Well, we finally have concrete proof that TRON and Discs of TRON are being released for the Xbox 360 on Xbox Live Arcade. Disney Interactive Studios has released screenshots and a press release, with some details about the two titles. The games have been developed by a studio named Backbone Charlottetown. (Never heard of them.)

Both games will indeed feature enhanced graphics modes (as well as "classic" unenhanced modes), and will also have online multiplayer. There is still no exact release date or price yet, though. (The release is said to be in the "summer". I'm guessing it will be around July 9th, which is the date of the film's release in 1982.)

So it seems this is the extent to which Disney will acknowledge the 25th Anniversary of TRON. No HD DVD or Blu-Ray release of the film, and no sequel. A bit disappointing. The fact that these games are going to be enhanced updates of the classics are nice, but I personally was hoping for something more. (And as long as they remain Xbox 360 exclusives, I won't be buying them.)

But I'll at least give DI credit for being smart enough to enhance the games. I was actually expecting them to just be straight ports. Which would not have made them a compelling buy for most people, I'm certain.


TRON Light Cycles: Classic (left) and Enhanced (right)
  

TRON Tanks: Classic (left) and Enhanced (right)
  

TRON MCP: Classic (left) and Enhanced (right)
  

TRON I/O Tower: Classic (left) and Enhanced (right)
  

Discs of TRON: Classic (left) and Enhanced (right)
  

UPDATE: Here are links to a couple of videos, showing TRON and Discs of TRON in action. Thanks to MChilds for these links.

May 4th UPDATE: It turns out Backbone Charlottetown is a division of Backbone Entertainment, aka Digital Eclipse. Now it all makes sense. Digital Eclipse did TRON 2.0: Killer App for the Gameboy Advance. I wish these game companies would stop changing their names practically every year.