Variety reports that Disney Interactive is beginning to make plans for a new TRON game, to tie in with the upcoming movie sequel.

This news follows up on an earlier report: where it was revealed that Disney Interactive has laid off staff, and the sequel to their critically-panned shooter Turok has been cancelled due to disappointing sales.

To say that the release of another TRON game to tie in with the sequel is a "no-brainer", as mentioned in the Variety article, is definitely an understatement. As soon as it was known that the movie sequel had become a reality, it was mind-numbingly obvious that a game announcement would follow. Hell, TRON pioneered the idea of the game tie-in to go with a movie.

The only thing that does surprise me, is mention that DI is "talking to developers". Considering that Disney has gone out of its way to acquire or build-up its own game development studios . . . to hear that they're seeking outside help on this, is somewhat surprising.

Then again, the same could be said of the fact that Digital Domain will be handling the CGI work on the TRON sequel. Considering that Disney also has Pixar: who you think could, and would, want to handle that project, as well. I can only guess that in both cases, these internal Disney studios have their plates full already and can't take on the film and game projects. Or, perhaps, because of the current economic climate, it's more economical to let another development house handle the game.

It's currently unknown what form the game will take. But based on speculation and some prior inside knowledge I have, it will probably end up being similar to the cancelled TRON 3.0 game project. What was TRON 3.0? A game that was to be based on the Unreal Engine, and would involve the electronic and real worlds crossing over. Where the threat of a virus from the computer entering the real world, became a possibility.

Even though I know this will probably fall on deaf ears, here's a plea from a fan dedicated to both TRON and the previous TRON game. Disney, this is your chance to make or break yourselves in the world of video game publishing. Based on your past actions, your previous track record in this area is quite abysmal.

I'm begging you . . . try harder this time. Make sure that not only is the game the best that it can possibly be, but give it the first-class support it deserves and work with the fans this time. Make sure they know the game exists, and make them happy customers. Allow them to properly create maps and mods for the game. If you don't, you'll only end up hurting your reputation again: like you did the last time, with TRON 2.0.

If you are shopping around for a developer, perhaps bringing Monolith back to do the next TRON game wouldn't be a bad idea. Despite their being owned by a competing studio (Warner Bros.) now. Since their execution on TRON 2.0 was so well done. The only thing that held back that game, was poor marketing, support, and relations with the customer base. You shot yourselves in the foot, not us.

Thanks to TRON.dll for the tip!

February 3rd UPDATE: Conflicting information from Joystiq now states that Disney Interactive's Propaganda Games studio, may be responsible for developing the next TRON game after all.

While this seems like a more sensible business decision, you'll forgive me if I don't jump for joy if it turns out that Propaganda is indeed working on the game. Since Turok was a less-than-spectacular game, that received an even worse PC port. I, personally, will not buy the next TRON game if there is no PC version or if it's a poor PC port.

In fact, I'm already prepared for the fact that there will probably be no support for editing the game at all, this time around. Meaning, that it will be extremely difficult to create maps and mods again. Though, if the game will be based on the Unreal Engine — like I suspect, if the game is indeed in Propaganda's hands — then there is some small hope, as there is a wealth of knowledge out there about modding Unreal engine games.

Thanks again to TRON.dll for the tip.

The TRON Wiki has a new interview with Frank Serafine, who created virtually all of the sound effects for the original TRON film.

In the interview, Serafine reveals exactly how he created the sound effects for the Light Cycles, Recognizers, Identity Discs, Tanks, and more. He also shares a few tantalizing tidbits about the upcoming TRON sequel. (To read what Serafine revealed, and for plenty of other news about the sequel: please visit this previous article.)

Congratulations to TRON Wiki founder Mr. Sinistar for scoring this great interview with Mr. Serafine.

On the new sister site to Sci-Fi Wire, called Fidgit, the game TRON 2.0 has been ranked third in a list of titles that "redefine science-fiction" in gaming.

The author of the article (Tom Chick, a well-known and popular games journalist) states that "Monolith's under-appreciated 2003 TRON 2.0 did a superlative job recreating the world of the movie". Damn right, it did. It's truly an under-appreciated gem of a game that flew under most people's radar, thanks to poor promotion and support from its publisher.

There also seemed to be a resentment among a significant number of fans, that it wasn't exactly the same as the movie and instead chose to update the world of TRON. They wanted TRON: The Arcade Game, Next Gen Edition. Which I thought was grossly unfair. The game is very respectful in its new take on the original source material, paying great homage to the film despite the changes made. One can only hope that the TRON sequel film will be as thoughtful in its treatment of the first film, as the game has been. (TRON 2.0: Killer App's pointless alterations, notwithstanding.)

TRON 2.0 did very well on the list, even managing to top such classic titles as Multiwinia (an obviously TRON-inspired game, if there ever was one), Myst, Out of this World (a classic that I still love to this day), and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.

And it's right behind the Fallout series and Bioshock, no less. (Bioshock, frankly, does not deserve to occupy that top spot, IMHO. I was so looking forward to Bioshock as a title that would uphold Irrational's 2K Boston's tradition of producing intelligent games. What we got, instead, was a mediocre title: with fantastic visual and audio production, decent storytelling, but poor gameplay. Anyway, I digress . . .)

As I had already suspected, TRON will likely not see a Blu-ray release for 2009. RopeofSilicon has an article featuring a press release by Disney, listing all of their known Blu-ray releases for 2009. TRON isn't among them.

While purely speculation on my part, I am certain that we won't see TRON on Blu-ray until shortly before the release of the TRON sequel. Probably no more than six months prior to the release of the sequel in theaters. (You can find up-to-date news about the progress of the sequel, in this previous article.) This makes perfect "marketing" sense, despite how much TRON fans will probably remain disappointed and impatiently await a newer, high-definition release.

You have to wonder, though, how much additional expense and effort will be made for a Blu-ray release of TRON. One would think that Disney will pull out all the stops, of course. Let's hope so.

The site Den of Geek has listed TRON in ninth place, for its Top 50 Movie Special Effects list. The choice was made, based on the Solar Sailer escape sequence in the film.

TRON managed to place higher than other classic special effects laden films, such as: Metropolis, Return of the Jedi, The Last Starfighter, The Ten Commandments, Terminator 3, Aliens, Forbidden Planet, Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Oddyssey, and many more.

Thanks to LDSO member Load "*",8,1 for the tip!