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If you've ever wanted to transport into the massively-multiplayer Starfleet of Star Trek Online, now is your chance to make it so.
Amazon's Deal of the Day features the game for $28 -- a better price than even a Ferengi could negotiate. (Mostly because Ferengi don't really exist.) Plus, the 44-percent discount off the list price should help take the sting out of the monthly fee.

Amazon has also temporarily discounted the Collector's Edition, from $80 to $48. Don't you want the little communicator badge? Of course you do. As with all Amazon Deals of the Day, this one's over at midnight PT or when the shop runs out of stock.

Announced last week, the first in a series of new raid episodes is now available in Star Trek Online. The first episode, entitled "The Infected," which tasks five players with assaulting a Borg-infected starbase and investigating a new Borg nanovirus that can "assimilate entire worlds at alarming speeds." Three more Borg episodes are planned, ultimately concluding with a direct attack against the Borg queen herself. If the trailer above is any indication, you can expect plenty of deep space confrontations, lots of ground action and copious explosions.

More raid episodes will arrive in the future, including one that revisits the work of everyone's favorite villain: Khan Noonien Singh.

Is no one impressed by your massive stockpile of (relatively) ancient virtual cars in Test Drive Unlimited? It's almost time for you to pick up this year's model -- Atari recently announced that this coming Fall would see the release of Test Drive Unlimited 2 on PS3, 360 and PC. This sequel will offer the persistent, open-world multiplayer racing of its predecessor, while introducing new elements such as vehicle damage, day and night cycles, and weather.

The press release promises "the world's most desirable vehicles," but we all know the best part of Test Drive Unlimited was the fancy clothes you could buy for your character. We can't wait to see what exciting fashion lines TDU2 brings to the table.

Here's a story that you're probably going to see a lot over the next few years: A company started giving away its game for free, and now reports that it's making more money than before. That's what happened to Turbine, maker of the Dungeons and Dragons Online MMO. Last year, it decided to move from a subscription model to free-to-play, instead earning its revenue off of in-game transactions, and now it's announced that income has increased by 500% and the game is making more money than ever.

DDO is sort of a special case here -- the game was already developed for a subscription model, so the content might be a little more in-depth (not to mention officially licensed) than you'd find on most free-to-play properties. And since the game still does offer subscription plans, the number of subscribers has actually doubled since the changeover (there's no information about whether more money is being made from selling in-game items or from new players who have decided to subscribe). But you can be sure other game developers are closely watching this model, and it's not a stretch to think that, in the next few years, we'll see many more publishers -- of MMOs and otherwise -- try to pull off the paradox of making more money by giving their games away for free.

Trekkies will soon have a chance to face off against a new, deadlier Borg adversary in the first wave of "Special Task Force Missions" in Star Trek Online. Federation and Klingon players alike will have the opportunity to tackle the difficult five-person PvE quests when the update hits the recently released MMO.

The first five STF missions include "Children of Khan," where an escaped Amar Singh GTA's the U.S.S. Asgard and races toward the remains of the Mutara Nebula and "Infected," where more than 400 Starfleet officers aboard a star base have seemingly disappeared off the galaxy and require immediate assistance to combat the new Borg enemy. More details and screens can be found at Massively.

Our problem with Ghostbusters mainly revolves around the fact that we're not one of them. Our childhood-up-until-now dream has always been to slap on that jumpsuit and get knee-deep in Ectoplasmic residue with our comrades in arms, our shoulder patches glistening against the light of our never-crossing streams as we vanquish ancient evils. Well, it'll never happen -- mostly because Ghostbusters isn't real, despite our best attempts at willing it into existence.

But at least there's some consolation in a sweet Proton pack mod for the Wii. The glorious concoction of plastic and LEDs was created by Ghostbusters Fans forum member irrelevanttomfoolery and sets the benchmark for badass game controller mods. Seriously, that ridiculous Resident Evil 4 chainsaw is like child's play compared to how awesome this thing is, so click on the image above and go read up on it.

[Via Gizmodo]

According to the L.A. Times, Missile Command has joined the growing list of old games you probably don't care about that are being shopped in Hollywood as cinematic properties. Following in the footsteps of Joust and Asteroids!, the retro classic is being pitched to several studios by Atari, with Fox reportedly heading up the pack.

We wish we could meet the evil genius who's going around and telling movie studios that the best investments they can make are in the film rights of astoundingly old video games. "No, no, think of it, 'Burgertime: The Movie' You put Kevin James in a chef's hat, cast Jamie Kennedy as a fried egg, you're banking a $50 million three-day opening easy."

[Thanks Ben]

Atari may not have published a ton of games in 2009, but that doesn't mean the company hasn't been picking up the bottom line. In a press release that reads like the exact opposite of those we saw from the company just a few years ago, CEO Jeff Lapin celebrates the €92.5 million ($126.25 million) in revenue earned in the nine months ending December 31, saying "the company has now strengthened its equity and is in a position to work on an expanded publishing plan." In so many words, Lapin's suggesting that Atari is financially bouncing back and maybe even gearing up to (dare we say it?) make more games.

The company cites sales of Ghostbusters, Chronicles of Riddick, Backyard Football, and Champions Online for bolstering revenues in fiscal Q3 and looks forward to a better 2010. The recent release of Star Trek Online certainly doesn't seem to be hurting his confidence in that department. Lapin says that he's "very enthusiastic about the launch" of the "promising MMO game."

But things aren't all gumdrops and money hats -- the Q3 revenues were still down by 1.9% year-over-year. We won't find out the full year's earnings until late May, but for now we'll comfort ourselves with the knowledge that the publisher's next title, Project Runway, is coming in a few short weeks. Finally!

Source (PDF) - Atari announces 9-month revenues for FY 2009/2010; [via Big Download]

In the world of Star Trek, there's nothing quite like grabbing a few moments of R&R with your first mate on the holodeck or heading down to engineering to check up on your favorite ship's power core. Unfortunately, as we've been unable to explore the interior of our own ships since we first got our hands on Star Trek Online's pre-release beta program (nonetheless the final product), those wonderfully humdrum space activities will have to be postponed for a little while. But hey, they're coming ... or so says Cryptic executive producer Craig Zinkievich, at least.

"Anything we can do to make the game feel even more like Star Trek is something we want to do ... so, definitely, we want to give people more of their ship," he tells Inc Gamers, adding, "This is one of those things we want to get perfect before introducing it to players, though," indicating that the functionality likely won't be arriving in the near future. And us, well we just want to passive aggressively flirt with crew members -- is that so much to ask?
[Via 1UP]

A recently added hub page on the official Star Trek Online site has revealed that the nefarious Borg will soon make first contact with the MMO's players in an upcoming free content update, which will be rolled out over the next two months. The patch will add a series of high-level episodes (that's STO-speak for "quests") to the game which will throw players into a number of ground and space conflicts with the cybernetic species, leading up to a climactic raid encounter with the Borg Queen.

You can get an idea of the formidable foe you'll be facing off against in the video above and the gallery below. As a special protip from us to you, here's an instructional video which reminds prospective Borg-fighters exactly where the line must be drawn.

The Los Angeles Times' "How I Made It" feature has shined a spotlight on none other than Naughty Dog creative director Amy Hennig, illuminating the secret of how a 45-year-old woman can conquer the gaming industry and nab Joystiq's Game of the Year with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. She started out as a film student back in 1989 and says she had a revelation while working freelance for Atari that gaming "was a more interesting and pioneering medium" than even the movies.

She worked her way up the ladder and took chances when they came along. When the lead designer on the wacky Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City left the project, she stepped up and took the job. And having talent and intelligence can't hurt either -- she says that she puts her whole education into gaming, from English lit to film editing, and while she downplays her place as a woman in gaming ("This is a young enough and progressive enough industry" to avoid most problems with sexism, she says), she does admit that she, erm, moderated the male perspective on breast size with some of her developers. Because somebody's got to, right? Excellent profile of one of gaming's more unlikely stars.

[Thanks, MikeIriye!]

When a free expansion hits for a free-to-play MMO -- in this case, Turbine's Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron Unlimited -- no one is really free to complain (though some no doubt will). Today's drably-titled "Update 3" brings with it a removal of leveling sigils, extending all of the game's items to every player, plus a new Casual Mode for solo players and parties up to the level cap of 20.

More dungeons have also been added, geared toward high-level players, and two live events -- The Traveler's Treasure Hunt and The Risia Ice Games -- are planned to "celebrate DDO's fourth birthday" with prizes (of the physical variety). Most importantly, Ski Lift Hot Cocoa and Candy Cane Ice Skates have been added to the DDO Store. (Finally!)

Are you somewhat satisfied with your Star Trek Online avatar, but wish he or she possessed more unsightly forehead ridges? Perhaps you desire a pair of ears shaped and sized like funnel cakes? Do you wish it looked like your brain was attempting to escape out of the top of your head? Good news -- the Federation Ferengi race can now be downloaded in-game for 80 Cryptic Points, which translates to a shiny half-dollar in real-world funds.

Federation players also have the option to download what we can only assume to be a reformed species of Klingon for 240 Cryptic points, or $1.50. We're still unsure as to why anyone would play Star Trek Online and not make their own race, since we wouldn't find the game so compelling without the adventures of Barbicane, the only surviving Bonerian in the galaxy.

It's going to be a long time before mankind invents Replicator technology. Until then, we're all forced to fill our Geo Metros with dead dinos and drive on down to the Del Taco for sustenance like jerks. But, the usual reward of a scrumptious combination of tortilla, beef and spices won't be the only thing to greet you at the end of your trek: Star Trek Online is teaming up with Del Taco to offer some collectible game cups. You know, the same kind that you got for every other thing that ever launches ever. Oh, you also get a free game trial, but oh man cups with ships on them!

In addition to this megaton news item, we've also got two new Star Trek Online trailers, featuring the Cardassians and the Vigilant Class Starship. Set your mouse to click and you'll find them past the break.

Source - Press release
Source - Del Taco promotion page