The UpStream (Page 556)

Believe it or not, MTV has made a good decision. There will be no TV series based on the wildly fun and successful game. We have seen rhythm games try and pull off TV series before, and it has never been successful, in the US or Japan. Luckily this will be one of those times we won't have to watch something great get soiled by a stupid idea.

The exciting prospect of Star Trek Online is now over. The developer of the game, Perpetual Entertainment, was recently purchased, and the new owners want to take the game in a new direction. That direction? Casual.

Now, do you know any Trek fans that are casual fans? Not I. Therefore, can you imagine a successful casual Trek game? I'll guess it's the same answer.

Unfortunately, most of the people working on the game have quit because they can see the stupidity. Oh well.

In a move that isn't fooling anyone, Verizon is jumping on the open bandwagon. They have followed the lead of Sprint, and will allow any CDMA handset to join their network by the end of 2008.

Most proponents believe this move will be a first step in the road to having networks like the UK or Japan. However, those networks are more similar to one another than the networks here in the US. Handsets will not really work cross-network as easily as our Japanese counterparts, but we'll see where this goes.

Ever visit the website for the British newspaper The Sun? If not, you missed the weirdest video game ad EVER. EA used two topless girls to promote its new game Need for Speed: Pro Street.

The problem is that the EA execs never approved this ad. They have apologized saying "We regret that these images slipped through the proper EA approval process. They were not appropriate for our brand." Oops.

Do you remember AT&T, the company who thought the idea of a completely locked phone, in the iPhone, would be great? Well, now they have taken a complete 180 and are now considering joining the Open Handset Alliance, whose current major members include Sprint, Google and T-Mobile.

What will happen to the iPhone if AT&T joins the alliance? Will AT&T be successful in making the iPhone open, or will Apple move to another carrier? We'll keep you posted as this keeps going.

Hooray! We will soon be able to buy a stand-alone controller for Guitar Hero 3! Unfortunately it will not be until next year, so while you're on your holiday break from school, you'll have to share with your neighbor, best friend or whoever.

We do not know when, exactly, but the important thing is, they're coming.