Last week, I wrote a little guide about collecting all the available box sets for the Bruce Timm Animated DC Universe, and thought I might do the same for Star Trek. The obvious difference in collecting the Trek universe is that there’s more of it and the box sets are much more expensive. So instead of focusing on the universe consists of, as I did with the DCAU, I’ll give you a hand in finding the cheapest ways to procure the Star Trek box sets and films at the most reasonable prices online– I have found the best prices on Amazon.com. Be sure to check eBay as well– occasionally you’ll find a better deal, but so far, I’ve found Amazon to be much cheaper, especially when you consider shipping. You can get free super-saver shipping on all of these sets, and if you buy from a private user, they’re only about $3.00 apiece to ship. Also, if you don’t mind buying used, be sure to check local Game Stops and Suncoasts for good deals.

Star Trek: The Next Generation was the first series to be released on DVD by season, and they originally cost over $100 a set. While most shows are released between $40 and $60 a season, Star Trek has always been one of the most expensive shows to buy. That’s probably because Paramount knows it’s selling to a very expansive fanbase who will spend more to buy a show they’ve been waiting to have this kind of access to for decades. But now that all five series have been released and a lot of used sets are winding up back on the market, prices are going down. If you haven’t started buying up your favorite series or you’d like to try and own all of it but you couldn’t see spending $100 a set, you’re in luck– right now, it’s not too difficult at all to own every season of Star Trek for less than $50 a box set.

The Next Generation

My advice is to buy an entire series at once, whenever possible. That’s where the best deals seem to be. Last year, a TNG 20th Anniversary box set was released. Not only can you get the whole seven-season run for one price, but it’s a great space-saver because it’s also all in one very pretty box. I own this set and am very pleased with it. It includes evey episode, all the special features from the original season sets, and a disc with several new and interesting featurettes. Originally $455.99, you can pick it up on Amazon.com now for $326.99. Before you accidentally spill your coffee all over your keyboard because that still sounds like a lot of cash, keep in mind that it’s only about $47 a season. Also, watch for deals on all of these sets– very often, a private seller on Amazon will have a brand new set for even less than that. I bought mine for $280. 

The Original Series

Believe it or not, TOS was one of the last series Paramount got around to releasing by season, but it was well worth the wait. These sets have some of the best packaging, the restored picture and sound is very nice, and it includes some of the most intresting special features, including interviews with a lot of producers and crew from the show still living. I managed to find all three seasons packaged together at Suncoast for $150. Right now, Amazon has them for only $107! That’s only $36 a season.

Deep Space Nine

I made the mistake of buying these by season as I found them, so I still have four seasons left to go and I haven’t been able to find them for any less than $50 a season by themselves (I know I said $50 a season isn’t bad, I found the other three used for $35) But you can get the entire series together on Amazon for $237.99. That’s only $34 a season! Now you see why I wished I had waited…

Let me warn you that with DS9, while the special features are as fantastic as on every Trek set and they’re well worth your money, the packaging starts to fall apart after a while. There are a lot of flimsy plastic pieces that pop off. It’s unfortunate, because the presentations of the discs themselves is some of the best– this was the first se to have a book-like case, which flips one disc after another rather than a whole fold-out case where you have to spread the entire thing out to get one disc, as was the case with the first TNG release (the new set as mentioned here is book-like). Again though, still very much worth the money if you love the series.

 Voyager

Voyager is still one of the most expensive to buy new when you find it in stores (next to Enterprise). On Amazon, the entire seven-season runs costs about the same as the TNG set– $334.95. That’s about $48 a season. This is the only series I haven’t picked up yet, so I haven’t found any better deals than that.

Enterprise

This is the one show that remains around the $100 mark a season if you find it new in stores, probably because it’s the most recently produced and released. I just ordered this one and haven’t received it yet, but as I understand it, it’s the only series with outtakes and commentaries. I think it also has the neatest-looking packaging. I bought mine for about $180 on Amazon, but full price right now is $249.98– about $62 a season. At this very moment, however (if you’re reading this weeks after I’ve posted it, this may not still be the case) some private users have it for much cheaper, as low as $178.99.

Movies

There are two releases of each of the films– a single disc, and a double-disc special edition. I highly recommend these later releases because they have a lot of fascinating behind-the-scenes features. Amazon has the entire box-set of the 10 films for $72.99, which is about what I paid for them a year ago. That’s only about $7 a movie, which is very inexpensive.

The Animated Series

It’s not considered part of the Star Trek canon, so you can have a “complete” collection without owning TAS. However, a lot of people have discovered the short-lived 22 episode series through this new box set and were pleasently surprised by it. It was produced in 1973 and includes the voice-talent of the entire original series crew (except for Walter Koenig). This show is on Amazon now for only $36.49.

Star Trek Remastered

The remastered seasons of TOS are also being released in Blue-Ray/DVD box sets by season. You can’t buy them all together yet  but the third season will be released Nov. 18. If you don’t know about these, the remastered episodes are being done by Michael Okuda (Trek visual effects wizard from TNG through Enterprise) who has used CGI to seemlessly improve the visual effects of TOS without distracting from the original work. Things in space (ships, planets, etc) have been completely reimagined, some backgrounds have been added to, but the soundtrack remains the same and very little has been done to anything in the foreground (the aliens all look exactly the same, though the Gorn blinks now). Season 1 is going for $79.99, season 2 for $59.99, and season 3 will be $66.99.

If you go with Amazon’s current prices and buy directly from them instead of a private user, here’s what you would spend total (assuming you don’t already own any of these):

All Five Canon Series: $1256.91

All Five Series w/Remastered instead of TOS: $1356.88

All Five Series + Movies: $1329.90

All Five Series (w/Remasteed instead of TOS) + Movies: $1429.87 

EVERYTHING: $1573.36

Chances are, you don’t have $1600 lying around to blow on Star Trek. But if you buy you favorite series first and work you way backwards slowly, these things are bound to keep going down in price. If you had bought each of these by season when they first came out, i would cost you several thousand dollars to own the entire canon.

And just think about how many hours of entertainment you’re getting. Just counting the regular canon, there are 703 episodes. If you watched one episode every day, it would take you two years to watch everything. And if you did nothing but watch Star Trek without sleeping, it would take you just under three weeks.

LLAP

-Cap’n Logan

Got a Wii but can’t seem to find a decent online game? Trust me, I’ve been there. Nintendo’s latest phenom has continually been selling like hotcakes, but there’s just one problem – a severe lack of online consideration. Although Nintendo has recently been more on the ball in its online department with games like Mario Kart Wii, it still has certain cracks to fill. So, as a result of Nintendo’s frustratingly online inept games (face it everyone hates friend codes), I’ve decided to string together this list of Wii’s BEST online games to date. Because let’s face it, they are few and far between.

P.S. this list excludes your typical sports games (i.e. Fifa, Madden, NBA Live, etc.).

Battalion Wars 2

Battalion Wars 2, the sequel to Advance Wars, features a complete multiplayer mode via Nintendo’s Wi-Fi connection. The game itself boasts three separate online multiplayer styles: skirmish, assault and cooperative. Skirmish mode essentially is a deathmatch where you play against a friend – last man standing kind of deal. Assault challenges you to successfully complete a series of objectives in order to advance – typically one player invades while the other tries to defend under set circumstances. And lastly, cooperative mode teams you up with your online counter part.

Although these three Wi-Fi modes sound great, they do have their share of flaws. For example, you don’t actually play through the legitimate single-player campaign with an online buddy. Instead, the two of you play through four specific levels. However, my biggest complaints with Battalion War 2’s online stems from, once again, a lack of voice chat (via the non-existent Wii headset) as well as the fact that only two people can play online (you can’t play online with two people per television in a 2-v-2 style war). Without voice chat you have no way of verbally communicating with your friend, therefore feeling virtually cut off from the action. However, if you were a fan of Advance Wars on the DS then you’ll feel right at home with Battalion War 2.

Medal of Honor: Heroes 2

Medal of Honor Heroes 2 supports a 32-player online offering, which includes your standard deathmatch, team deathmatch and capture the flag modes. All you have to do is log into EA Nation, create an account (which takes the place of the dreaded friend codes – thank God), find a lobby and finally, start the shooting. During online play, you can at any time initiate a vote to boot players or change maps, weapons, and/or control style. Overall, the options provided via MoHH2’s online modes help make the experience as enjoyable and as seamless as possible. Players still don’t have voice chat, which once again sucks, but they do have access to quick-chat commands and friend lists. However, what’s even more annoying is that PSP MoHH2 owners have access to a quick in-game chat system allowing custom messages to be typed – Wii owners have no such function. Nintendo wouldn’t want anyone to talk dirty now would they?

Guitar Hero III

I’m not going to go into much detail about Guitar Hero III’s online mode because it’s pretty straight forward, but I’ll give you the skinny. GHIII’s online modes are almost identical to the regular friend-in-the-living-room multiplayer modes. You can play face-offs, pro face-offs, battle mode and cooperative mode all online. With over 70 plus tracks to rock out on, Guitar Hero III is a solid buy online or off for anyone wanting to axe battle a complete stranger or your best friend.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In Brawl, the online mode allows players the choice to register their friend’s Brawl codes and play them, or players can choose to compete in a match with up to three complete strangers. It sounds like a pretty awesome idea on the surface, yet when you actually explore the “with anyone” online multiplayer there are several leaky holes. For starters, players once again have to input those dreaded friend codes into their Brawl’s save memory just to play each other. People have been griping about Wii’s friend codes ever since the Nintendo stated it would go online, and I don’t see Nintendo answering any of those pleas to cut the friend code nonsense in the near future. Another thing that really bothers me is the customization differences between friend matches and matches with anyone. In friend matches players can customize the type of Brawl – time match, live stock, team battle or coin match, as well as being able to customize short text messages on the controller that appear when a player uses their character’s taunts. You literally have access to everything you would if you were playing a multiplayer match with three buddies on your couch – which leads me to my next point.

Another benefit of friend matches is that multiple players can play online via one Wii. You can have up to three players on one Wii while you’re connected to your friend on his/ her own Wii. These areas of customization really help add to the fun factor of online matches, and that is exactly why it’s a shame these same areas of customization aren’t allowed via matches “with anyone” (strangers). You can’t customize the match type, you can’t send short text messages and you can’t even have multiple people on the same Wii playing with you in matches with anyone – my biggest complaint by far. Nintendo really fell short in terms of customization when playing matches with strangers. I mean you’re completely bound to playing two minute matches – lame! There’s no ranking system, the matches are often very laggy, unless you plan on playing at 3 in the morning, and lastly, you can’t even exchange your own name or Brawl code with strangers online. So, even if you finally get a good online match going with some strangers, you can’t even exchange your friend code with them to play again later – you’ll simply never play them again once you disconnect. Nintendo really had a chance to shine in terms of its online content for Brawl, and although the matches with registered friends play great and are completely customizable, the matches “with anyone” simply suck. Oh, and not to mention that Nintendo once again didn’t include online voice chat via a headset for Brawl. What the hell Nintendo! What…the …hell.

Mario Kart Wii

Just when people were beginning to count Nintendo out for its sub-par online content, Mario Kart Wii emerged and saved the day. Mario Kart Wii quite possibly provides players looking for online challengers the smoothest and most robust gameplay of any online Wii game to date. Players looking for online matches simply hop onto MK’s Wi-Fi service and within seconds are connected with up to 12 challengers worldwide or regional. Once on the network you can choose to either race in a Grand Prix or duke it out in Battle Mode. Both modes run as smooth as skim milk and are a hell of a lot of fun. In either mode, you get to select which stage you want to race or which arena you want to do battle. Then, the computer randomly takes everyone’s stage selection and picks one automatically. Let’s just say it’s like a game of probability. The more people that pick a certain stage have a better chance of getting to play that particular stage.

Personally, I’m more of a Grand Prix man myself, so that’s where I spend most of my time behind the wheel. In Grand Prix mode players aren’t necessarily awarded a ranking, yet a points system is in place. Whether you’re starting off in Battle mode or Grand Prix, players begin with 5000 points and according to how you place in either mode your score goes either up or down. These points allow other players to visually see (before racing or battling) how good or bad their opponents will stack up. However, this is Mario Kart and just about anything can happen. You could be in first place the entire race and then miraculously blow it because of two back-to-back blue shells in the last lap.

There’s even a specific Mario Kart Wii channel that allows players access to current regional and worldwide rankings. On the MK channel players also have the option of sending and/or downloading saved time trials and checking to see if friends are currently online.

Overall, Mario Kart Wii has one of, if not the best online offerings on the Wii yet. I’ve never had a race or battle lag and the game’s content runs deep. Oh, and it’s one of the few online Wii games that supports two players per television. So you, and a buddy, can share in the glory of sniping someone with a green shell just before the finish line.

Mario Strikers Charged

Lastly, on my list of Wii’s greatest online contributions comes Mario Strikers Charged. In my humble opinion, Charged is the most rounded out online game that the Wii offers – especially to the more hardcore gamers. The game itself has so much going on that it will easily take hours of play to simply get accustomed to. Next Level games did a fabulous job of creating a genuinely enjoyable, yet challenging experience.

Mario Strikers Charged’s online modes feature customized character selection and the ability to select a regional or worldwide opponent, similar to that of Mario Kart. Charged also allows customized friend matches where you and a pal can set up a match to your preferred specifics. Once inside a regional or worldwide match, a stage is selected at random, and you play your assigned opponent in a best two out of three series. If you win a match, you’re awarded ten points in addition to however many goals you scored. If you lose a match, you’re awarded one point in addition to however many goals you scored. The match system is great because sometimes a person may get lucky and take the first game from you (maybe by a mega strike), but because it’s the best two out of three series you know you’ve got two more chances to bring your “A” game.

Another great facet of Charged is the addition of online team play. That’s correct, you and a friend can go 2-v-2 online, and the game will actually keep your record as a team just as it would if you were playing solo. And let me tell you right here and now! Mario Strikers Charged is definitely the most fun TEAM GAME to play online. My old roommate and I lost many hours of our lives due to this game’s addictive online play. I’m telling you, if you want a fun two player online game, Charged is it.

However, the coolest thing about Charged is that it actually keeps a ranking system that resets every week (at the start of the next tournament). The minute you log on you can see who the leader of the day is (points-wise) and you can see exactly where you stack up in the rankings. But wait, it gets better. Not only can you see how many points you have and what place you’re in on the rankings list, but the game also keeps track of your wins and losses (both overall and weekly). What really gets me is the fact that Mario Strikers Charged is an older Wii game – one of the very first online titles, and it still holds up as one of the best. No other first party Wii game (Nintendo published) has as an intricate scoring system as Charged. Nintendo has repeatedly said that games are for fun and that a scoring system would discourage certain gamers from wanting to play. I say screw that! If players don’t want to see how bad they’re doing on a rankings list then don’t play online. It’s as simple as that. Hell, if anything else it will teach them a lesson in humility – winning isn’t everything. It’s good to get powned once in awhile.

As always, thanks for reading,

-Dillon (D-Dub)