WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 6, “Whistlespeak.”
Star Trek may have technologically advanced holodecks in the distant future, but their video games leave something to be desired. Introduced in the premiere episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the holodeck allows the characters to visit historical locations or take the place of their favorite fictional characters. One of Star Trek’s most impressive pieces of technology, the holodeck creates a hyper-realistic setting populated by holographic characters. The experiences within the holodeck feel real but remain completely safe (unless the safety protocols malfunction, which happens far more often than they should).
The realism of the holodeck in Star Trek has made television shows, movies, and video games largely obsolete by the 24th century, although some characters still like the nostalgia of old-school media. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) regularly reads physical books even though holo-novels exist, and the entire crew of the USS Enterprise-D once got addicted to a rather primitive video game. In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 6, “Whistlespeak,” Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Lt. Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) go on an away mission, leaving Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) aboard the USS Discovery. To pass the time, Book plays a combat simulation video game with graphics that look rudimentary even by 21st-century standards.
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Star Trek Has Bad Video Games
Even considering when the shows aired, Star Trek’s in-universe video games look rudimentary.
Star Trek has provided very few examples of the video games of the far future, but the ones that have popped up have been simplistic even for the time in which the show aired. One memorable Star Trek video game appears in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5, episode 6, “The Game,” in which the crew of the USS Enterprise-D become addicted to a strange video game. Using a device attached to the player’s head, the augmented-reality game features brightly colored targets and funnels. While the goal of the game itself is not entirely clear, its addictive nature was orchestrated as an attempt by the Ktarians to take over the Federation.
The video game Booker plays in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 6 appears somewhat more advanced, but it features very simple 2D graphics despite being a product of the 32nd century. When Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) questions why Book doesn’t just use the holodeck for a combat simulation, Book replies that he “can always tell it’s not a real ship.” The game he’s playing, however, looks more like something from 1980s Atari than a 32nd-century combat simulator. It’s possible, and even likely, that other, more advanced video games still exist beyond the holodeck in the world of Star Trek, and that many Starfleet crew members simply don’t have the downtime or desire to play them.
Holodecks Replaced Video Games In Star Trek
Why hit buttons on a controller, when you can be the video game hero?
Star Trek‘s holodecks not only allow people to visit real and fictional locations, but they can also be used as a combat simulator or a shooting gallery. The ability of the holodeck to recreate realistic environments and simulate actual events would render most kinds of video games obsolete. Anything someone could do in a video game, they could do on the holodeck, in a much more realistic setting. After Star Trek: The Next Generation, holodecks seem to have become standard not only on Federation starships but also on space stations such as Deep Space Nine.
On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Quark’s (Armin Shimerman) bar was equipped with holosuites that allowed guests to enjoy the technology (in exchange for some latinum, of course). As time went on, holodeck technology likely became more common among the general population, replacing most other forms of entertainment. Why watch a movie or play a video game on a screen when you could physically participate in the story with the characters? Of all of the technologies in the Star Trek universe, the holodeck is one that many fans would choose to make real, and modern technology does seem to be inching closer to the possibility of something similar.
Star Trek: The Next Generation & Star Trek: Discovery are available to stream on Paramount+.
Star Trek: Discovery
- Cast
-
Sonequa Martin-Green
, Doug Jones
, Anthony Rapp
, Wilson Cruz
, Mary Wiseman
, Blu del Barrio
, Callum Keith Rennie
, Eve Harlow
, Oded Fehr - Release Date
-
September 24, 2017
- Seasons
-
5
- Showrunner
-
Alex Kurtzman
- Where To Watch
-
Paramount+
Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Cast
-
Patrick Stewart
, Marina Sirtis
, Brent Spiner
, Jonathan Frakes
, LeVar Burton
, Wil Wheaton
, Gates McFadden
, Michael Dorn - Release Date
-
September 28, 1987
- Seasons
-
7
- Showrunner
-
Rick Berman
, Michael Piller
, Jeri Taylor - Where To Watch
-
Paramount+
