Category Archives: Conquest

A Word About Chris Mullender

mullender.jpg

We lost a good friend last week. Chris Mullender, a programmer at 4J Studios, passed away suddenly last Monday morning. Chris was instrumental in development of the PS3 version of Oblivion and also worked on Star Trek: Conquest. Everyone here at Bethesda respected Chris and his work tremendously.

Paddy Burns, who worked with Chris at 4J, summed up Chris for us:

“He was a brilliant programmer who loved making games and bringing up his three young sons. He was very involved in his local community, where he was proud of his work in getting Dunbar’s Christmas lights up, and setting up a few websites for local schools and charities.”

As I said, we were saddened to find out this great guy, programmer, and father of three had passed away so suddenly. Our thoughts go out to Chris’ family and friends.

Rising Site

800px-Flag_of_Japan.svg.jpg

In a continued effort to make our websites accessible to folks around the world, this week we launched the Japanese version of our official site.

As you may already know, ZeniMax Asia, is responsible for publishing/distributing Bethesda titles to Japan and other Asian territories — games like Fallout 3, Star Trek: Conquest and Star Trek: Legacy. ZeniMax Asia will also be publishing titles from other developers. As you’ll notice on the homepage, ZeniMax Asia is bringing Rockstar’s Bully to PS2 and Xbox 360.

For more details on ZeniMax Asia, check out the press release we put out back in April.

Conquest shipping in Europe beginning this week

STC_PS2_UK-cover.jpg

Since releasing Star Trek: Conquest in North America last fall, I’ve received plenty of emails from fans wondering when the game would be released in Europe. Well, I’ve got some good news. Beginning this week, the game will start shipping in the following European territories:

  • UK/Ireland March 14th (PS2/Wii)
  • Italy: Out Now (PS2) & March 14th (Wii)
  • Spain: March 19th (PS2/Wii)
  • Portugal: March 14th (PS2) & March 21 (Wii)
  • Australia: March 20th (PS2/Wii)
  • Germany/Switzerland/Austria: March 20th (Wii). PS2: TBA
  • France: March 21st (PS2/Wii)
  • Benelux: March 21st (PS2/Wii)
  • Sweden/Norway/Denmark/Finland: TBA

You’ll see there are a few TBAs in the list…when we have more information on the release dates in these territories, we’ll let you know. For more details on Conquest, head to our Star Trek website.

Conquest hitting Europe this 1st Quarter 2008

conquesteuro.jpg

This morning, our new London office, ZeniMax Europe, put out a release that sheds some light on the European release of Star Trek: Conquest. The press release confirms that the game will be coming to PS2 and Wii this quarter in the following territories: United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Australia. So if you’ve been waiting to play the game, your chance is on the horizon. When we have more details, we’ll keep you updated here on the blog.

With this news, we decided extend our Conquest “Meet the Devs” challenge. The new deadline for the contest is 11:59 PM (EST) on April 6th. For more details on contest rules and how to win a Landing Party statue, check here.

Meet the composer…

front_logo.jpg

We wanted to do a quick shout out for Michael Gordon Shapiro, who composed the music for our latest Star Trek title, Conquest. Right now on his homepage, you can check out a 60 second sample of the “Main Title Theme” and “Menu Music” found within the game. In addition to his contributions on Conquest, Shapiro has also done work for other game studios, including Vivendi and Valve.

For more information about Star Trek: Conquest, head on over to the official site.

Bring Vault Boy home for the holidays!

fallout-holidaywallpaper-800x600.jpg

Today we will be releasing our final Bethesda Softworks Newsletter for the year of 2007. It’s been an exciting 2007 for us — releasing Shivering Isles, Oblivion GOTY, and Star Trek: Conquest, as well as finally unveiling Fallout 3.

To celebrate the holidays, the newsletter will give access to a couple of Vault Boy-themed wallpapers for your desktop. The first is the image you see above. Be sure to check out the latest newsletter to see the other one, which is currently on my desktop. Hope you enjoy them!

To sign up for the Bethesda Softworks Newsletter, click here.

Around the Web: Neapolitan Style

Neapolitan.jpg

Little bit of everything in this round up.

Over at Yahoo the YVG crew has put up their list of the 10 Best Games of the Last Decade and has included Oblivion as their pick for 2006, noting:

“There are big games, there are huge games, there are epic games, and then there’s Oblivion.”

Always cool to see your game on a list like this. Head over to see the full list and what else they had to say about their pick of Oblivion and their other nine selections.

I also noticed a note over at TGR that the videogame symphony tour Play! has announced some new dates, and since it features the music from both Morrowind and Oblivion, I thought it was worth nothing it’s headed to Fort Worth and Seattle in January ’08 for two shows at each stop. Visit the Play! site for more info.

Continue reading full article ›

First Conquest Review

conquest_ps2_cover.jpg

This morning Losi let me know that Sam Bishop at IGN has posted the first review for Star Trek: Conquest. Reviewing the PS2 release of the game, IGN seemed pleasantly surprised by the game. The review’s standfirst states: “First sign of the apocalypse: a $15 Star Trek game ends up being the best in years.”

Here’s a sample from Bishop’s review:

Conquest does one thing, and does it well. Freed from all the TV actors and even the characters themselves, the game instead just rests comfortably in providing a tried-and-true game of strategy with enough variety and differences in play style to make every race feel like they can tackle the game differently.”

In addition to the PS2 release of the game, Conquest is also available on the Nintendo Wii ($29.99). If you’re looking for more impressions of the game, head over to our Star Trek boards, where a number of folks are sharing their impressions of the game.

Star Trek Game Capping Contest

Over the weekend, Star Trek Gamers announced a new “game capping” contest pertaining to Star Trek titles published by us (Legacy, Tactical Assault, Encounters, and our newest Trek game, Conquest). So what is game capping? Basically, it’s just creating a video of you playing a game (above is an example I found on YouTube).

Obviously anyone can just make a video, so try to find ways to be creative (humor, unbelievable action, etc.). According to the rules, videos must only have “stock footage” from our games (read: no mods). To pick the winners, STG has turned to fansite Trek Core to judge the videos.

The winner of the contest will receive a signed Star Trek: Legacy poster, as well as “a random classic Star Trek game.” For more details on how to enter the contest, visit Star Trek Gamers.

Good luck!