MTV Games and Harmonix announced today that they have teamed up with Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment to “celebrate” (see: promote) the coming theatrical release of the latest Star Trek film, from director/producer J.J. Abrams. Talk about unusual brand fusion; the companies have put together activities and contest to get promote both the game and the film's May 8 ^th release by giving away free music downloads (in-game), setting up battle of the bands tournaments and a “futuristic avatar contest”. To my fellow Canadians, sorry, but the contest is only open to residents of the United States.

Starting today, players of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of the Rock Band games can register for a 15-day sweepstakes that will be giving away 500 free Rock Band Music Store downloads each day from Tuesday, April 7 ^th through Tuesday, April 21 ^st via the Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Store.

Players of Rock Band 2 will also want to start getting their bands together to prepare for the Star Trek Ultimate Battle. Between Monday, April 20 ^th and Monday, April 27 ^th , bands of three to four players will be able to test their skills and flare against the rest of the Rock Band community in a chance to win a hometown screening of Star Trek for their band and their friends. The band with the highest score at the end of the Star Trek Ultimate Battle will get the screening, while twenty randomly selected players will win a Star Trek / Rock Band prize pack loaded with all kinds of gear from both franchises.

Finally, the whole cross-promotion will culminate on April 27 ^th with an avatar creation contest. Players will be challenged to create a “futuristic” avatar in-game and export it to RockBand.com for the community and Harmonix team to judge. The winning avatar, ultimately chosen by The Duke of Gravity, will get the chance to rock with the Enteprise crew. The winner of the avatar creation contest will be chosen on May 11 ^th and will receive the “The Future is Now” prize pack, including top of the line rock band accessories. Full details are available at www.rockband.com/startrek .