the first "Star Trek" video game in 1971. Entitled simply "Star Trek," this text-based computer game spread to most home computers by the end of the 1970s, and became the first of its kind to sell more than one million copies. It showed that games based on the series could be successful, and paved the way for the release of many more video games in the Star Trek franchise.

In 2000, Activision released the computer game "Star Trek: Armada." Based off "Star Trek: The Next Generation," this real-time strategy game incorporated characters and plot lines from other "Star Trek" shows as well. Gamers play four campaigns as different parties, and must prevent a war between the Klingons and the Romulans, two prominent species in the "Star Trek" universe. Several actors who starred in "Next Generation" provided their talents for "Armada," including Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, and Denise Crosby.

Critics and players praised "Armada," calling it one of the few good "Star Trek" games. They commended its graphics, which accurately depicted many aspects from "Next Generation," as well as its story and voice acting. However, many found the gameplay frustrating and slightly boring. Mark Asher of IGN wrote that the game "doesn?t hold up well when compared to the best [real-time strategy] games the genre has produced." Nevertheless, "Armada" became the second best selling "Star Trek" game behind the twenty-fifth anniversary computer game, and Activision released a sequel entitled "Star Trek: Armada II" in 2001.

More than four decades after the original "Star Trek" aired, the franchise remains popular. J.J. Abrams and Paramount released a rebooted movie version of the series in 2009, followed by its sequel in 2013. Over fifty different video games featuring the beloved "Star Trek" characters exist, allowing fans to go "where no one has gone before."