By TronFAQ on Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 9:30 PM
The full length trailer for the TRON Legacy game was shown tonight on the 2009 Spike TV VGA Awards. Surprisingly, the new trailer contained very little content from the previous brief one. So the screenshots I took in a previous article are still some of the only clues as to what we can expect in the game.
Even more surprisingly, the game is going to be called TRON Evolution instead of the more logical and expected TRON Legacy: The Game.
The trailer has confirmed that Disney's Propaganda Games division is working on the game. Something that's been long suspected. But still no commitment to platforms.
Notice that the trailer contains the phrase "Before the Legacy starts". This implies the events of the game probably take place just before the movie sequel.
If I find a source for a higher quality version of the video in the future, I'll update this article. Thanks still go out to Tocen for the original video on YouTube, and HooDooMan for finding it.
UPDATE 1: The inevitable high quality version of the trailer has appeared on GameTrailers.com and I've embedded it above. Platforms have now been confirmed. PC, 360, and PS3. Just like I said in this previous article.
Now as long as Disney and Propaganda don't hand off the PC version to be ported by a terrible studio such as Aspyr (like they did with the awful PC version of Turok), maybe there's hope yet.
Then again, aside from the usual stupid and lame comments you'd expect to find on GameTrailers: one stood out that got my attention.
I'm proud to say I have a friend that's doing effective work on this game. I'm actually curious to see how this'll turn out in the end. (yes, they're outsourcing graphics work to Romania studios...imagine that) - Comment from user SlaveZero on GameTrailers.com
Hmm, not sure what to make of that. I'll take it with a grain of salt, but sounds like they're outsourcing to shave costs already. Not necessarily a good sign for a PC version (done on the cheap), or the game as a whole regardless of version.
UPDATE 2: Disney Interactive issued a press release today (December 14th, 2009) about the game. I read "Holiday 2010" as being around Thanksgiving time (late November to early December).
December 14, 2009 06:00 AM Eastern Time
The Game Grid Awaits New Combatants -- Disney Interactive Studios Announces TRON: Evolution, the Video Game
Video Game Will Provide One of the Keys to Unlocking TRON Mythology before the Opening of Major 2010 Action Adventure Film – “TRON: Legacy”
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The digital world of TRON is awaiting a new participant. Disney Interactive Studios today announced the development of TRON: Evolution, the video game. TRON: Evolution is an action/adventure game being created for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC. Developed by Propaganda Games, Disney Interactive Studios’ action and role-playing game studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, TRON: Evolution is scheduled for release in Holiday 2010 before the “TRON: Legacy” film arrives in theaters.
Set during the era between the two TRON films, TRON: Evolution conveys the story of significant events within the TRON mythology. The game features an epic adventure across a massive digital world filled with high-mobility disc-based combat and advanced light cycles.
TRON: Evolution is one of the keys to unlocking the TRON mythology. The game’s story takes place before the “TRON: Legacy” events and provides insight into the film’s past. As an integrated entertainment experience, the film will reference elements of the game’s story. Fans will want to play the game to learn more about the TRON mythology seen in the film, but each entertainment experience will stand on its own.
“We expect TRON: Evolution to be a premier action-focused game that both stands on its own and supplements a major event film,” said Dan Tudge, vice president and general manager, Propaganda Games. “Because Propaganda Games is based in Vancouver, which was the site of the film’s principal photography, we were able to leverage the proximity to continuously collaborate with the filmmakers and ensure authenticity between the two projects.”
“TRON: Legacy” film director Joseph Kosinski consulted on the vision for the debut video game trailer, which includes computer graphics that were created by the same company that will provide the film’s CG animations. Kosinski will advise on the game’s vision during 2010 to ensure accuracy with the film. In addition to directing “TRON: Legacy,” Kosinski is renowned in the video games industry as having directed prolific feature film-quality game trailers for major product releases.
“The collaboration between the video game development studio and the film creators is exceptional,” said Sean Bailey, producer, “TRON: Legacy.” “From the ongoing discussions between the filmmakers and the game developers, TRON: Evolution should enhance and expand the mythology and the world of ‘TRON: Legacy.’”
As part of the connection between the game and film, actress Olivia Wilde stars as Quorra in TRON: Evolution. Wilde’s voice and likeness as Quorra will provide players with another direct link to the film as they discover how earlier events within the world of TRON shape her character’s future.
“TRON is the most revered video game-inspired film property of all time,” said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. “TRON: Evolution, the video game, will enhance the TRON experience for existing fans of the franchise as well as an entirely new audience.”
TRON: Evolution and “TRON: Legacy” are brand new entries in the TRON franchise, updating the unique world for this millennium. The cross-platform franchise being created around the “TRON: Legacy” film will transcend media platforms throughout Disney. The revolutionary 1982 film “TRON” catapulted video games into mainstream consciousness and contributed to the industry’s rapid growth and global success. The original film inspired arcade games and video game releases, making TRON a highly successful multi-format franchise.
TRON: Evolution is Rating Pending from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).
About “TRON: Legacy” “TRON: Legacy” is a 3D high-tech adventure set in a digital world that’s unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the digital world of TRON where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin’s loyal confidant Quorra (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey of escape across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous. “TRON: Legacy” is scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 17, 2010.
About Propaganda Games Propaganda Games is Disney Interactive Studios’ premier action and role-playing game developer. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Propaganda specializes in great stories, immersive worlds and meaningful choices. Propaganda created the platinum-selling 2008 game Turok and is currently developing two major releases slated for 2010: Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned and TRON: Evolution. Propaganda was founded in 2005 and acquired by Disney the same year. For more information, log on to http://www.propagandagames.com.
About Disney Interactive Studios Disney Interactive Studios, part of Disney Interactive Media Group, is the interactive entertainment affiliate of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS). Disney Interactive Studios self publishes and distributes a broad portfolio of multi-platform video games, mobile games and interactive entertainment worldwide. The company also licenses properties and works directly with other interactive game publishers to bring products for all ages to market. Disney Interactive Studios is based in Glendale, California, and has internal development studios around the world. For more information, log on to http://www.disneyinteractivestudios.com.
I've taken a bunch of screenshots from the teaser, because it's incredibly brief and things flash by so fast you hardly have time to process them.
It's way too early and this teaser is way too brief, for me to get excited over this. A split-second trailer doesn't really tell me anything. Pre-release hype for games doesn't work on me any more. I've been disappointed too many times. Now I wait for a game to be released and read user reviews, not magazine/site reviews which often take payola for high scores.
And there's no confirmation of platforms at this time. Though the rumor is that it's coming to the PC, 360, and PS3 and will be an Unreal engine game made by Propaganda Games, which is owned by Disney Interactive. You can read a bit more about early rumors regarding the game, in a previous article.
Based on Disney's past support and customer relations, I don't hold out a lot of hope for the PC version of the game. If there is one at all. If they farm it out to Aspyr to be ported, like they did with Turok, then I'm not interested. Come on game industry, don't disappoint me. Do a decent PC version of a game for a change and stop dicking PC gamers around. We're talking about TRON here. How sad would it be to have a game about entering into personal computers and mainframes, and then the game isn't even on the PC.
If there's anything positive I have to say about this teaser, it's that the graphics remind me a lot of TRON 2.0. Notice how the virus programs look a lot like the z-Lots and Rector Scripts, the Red programs with staffs look like ICPs and MCP Guards, and how the programs (which seem to be doing Disc combat) look like they're in a Disc Arena.
Thanks to ShadowDragon1 for finding this, and thanks to Tron Wiki for the MCP Guard image.
As you can tell, I haven't updated this site since August. There are a lot of reasons for that. One of which has to do with trying to get the TRON 2.0: Killer App Mod done before the end of the year. I won't bore you with all the excuses, though.
I'll be posting one news item today, and I'll try to catch up on all the TRON Legacy sequel news over the next month or so. I'll also try not to let my updates on the sequel lapse again for so long, as well as post some other newsworthy items. I apologize to all of you who have sent me news items that I never got around to looking at. I will follow up on as many of them as I can. But this site now takes a lower priority until the work on the TRON 2.0 mod is done and some other events going on in my life are less hectic.
Thank you to everyone who has visited this site in the past, and who may still be visiting. It started off mainly as a site to support the TRON 2.0 PC game, since Disney couldn't be bothered to support it themselves after a short time. Seems that no matter how good a game is: if it doesn't sell millions of copies within a couple of months of release these days, it gets chucked in the rubbish bin and forgotten. Disgusting, really.
Then this site gradually expanded to cover all aspects of TRON entertainment and fandom. Including the TRON Legacy sequel, of course. For a while, I like to think that with the help of the fans, I was keeping the most up to date news on the film of almost any site. I'd like to try and regain that position in the coming weeks, and hopefully stay on top of things from then on.
Thanks again for visiting. I hope to provide TRON fandom with continued useful information you may not find anywhere else.
UPDATE 1: At the time I'm writing this, it's July 22nd, 2009. The day before the second trailer for the TRON sequel is rumored to be shown at the 2009 San Diego Comicon.
There has been an absolute flood of new information today, which I expect to continue over the next several days. I'll do my best to cover every bit of news that I can find. But as I do this in my spare time, it can be difficult keeping up with it all. It's sometimes hard to compete with the more established news sites. I think you'll find, though, that fan sites — like this one — tend to find and cover news and rumors about the TRON sequel that the larger sites don't.
There's so much news, that it's difficult to know where to start. Well, before I begin with all the latest news, I want to share some information I've been withholding for close to a year.
The following portion of this update has been removed. Perhaps one day, long down the road, the information this update contained can be spoken of once again.
UPDATE 2: Over at the MTV Movies Blog they interview Sean Bailey, one of the producers on the sequel. Here's a quote from the most notable part of the article.
That visual test showed off a high-tech clip of a lightcycle race—a take on one of the many iconic scenes from the original film—and the crowd went wild. Cut to 2009: with the “Tron” shoot having wrapped in Vancouver just a week ago, the task for filmmakers is both the same and quite different: everyone is well aware of a new “Tron” and there’s not a ton of complete footage available to show off.
No matter though! Bailey promises new looks, surprise appearances and—fingers crossed!—a peek at the 3-D visuals of the new flick.
“We just don’t have that much finished stuff available,” Bailey explained. “We hope to have a trick or two up our sleeves that will make the panel worth attending and have a few new things to let people know about. We might be seeing some 3-D.”
It's not only that the movie finished filming mere days ago. This new "Tron" is also just incredibly CG-oriented, and the digital post-production process won’t be finished for another year, Bailey said.
- Eric Ditzian, from MTV Movies Blog article where he interviews TRON sequel co-producer Sean Bailey
So according to the article, there's the possibility that unannounced guests and other surprises may be in store during the Disney panel at the 2009 San Diego Comicon. So far, only Sean Bailey and TRON director Steven Lisberger have been confirmed as guests.
Bailey is also asked about the sequel's title, and comments: “I think we’ll be clearing that up pretty soon”. Is it possible then, that the final title of the sequel will be announced at Comicon. Let's hope so.
According to rumor, the title might finally end up as TRON 2. Apparently, Bruce Boxleitner was seen at a recent London film and comic convention wearing a shirt with TRON 2 logos on it. It's possible this may have just been another placeholder title used at the time the shirt was made, though.
This would be a laugh, considering all the variations that have been gone through. That they'd end up going with what was the obvious choice, right from the start! TR2N and TRON 2.0 also would be good choices, though. Meanwhile, simply TRON (leading to confusion with the original film), TRON: Insert-Subtitle-here, and TRZ are awful.
Thanks to deadly_cookie and rustiswordz for the tips.
UPDATE 3: Yesterday (July 21st, 2009), Disney began a viral marketing and ARG campaign in advance of the TRON presentation at the San Diego Comicon.
The sites SlashFilm, Collider.com, IGN, UGO, Film School Rejects, Coming Soon, First Showing, and JoBlo.com have all stated that they received mysterious packages containing new Flynn's Arcade tokens, and USB flash drives with pictures stored on them that contained some kind of code. Each site was randomly sent one of 5 pictures that all needed to be pieced together in order to help decipher the code. The pictures can be seen below.
And over on the UGO Movie Blog, Jordan Hoffman created a video where he talks about and shows himself holding one of the Flynn's Arcade tokens.
The following part of this update contains massive spoilers, so you may want to stop reading here!
After deciphering the code, it was discovered that it contained the message "Flynn Lives". If you visit the URL www.flynnlives.com, here's what you'll find.
Click each picture to view a larger version
The site includes a timeline of events in Kevin Flynn's life, and some fictional articles from various press sources, that explain what happened to Flynn after the original TRON film.
1989 -- Kevin Flynn alleged to "disappear." Initial facts raise many questions. Many of us were suspicious.
1990 -- Sightings of Kevin Flynn by ordinary citizens, including high-credibility "Level 3" sightings of Flynn in NYC's Central Park during a Shakespeare Festival, on the fringes of a San Francisco street fair, and the notorious "Elvira" sighting of Kevin Flynn at Halloween celebrations in West Hollywood, California. Unfortunately, these initial sightings display certain characteristics true to this day -- nothing has been confirmed and photographic evidence has been lacking.
1992 -- Sightings continue. Several of us make contact thru Usenet and begin correspondence.
1994 -- First Flynn Lives! meet-up in Dayton, Ohio. We resolve to continue our efforts to find out the facts behind the mysterious disappearance.
1998 -- Letter from Kevin Flynn to a founding member of the group gains media attention, then debunked. Founding member (now ex-member) checks into a mental hospital for observations.
2001 -- A $5,000 award is offered to anybody who can prove Kevin Flynn is alive. By December 31st, alas, nobody had satisfied our jury and the money was spent on a great party for all of the "Troniacs" we know and love!
2002 - 2005 -- An era of low visibility for our group. Sightings drop off, and interest seems to slacken. Thank heavens that is over!
2007 -- Interest picks up as the "Albino Cow" Flynn sighting in southern New Jersey energizes a new generation of activists.
Click each picture to view a larger version
1985 -- Kevin Flynn retires from ENCOM to create "a digital frontier which will reshape the human condition."
1989 -- Kevin Flynn disappears. Since that time, ENCOM has grown to become the largest computer technology company in the world, but its creative heart is missing.
Widowed since 1985, Flynn has kept his romantic life out of the press ever since.
Since his [Flynn's] infamous departure, no one has filled the void, but the EnCom corporation has subsisted on a backlog of ideas, sketches, and programs rifled from Flynn's personal files.
When COO Alan Bradley stepped down in protest of this practice - what he characterized as "grave robbing" - skeptics again theorized that it would be the end of EnCom.
In 1989, Kevin Flynn disappeared. For those of you following previous updates, this is nothing new. The general plot of the sequel has been known for months. But the timeline and fictional articles do reveal some new specific details about what happened to Flynn, Alan, and Encom, between the end of the film and now.
If you click on the moving spider (from the TRON Arcade game) at the bottom of the site, it opens a window with a timer counting down to 9:30 PM Pacific Time on January 23rd, 2009. A message there states "Meet us at the cul de sac near the corner of 1st and J when the numbers run out. You’ll know who we are."
Many believe what will happen, is that people who show up at a certain location tomorrow near the San Diego convention center, will be led to what possibly turns out to be a real life version of Flynn's Arcade to help promote the sequel. The Terms of Use page on the site, lists an address that is near to the convention center and the meeting location. Could this be where the potential Flynn's Arcade will be located? Whatever it turns out to be, it will be interesting to find out.
On one of the Flynn's Arcade tokens, it has the phrase "Home of TRON" imprinted on it. As it turns out, if you visit the URL www.homeoftron.com, you'll find another site.
Click each picture to view a larger version
On this page, they have mockup images of a Space Paranoids arcade cabinet, and a screenshot from Flynn's game "Vice Squad" which we never saw in the original TRON film. Very nice.
To whichever marketing team came up with this viral campaign: I salute you. It remains very true to the spirit of the original TRON film, and shows that someone did their homework when they researched the history of both the film, and events in the field of technology since the film appeared in theaters. Comparing Flynn to industry leaders like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, and likening Encom to be as big or even bigger than Microsoft, is sure to warm the hearts of technology geeks everywhere.
I'm not sure that TRON fans would refer to themselves as "Troniacs" or "Tron-heads", though. ;)
Just for fun, I snooped through the code of both sites looking for any hidden surprises. The only thing I could find when I checked earlier, is that there's some javascript code for handling video that currently isn't being used. So it's possible that some videos, or perhaps even the new Comicon 2009 TRON sequel trailer, may appear on the Flynn Lives site.
Doing a domain name lookup for both www.flynnlives.com and www.homeoftron.com leads to disappointment, as both sites have been registered by proxy. Meaning, that either Disney or their marketing company don't want you to know who exactly was responsible for these sites. However, one curious thing to note is that both sites are hosted by Amazon.com. Amazon does provide backend services such as cloud computing and hosting, though. So this makes some sense.
UPDATE 4: I'm going to pack several smaller news items into this update.
G4TV will be covering some of the events at the 2009 San Diego Comicon, and broadcasting them on their channel. So there is a possibility that what goes on at the Disney panel may be shown, including any TRON related news.
It's been rumored that the TRON sequel trailer shown at Comicon tomorrow, will also be shown together with James Cameron's Avatar when it debuts in December of this year. Avatar will be another 3-D CGI extravaganza of a film, so it makes a lot of sense to attach a TRON trailer to be presented before the film's opening credits. Let's just hope we don't have to wait until Avatar to see the TRON trailer again . . .
Over at Aint-it-Cool News, they have a picture of Jeff Bridges doing his impression of "The Dude" from The Big Lebowski, doing his impersonation of CLU in TRON. Or, something like that. It's one hillarious picture. :)
Thanks to Maxiekat for all of the above tips.
UPDATE 5: The MTV Movies Blog has another interview with TRON producer Sean Bailey.
In the interview, Bailey states that the film is a sequel but it's "stand-alone". Meaning that you won't need to have seen the first film, in order to follow along in the sequel. It will be mostly self-contained. But he goes on to reassure that the film will "honor the original" by featuring (updated) versions of the Light Cycles, Tanks, and more. This is the first time Tanks have been confirmed to be in the film.
. . . producer Sean Bailey confirmed to MTV News, will honor the roots of the original—lightcycles, tanks and more—while acting as what he termed a “stand-alone sequel.”
“You don’t have to know the ’82 movie to come in and appreciate and enjoy this one,” he explained. “That said, we accept what happened in the ’82 movie happened in ’82. Our movie is set in 2010. We built a mythology that spans the intervening 28 years of, ‘Here’s what we think happened with Kevin Flynn and with [nefarious software corporation] ENCOM and all those principle characters. Here’s what we think happened inside the Tron universe and in the real world.”
In this mythology, Flynn disappeared in 1989. While there are a lot of theories as to what happened to him, no trace of the former computer programmer has been found. His son Sam (Garrett Hedlund)—a gifted tech geek himself—grows up never knowing what happened to his father.
“At the beginning of the movie, [Sam is] given a clue or a prompt and starts to investigate, which leads him into the Tron universe,” Bailey said. “And things have really changed.”
Of course, much has remained the same. Lightcyles, tanks and other vehicles—souped-up, cutting-edge versions of course—play important roles in the film. Bailey also said fans can expect the appearance of some completely new vehicles.
Bruce Boxleitner, who played ENCOM employee Alan Bradley and—within the electronic world—Tron himself, also figures prominently into the story. While the story kicks off in the real world, the majority of the film takes place in the Tron universe.
“It’s a darker universe than the original, and there’s a lot of intensity,” said Bailey. “It is a Disney movie. I think most likely we’re on the harder edge of PG. [But] our ambition was to make a movie that [adults] were as excited to see as an eight-year-old boy.”
- Eric Ditzian, from MTV Movies Blog article where he interviews TRON sequel co-producer Sean Bailey
The mention that Encom is a "nefarious software corporation" has my interest piqued. Also, it seems that the name of Garrett Hedlund's character is indeed "Sam" Flynn now, instead of "Sean" Flynn. Too bad. Though, I suppose I'll get used to it.
The mention that Bruce Boxleitner "figures prominently into the story" is interesting. According to rumor, Bruce himself has said that he only had a "small part" compared to TRON alumnus and sequel co-star, Jeff Bridges. This rumor makes it sound like Bruce will only be playing Alan Bradley, and not TRON at all. This jibes with an earlier update I posted.
Thanks again to Maxiekat, and nick-meredith, for the latter info about the Bruce Boxleitner rumor.
UPDATE 6:Cinema Blend is reporting that executives at IMAX, are hoping to bring the TRON sequel to IMAX screens. The article doesn't state whether this will be in regular IMAX, or IMAX 3D. One would hope the latter!
And I completely forgot to mention, that there is a rumor that the TRON sequel is confirmed for a Christmas 2010 release by Bruce Boxleitner.
Thanks to Maxiekat and nick-meredith for the tip about the Christmas 2010 release.
UPDATE 7: In addition to covering the 2009 San Diego Comicon on television, G4TV will also be covering various events on their web site with streaming videos.
Fortunately, one of those events is the Disney 3D panel where the TRON sequel trailer will be shown, and where Sean Bailey and TRON director Steven Lisberger will be talking. And who knows what other surprise guests may show up . . .
The Disney panel stream will start at 10:45 AM Pacific Time, which is 1:45 PM Eastern Time. I don't think G4's video stream of the Disney panel will show the trailer. It will probably be limited to the speeches. Still, it's definitely something to look forward to!
Thanks to TRON.dll for the tip.
UPDATE 8: Thanks to some detective work by Neuromancer, it's pretty much confirmed now that the mysterious "Meet us at the cul de sac near the corner of 1st and J when the numbers run out. You’ll know who we are." message on the www.flynnlives.com site (mentioned in a previous update) will lead the people who gather there to a re-creation of Flynn's Arcade.
Near the address on the Terms of Use page on the Flynn Lives site, is a building that looks very similar to the building used as Flynn's Arcade in the original TRON film.
Thanks again to Neuromancer for his excellent sleuthing skills.
UPDATE 9: The www.flynnlives.com site has been updated. There's a new message there with a link to a map, showing exactly where to meet tonight for the Flynn's Arcade event. I guess the marketing team realized their instructions were a bit . . . cryptic.
Thanks to Overmind for the tip.
UPDATE 10: The title of the sequel is TRON Legacy! Here are all the best photos I was able to find in my various searches.
Thanks to Alan1 for the tip about the first video.
UPDATE 12:Mr. Sinistar has found a bootleg video of the 2009 San Diego Comicon TRON Legacy panel. Many thanks to him for this score!
Watch the video now, before Disney swoops in and has it pulled. If you want to save and keep it, use a plug-in like DownloadHelper in Firefox.
As for the "Flynn Lives" viral get together, so far it sounds nowhere near as exciting as everyone thought. It's some kind of scavenger hunt, where people need to shine black light on special posters, to make invisible ink glow to find clues. What those clues will lead to, I don't think anyone knows yet. (I'm writing this at just after 10:00 PM Pacific Time, so the viral get together has only been going on for about half an hour.)
It might lead to a re-created Flynn's Arcade, or it might not, judging by this snapshot of one of the posters on the right.
Yes, the Flynn's Arcade re-creation is real! I feel glad for all the people who went, because I was beginning to get a bit worried that maybe they were wasting their time chasing around easter eggs that lead to nothing.
And what's this . . . a Space Paranoids machine, specially made for the event?
More pictures and videos! They had a life-sized model of a Light Cycle in the Arcade! Holy crap.
Thanks to Simbeau and Mr. Sinistar for the tips regarding the pictures, videos, and what the viral meet up was all about. And to davecobb for providing the videos; kateyrich, mrbosslady, and First Showing for providing the photos!
You know that music in the third video where the Light Cycle is revealed at the Flynn's Arcade? Sounds like it could be Daft Punk, right? Well, the same music can be heard faintly in the bootleg TRON Legacy panel video. This strongly suggests it is, indeed, music from Daft Punk that's going to be in the film.
UPDATE 13: I have three more videos of the Flynn's Arcade viral event, plus two brief bootleg excerpts of Jeff Bridges and Olivia Wilde speaking at the TRON Legacy panel. A couple of these videos have profanity in them, so they would probably not be considered safe for work.
Thanks to devincf and supercoolgeek11 for posting these videos, and to Mr. Sinistar for the tip that lead to finding one of them.
UPDATE 14: I found some more pictures from the Flynn's Arcade viral event.
Thanks to Mr. Sinistar for the tip on where to find them, and saturnine for providing them.
Later, I might be able to post some high resolution close-up photos of the Light Cycle if I can get permission from a friend.
UPDATE 15: Last night at the Flynn's Arcade viral event (July 23rd, 2009), it was discovered if you shone a black light on to the back of Flynn's Arcade T-shirts that were being given away, there was invisible ink with what turned out to be a web site URL.
People playing the specially created Space Paranoids game at the event, would apparently see codes on the screen if they played long enough, as seen on the right.
As of the time I'm writing this, 4 of the 5 unlock codes have been found. The unlocks provide differently scrambled pictures, that when pieced together will reveal a high resolution picture of the new Light Cycle. There are also sound clips from the character of Flynn. Once all 5 codes have been found, I'll post the Light Cycle picture and all the sound clips.
The Flynn's Arcade will apparently at least be open until Saturday July 25th, and an update as seen on the right from the www.flynnlives.com site states that the Arcade will be open again tonight (July 24th) starting at 9:00 PM Pacific Time.
Thanks to Mr. Sinistar, VRAM, and Tron 3.0 for their tips, and thebruce0 for providing two of the pictures.
UPDATE 16: The official TRON Legacy web site has recently gone live! See it for yourself.
The site has a survey you can take to let them know whether or not you like the site, and a way to sign up for news updates.
Thanks to VRAM for the tip.
UPDATE 17: The test footage concept trailer from last year, and shown again this year at the TRON panel at the 2009 San Diego Comicon, is the unlock reward for finding all the Space Paranoids codes from the Flynn's Arcade viral event!
Finally, no more crappy bootleg of last year's trailer! And the trailer positively confirms a 2010 release date.
Thanks to Fygee for the tip!
UPDATE 18: Since all 5 unlock codes were found for the Flynn Lives Derez page — which is how the test footage concept trailer from last year became available — I've created a video that lets you see the completed Light Cycle picture that was made from the scrambled ones, and listen to all of the audio clips from Kevin Flynn.
You can download the completed high resolution picture from this link.
Thanks go out to Chris Carlozzi (aka Elev8tor) for completing the Light Cycle image from the scrambled ones.
And just for the record, here's what the completely unlocked Derez page and trailer page look like.
UPDATE 19:JoBlo.com has a fantastic interview with TRON Legacy producer Sean Bailey and director Joseph Kosinski, that's almost 10 minutes long.
Highlights of the interview are a remark from Kosinski saying that the Light Cycle race in the concept footage trailer is just a "sliver" of what to expect in the final film, and Bailey confirms that Jeff Bridges plays a dual role. (Namely, Flynn and CLU.)
MTV Movies Blog also has a video interview, with cast members Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde, and Garrett Hedlund. But you need to be a U.S. resident in order to view it. International fans are out of luck. Lame! (Of course, there are ways around the IP check they do to determine if you're in the U.S.)
UPDATE 21: Here's a brief video showing the start of the 2009 San Diego Comicon TRON panel, with Jeff Bridges.
Thanks to SnuggleBubble05 for the video.
UPDATE 22: Fellow LDSO member and friend zook_one has provided me with some of his photos from Flynn's Arcade on Thursday night. Below are the high resolution photos of the Light Cycle that I mentioned I might be able to post, in a previous update.
Zook_one has taken some of the clearest, highest quality, most detailed close-up photos of the Light Cycle that I've seen anywhere. I'm very thankful to him for providing me with them!
UPDATE 23: The www.flynnlives.com site has been updated yet again. It mentions how the arcade will be open tonight once more (July 25th, 2009), and there's also a button you can click to sign up for news updates. These updates will probably be similar to — if not the same as — the updates you'll get by signing up at the TRON Legacy film web site.
Thanks to TechFalcon for the tip.
UPDATE 24: Hope you're not sick of pictures and videos of Flynn's Arcade, because I still have more! But this will probably be the last update regarding the arcade. Unless I find out when it closes, or if it's going to stay open a while longer.
The first few photos are some celeb pictures, of the cast and crew in the Arcade. They must have visited there for a photo session, before heading over to the San Diego convention center.
Thanks to Cinema Blend and io9 as sources for the majority of the pictures, Daddyo for more pictures and two of the videos, and GeekFilterNet for one of them.
UPDATE 25: G4TV has a brief video interview with Jeff Bridges and Olivia Wilde. The TRON segment begins at the 2:24 mark. You may want to skip the first two minutes though, as it might not be considered safe for work.
UPDATE 26:Over at UGO, they've confirmed that Flynn's Arcade opened for the last time on Saturday July 25th, 2009. The arcade is now closed. Too bad it couldn't have stayed open to promote TRON Legacy until it hits theaters, but it was to be expected. Disney must have dropped a bundle even to just keep it open for these three short days.
And as it turned out, the building that contained Flynn's Arcade was not the one mentioned in a previous update. The building did not resemble the one in the film at all, though it looks like they tried to make the exterior's style at least look a little like the original. The fact that there was another building nearby that looked so similar to the one in the film is one heck of a coincidence, though.
Many sites have posted coverage with additional details of what the experience in the arcade was like, if you care to read them. Early visitors to the arcade received Flynn's Arcade tokens, and a lot of people walked away with Flynn Lives posters, Flynn Lives shirts, and Flynn's Arcade shirts.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press has recently released a brief video Interview with Jeff Bridges.
And an artist going by the name of Cryda Luv' has done a really nice reworking of the Daft Punk theme, heard when the Light Cycle was revealed at Flynn's Arcade.
UPDATE 27:Retrorandy has some photos that were taken when Cindy Morgan (who played Lora and Yori in the original TRON) visited Flynn's Arcade. I have to say, Cindy still looks stunning today.
To see the rest of the photos, please visit this page.
Meanwhile, at Apple's trailer site they've added a page for the TRON Legacy concept trailer. Note that the trailers on Apple's site are lower quality than the ones released on the Flynn Lives site. So don't bother downloading the Apple versions. Get them from the Flynn Lives site instead.
And two more videos from Comicon have appeared. One is courtesy of IFC that covers some speeches at the actual TRON Legacy panel, while the other covers a conference which was held afterward. Unfortunately, this second video of the conference has poor audio and it's difficult to make out what's being said. Also, be warned that this second video is almost 28 minutes long!
Thanks to Mr. Sinistar and SuperScooby for their tips, and Olivia Wilde Fan and CollectionDX for providing the videos.
UPDATE 28:Collider.com has an interview with Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde, and Garrett Hedlund.
The only new piece of info mentioned by Garrett, is that their scenes with the Light Cycles haven't actually been filmed yet. They're going back in September to do motion capture sessions for the Light Cycle scenes. The part about practical sets (instead of just using bluescreen) when filming the electronic world scenes, has already been known for close to a year if you've been following the updates on this site.
The site Direto de Hollywood has another interview with Jeff Bridges and Olivia Wilde. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you speak Portuguese), the interviewer dubs over each of them as they speak to translate what they have to say. Which makes it hard to hear what the actors had to say in English.
And on the details page for TRON Legacy on Apple's trailer web site, the cast listing mentions James Frain again. This confirms that he's in the film, something we pretty much knew about already for months.
UPDATE 29:JoBlo.com has just found confirmation that Michael Sheen will also be appearing in TRON Legacy. This is something that, again, has been suspected for months.
A possible spoiler follows, so you may want to stop reading here.
For anyone wondering who Richard Brautigan is, mentioned in one of the audio clips on the Flynn Lives site (see this update to listen), you can read up about him in this wikipedia article. He published a book of poetry called All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, which "envisions a world where cybernetics has advanced to a stage where it allows a return to the balance of nature and an elimination of the need for human labor."
This gives us a clue as to why Flynn went back into the electronic world, and what he's attempting to do there. His eventual plan is probably something along the lines of trying to bridge the two worlds permanently.
UPDATE 30: Access Hollywood has a nice four minute long interview with Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde, and Garrett Hedlund. Thanks to ohnotheydidnt for finding it.
UPDATE 31:Latino Review has a video interview with TRON Legacy director Joseph Kosinski and producer Sean Bailey. I can't embed the video, so you'll have to visit the site to see it. A lot of direct questions are asked, most of which the two evade.
Spoilers follow, so you may want to stop reading here.
Kosinski does, however, reveal that the character of TRON is going to be in the film. I'd already heard this from a couple of sources, but hearing it straight from Kosinski seals the deal.
And when asked whether the MCP will appear in the film, both don't confirm it but don't deny it either. So you can pretty much take that as a "yes", the MCP is also in the film. This is something that's been suspected for quite a while.
Thanks to ZootCatchy for finding the video.
UPDATE 32: The site MoviesOnline.ca has a lengthy interview with several of the cast and crew of TRON Legacy, including Steven Lisberger, Joseph Kosinski, and Jeff Bridges.
Be warned that this interview contains a few spoilers.
Thanks again to ZootCatchy for the tip.
UPDATE 33: High quality videos of the entire 2009 San Diego Comicon TRON Legacy panel (excepting the movie trailer footage that was shown) have appeared online, even including the question and answer (Q&A) session. Altogether, the videos add up to about 18 minutes of coverage. Thanks to HallHCoverage for making them available.
In an interview on the site Coming Soon, Disney films studio exec Oren Aviv has a bold claim stating that "the stuff you saw last year is bad compared to what it's gonna be in the movie. The tipping point for me was Joe Kosinski, his vision for the movie".
And one final video about Flynn's Arcade. G4TV has a nice chronicle of events leading up to the discovery of the Flynn's Arcade re-creation. The whole Flynn Lives and Flynn's Arcade ARG/viral was done by 42 Entertainment.
Please check back later today for another update. Even though the entire panel is now available in video form, I'll still be posting my summary of what happened at the 2009 San Diego Comicon TRON panel.
SLG Publishing has finally released the graphic novel mentioned in a previous article, that collects all 6 issues of the TRON: The Ghost in the Machine comic.
The graphic novel is available from several sources. It can be ordered directly from SLG Publishing themelves. It can be ordered from Amazon for $13.57 U.S. at a discounted price. Or you can order it from your local comic book store.
I will be purchasing the graphic novel and reviewing it, to compare it with the original 6 issue comic print run. According to co-writer Landry Walker, Steven Lisberger has written an afterword especially for this release that was not in any of the original issues.
You can read my reviews of the original #1, #2, and #3 issues in previous articles. I'll be posting reviews of the remaining 3 issues first, which will then be followed up by a review of the graphic novel.
With new information and a new trailer from the TRON sequel imminent at this year's San Diego 2009 Comicon: a sudden wave of TRON mania has been hitting filmmakers, who are now releasing parodies based on the original film.
First up, is TRON Reboot. Two episodes have been released, so far. They feature a light-hearted sense of humor, and seem like fond homages that are meant to score geek cred with the fans.
This article will be updated with the next two episodes of TRON Reboot, when they become available.
Next up, is Cheech and Chong's trippy, psychadelic mashup of TRON. Yes, that's right, Cheech and Chong! Needless to say, their parody of TRON is R-rated and not safe for work. So don't watch if you find Cheech and Chong's type of humor offensive. You've been warned!
There are two versions of the video. One is an edited, cut down version that debuted on MSN Video.
The other is the full, unedited version which is quite a bit longer and has some extra behind-the-scenes footage revealing how the video was made.
Also available is an interview with Cheech and Chong: discussing various things, including what they're up to these days, and how Cheech is a fan of the original TRON.
Finally, a rare interview with Harrison Ellenshaw has appeared on YouTube. Harrison was one of the people who helped supervise special effects on the film, and worked on some of the background paintings. (Yes, TRON used a lot of traditional special effects like paintings and hand drawn animation. It wasn't all done on the computer!)
The majority of the discussion is about TRON, where Harrison is asked what he thinks about the chances of a sequel and how long it will take to be made. Remember that this interview was done 27 years ago! If only Harrison had known how long a sequel would actually take . . .
It's been a long time since the last update, but here is the first of a series of short videos (and possibly screenshots) showing some of the new features that will be in the next version of the mod. More videos are to come, at a later time.
This video demonstrates the cutscenes, in-game geometry, and HUD, all in the proper dimensions and aspect ratios for a widescreen display at 1680x1050 resolution. It also shows a Gold cheat integrated directly into the first level of the game . . . now for some real user power!
Due to the sheer number of updates that the mod will make to the game, from the most minor to the major, and because not all the planned features may end up in the upcoming release: the next version of the mod will likely be released as an Open Beta. This will allow for the fact that not all features may be complete, and also to allow testing by a broad range of users, to help discover any problems that may crop up. These issues will be dealt with in another future and final version, based on everyone's feedback.
The release of the Open Beta is tentatively scheduled to occur in the Fall of 2009. As before, no promises are made. But we will do our best to have the next version completed by the expected timeframe.
The last 3-4 months have been quite frustrating, due to issues with the main file host I've been using to host all the TRON 2.0 files. That host is Filefront.
For those who may not know, Filefront nearly shut down at the end of March. The previous owners, Ziff-Davis Media, are nearly bankrupt and were looking to shed assets in a bid to remain afloat. But at the last minute, the original owners and founders of Filefront bought back the site.
During that transition period, there were endless problems at Filefront. Files disappearing, features broken, you name it. Only now are things beginning to settle down and return to normal. Now I've finally been able to properly fix the broken file links here, and not have to worry about them becoming broken again only a week or two later.
Still, despite the fact that things have returned to normal (for now), in the future I plan not to rely on Filefront as my primary host for TRON 2.0 files. Instead, over at the LDSO site we are working toward having our own fully featured download section. Some time in the not too distant future, the LDSO site will be receiving another update to add a download section and some other new features.
But in the meantime, I'm hoping that the continual problems have at least ended for the moment.
The following TRON 2.0 Multiplayer custom map packs have been updated:
You can delete the following file if you have it (it's been merged with this map pack): DA-7982.REZ
Changes in Mac Light Cycle (LC) Map Pack EN12-82 (EN12-82) ADDED EN12-82-1 (EN12-82-1) ADDED EN12-82-2 (EN12-82-2) ADDED
Changes in Mac Disc Arena/Derez (DA/DM) Map Pack DA-7982 (DA-7982) ADDED
I recommend that everyone (especially server operators) update their DA Pack 1 and LC Pack 5 files, as soon as possible. Replace any individual map .REZ files with these map packs.
These updated map packs are also available from the All TRON 2.0 Files page.
A little later this time . . . but here's a roundup of all the TRON-related April Fool's jokes for 2009, like the one I did last year.
First, there was the Uwe Boll to direct TRON sequel joke at TRON-Sector. Several of the admins at TRON-Sector conspired to come up with this one, including: TheReelTodd, Mr. Sinistar, and TronFAQ (myself).
If you clicked on the link that was supposed to take you to Uwe Boll's blog, you'd be greeted with this!
Mr. Sinistar created a custom TRON themed Rick Roll just for our April Fool's joke this year, with music and animation.
A lot of people fell for this Uwe Boll joke, so . . . mission accomplished. :)
Second, was the Dan Shor takes over TRON Wiki joke by Mr. Sinistar, who is the admin of the wiki.
Not sure how many fell for this one, but it was definitely an imaginative and unique prank. And you can never have too much Dan Shor. Re-rezz RAM!
At first, I wasn't sure I wanted to do this, because I thought it might be in bad taste. But, I couldn't resist the temptation. So I went ahead and did it.
A lot of people fell for this one, because I was careful to make sure the joke wasn't obvious right from the start. With the other jokes, you might have guessed they were fake since they were a bit ridiculous to begin with. Or, they at least had clues in the text that kind of gave it away.
But with this one: unless you clicked the link at the end, you really couldn't be sure. Of course, since Mr. Sinistar had provided us with such a great Rick Roll, I felt compelled to use it again for the link that revealed the truth. :)
The joke was that a secret scene would be shown after the end credits of Terminator Salvation, where TRON would fight Skynet. Because . . . Skynet was really the MCP. This secret scene was supposed to kick start the relaunch of the TRON franchise.
TRON. Fighting Skynet. Because it's really the MCP. I kid you not, that was the joke.
I mean, it's like the author didn't even try. At least, with the other jokes this year . . . even if they were a bit silly, they at least sounded somewhat believable. You might have fallen for them. But the whole idea of this TRON vs. Skynet joke is so ludicrous, that practically no one would fall for it. I'd be very surprised if anyone did.
That's all the TRON-related April Fool's jokes that I noticed for this year. If anyone else has any to share, please let us all know by leaving a comment.
SLG Publishing is having a sale, with a 30% discount on all the TRON: The Ghost in the Machine comics.
There are 6 issues, and I've reviewed the first three here on this site. Links to #1, #2, and #3 reviews here. (Reviews of the last three are still forthcoming. Yes, I know I've been saying this forever. But they are coming at some point, I swear.)
Visit this page on SLG's site to peruse their store, and be able to purchase the issues. At the last step when you're about to checkout your purchase, be sure to use the code taxtime09 to receive your discount.
For those of you still holding back, waiting for the trade paperback: the last I heard was that its fate was still up in the air, and its release is not guaranteed. So don't wait for it, because you could be in for a very long wait, if it shows up at all. With this discount, the price difference between the individual issues and the paperback should be negligible. In fact, you might even save money by buying now.
A group of TRON fans have rallied and gotten together to create a petition, regarding their desire to see Cindy Morgan return for the TRON sequel. I support this petition, and hope it might have some impact.
Even though filming for the sequel has already started, it may not be too late for Cindy to make an appearance in the film. Also, in a news update from not too long ago, I mentioned the possibility that Cindy Morgan may still appear. A fourth, unknown actress is said to be appearing in the film.
Please take the time to sign the petition, and let's hope that Disney is paying attention.
If you think petitions don't work, then let me point you to my article from a couple of years back, when I mailed a hard copy of my petition to Disney on the 25th Anniversary of TRON. Along with several copies of the petition mailed to various people within Disney, I included a letter mentioning that all the people who signed were eagerly awaiting a TRON sequel.
Then, a couple of months later, Disney announced that a TRON sequel would be made.
Now, I don't pretend to have moved mountains here. In fact, I never heard back from anyone at Disney. So I don't know what impact the petition had, if any. But if it was a pebble that helped along an imminent avalanche, then it was worth it.
TRON 2.0 PC Support Petition- Don't let Buena Vista Games shirk their duties to their paying customers, by abandoning this game so soon. Sign the petition!
All TRON 2.0 Files- All released TRON 2.0 files, together in one place! Patches, Maps, Mods, Expansions, Utilities, and Tutorials! Now includes Mac compatible maps, HERE!
TRON 2.0: KILLER APP Mod- Download this "killer app" that adds many new features to, and fixes problems with, the PC version of the TRON 2.0 game! Also adds Français/ Deutsch/Italiano/Español language support to the previously English only Unofficial v1.042 Patch.
TRON 2.0 PC v1.042 Patch- Download this essential update for your TRON 2.0 game as soon as possible, and install it. English only. Get International versionHERE. You need this patch to play online with Multiplayer.
TRON 2.0 Mac OSX 10.4 Patch- Download this new installer to help fix the problem where the game won't install on OSX 10.4 (Tiger), or won't accept your serial number (CD key). There is currently no patch or workaround that allows the game to run on OSX 10.5 (Leopard).
REZ Handler 1.3- Download this program written by myself, to help you install maps and mods and also help manage them on the PC version of TRON 2.0.
Site Links
TRON 2.0 Unofficial FAQ- Find more TRON links and answers to all your questions about the game here! Walkthroughs, Map Screenshots and Descriptions, Troubleshooting Info, plus more!
LivingDead System Operators- Site for the LDSO Clan which also features downloads, a message board, and generously hosts my FAQ. Don't forget to visit the message forum while you're there!
Xistence Imaginations- Xistence's personal site, where he lists all his current projects, including his upcoming The Digital Messiah total conversion.
TRON-Sector- Largest TRON site on the internet, with a friendly active message board and many media downloads.
TRON Wiki- A new Wikipedia site on Wikia, dedicated to bringing you detailed information about all things TRON.
LithFAQ- A site dedicated to all of Monolith's games — with emphasis on modding discussion — that features a message board and file archives.
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