I thought about posting this yesterday, but felt it was best to wait until today rather than spoil the jokes . . . in case they fooled anybody, that is. :)


First we had TheReelTodd's front page article on TRON-Sector about a luddite trying to sue the character of TRON. Considering the number of frivolous lawsuits filed by people these days, it's not hard to believe this could actually happen.



Second, was Mr. Sinistar's announcement on the front page of the TRON Wiki about the TRON movie sequel script being leaked to the internet. This one is also somewhat believable, because all kinds of leaks about new films happen quite often. I'm not sure how long the article will remain on the Wiki site, so I took a screenshot of it. There's also a Digg link to this story.


Third, was TRON.dll's message posting about a Wii version of TRON 2.0: KILLER APP being released. Ah, if only it were so.



Finally, someone put up a phony TRON 2.0 server yesterday that showed it was full of players all day. Congratulations to whoever pulled this off. A very nice trick.


These are 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.

April 16th, 2010 UPDATE: This article is out of date. The Killer App Mod v1.1 has been released.



Download it here

I'll post more info later! Meanwhile, enjoy the mod. :)

UPDATE: The KILLER APP Mod is temporarily unavailable for download, but will return soon.

April 16th, 2010 UPDATE: This article is out of date. The Killer App Mod v1.1 has been released.


That's if beta testing goes well! Apologies to all those that have been awaiting this mod's release, for all the delays. But the wait is almost over! Get ready to "rezz" into the Game Grid soon with the KILLER APP Mod!

See the preview I posted in a previous article, to find out more.

After what seems like an eternity, issue #5 of TRON: The Ghost in the Machine from SLG Publishing is finally being released on Wednesday March 19th, 2008 Wednesday March 26th, 2008.

UPDATE #1: Diamond Comics' upcoming releases list was in error, and TRON #5 was not released today (March 19th). After checking the list again, it's now scheduled for next week. Apologies for the error, but this is the first time I've ever seen Diamond make a mistake on the release date of a title.

Actually, it has been an eternity as far as most TRON fans are concerned. Issue #4 came out in July of last year. And it, too, had taken a very long time to be released. Still, I'm just glad a TRON comic is being published at all.

It's also been an eternity since I did my last review of the comic, with issue #3 back in January of last year.  The reason for that has been twofold.

1. I've been extremely busy for quite some time, and I think the lack of updates to this site (compared to the early days when the site was first created) has been evident.
   
   


2. With the large gap between issue #3 and issue #4: I didn't feel it would be fair to review that issue without reading the first three again, and having the storyline freshly imprinted on my memory. And now with issue #5, there's been another large gap. So when issue #5 finally comes out, I'm going to read all five issues back-to-back and then do reviews of #4 and #5 in quick succession.

Since SLG's license with Disney expires in August of this year, we can be certain that #6 — the final issue — will be out by then. So, at most, there will be a five month gap between #5 and #6. Hopefully by then I'll still remember all the story threads, since five months isn't as far off as seven (#4) or eight (#5) months.

UPDATE #2: Landry Walker (co-writer of the comic) was gracious enough to send me an advance copy of issue #5 in PDF form. Thank you, Landry!

All I'm going to say about this issue, is two things:

• This is the best issue since #1, by far. In my humble opinion, of course. Issue #5 is not to be missed. It starts resolving many of the questions that have been brought up in the story, so far.


• A certain familiar character makes their first appearance in the comic. Well, sort-of! I'll let you guess who. :)

The Syd Mead documentary Visual Futurist: The Art & Life of Syd Mead by director Joaquin Montalvan is screening on March 18th and 19th, at the historic Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, MI as part of a double bill with Blade Runner - The Final Cut.

At this time, the theater's schedule doesn't list the starting time for Blade Runner on those days, though Visual Futurist is apparently showing at 7:00 PM. The logical conclusion is that Blade Runner would screen right after, of course. Still, as soon as the schedule is updated I'll mention the confirmed times here. It appears that individual tickets can only be bought at the entrance shortly before the screening starts, and not online in advance.

Although the emphasis for this particular screening of Visual Futurist is clearly on its Blade Runner aspects, it nevertheless deals with Syd's entire career.  So, this naturally includes TRON as well. And at any rate, who doesn't love Blade Runner? I'd be shocked if anyone who is a fan of TRON, isn't also a fan of Blade Runner.

You can read my review of Visual Futurist: The Art & Life of Syd Mead in an earlier article, where I commented on the DVD release that's available for purchase.


The director has also posted a new trailer for the film, which can be seen below.

October 31st, 2012 UPDATE: This article is out of date. An updated version of User Error that self-installs and works in widescreen (after installing the Killer App Mod first), has been released.

After about two years in development, the follow-up to the original User Error expansion for TRON 2.0 on the PC — User Error 2 — is now available for download from ModDB.

Brought to you by LDSO team members Mor.Evil-1, Win3K, and zook_one: User Error 2 adds 10 additional levels to the original User Error by Meatsack, for a total of 16 levels. The file that you will download contains both the original User Error mission, as well as the new User Error 2 mission, all in one expansion.

The storyline of User Error 2 continues the adventures of Jeremy Powers from the original, where Jeremy entered the electronic world inside the computer in order to obtain a file that could potentially be very valuable. Jeremy is struggling with serious financial troubles, and sees gaining access to this file as a way to repay his debts by selling it to a former Russian agent named Karl. However, gathering all the parts of the file is proving to be more difficult than he had anticipated. In User Error 2, Jeremy presses on to finish his mission.


Here are some screenshots from the mod!




For more screenshots and information about User Error 2, visit its ModDB page or drop by the LDSO forum to let us know what you think of it! You can find instructions on how to use the mod in our forum. I'll also be posting a guide on how to use mods, soon. But until then, visit the forum if you have any problems.

The easiest way to use it, is to download and install REZ Handler: which will allow you to browse to the UserErrorRC2.rar file in the program and point and click the downloaded file to install it. Then a new Custom button should appear on the TRON 2.0 game launcher. Clicking that button will bring up a window with an empty checkbox beside the name of the mod. Place an X inside the checkbox and click OK. Then click Play and start a new Single Player game.

Don't forget that having the mod enabled will prevent you from playing Multiplayer online. You must disable the mod again by clicking the Custom button in the launcher, and removing the X from the checkbox.

According to a story posted on Ain't-it-Cool News, the planned TRON sequel is now due out in the Spring of 2011 rather than 2009 or 2010.

This story also backs up the earlier rumor about the sequel being released in 3-D.


So it's 2011 now? Yikes. I hope that means they're taking extra time to do it right. But then again, this is Disney we're talking about.

So when will they do a greenlight announcement? This stops just short of confirming for sure that the sequel is a go.

Thanks to DaveTRON for the news!

So, the other shoe finally drops. Discs of TRON for the Xbox 360's Live Arcade will be made available next week on Wednesday, February 13th according to a press release from Disney Interactive.


Why the releases of the original TRON Arcade and Discs of TRON were delayed for so long, is a really interesting question. But they are finally both here.

The release mentions the 80 score that the game received from the US version of the Official Xbox Magazine (OXM), but naturally neglects to mention the 20 score from the UK version of the magazine.

Considering the lukewarm reception to TRON Arcade by gamers and fans, I'll be watching closely to see if Discs of TRON fares any better.

UPDATE: The negative reviews and fan disappointment continues with Discs of TRON. Can't say I'm really surprised. It seemed pretty clear to me from the beginning that Disney Interactive was putting minimal effort into the Live Arcade titles.

My favorite quote that sums up how people feel about the TRON Live Arcade games comes from Shane Monroe over at Retrogaming Radio.

Discs of Tron sucks balls. No sale here. Disney Interactive can SUCK MY BALLS for dicking us over TWICE with Tron IP. - Shane Monroe

I truly laughed my ass off when I read that. I've been critical of DI in the past, but never quite used strong language like that. Thanks for telling it like it is, Shane. Very well put. :)

Since I'm tired of seeing the same few search query terms in hits to this site, over and over: I'm going to answer the three most popular questions that people who want to play TRON 2.0, have.

LAST UPDATED October 21st, 2012

Q: Does TRON 2.0: KILLER APP for the original Xbox work on the Xbox 360?

A: No. And it probably never will. Microsoft has not added the game to its 360 backward compatibility list, and they are actually ending their backward compatibility updates. So, in other words, since it's not on the list already . . . it never will be.

If you're really anxious to play the game, and don't want to invest in a used Xbox: do yourself a favor, and pick up TRON 2.0 for the PC instead. The Single Player experience on the PC version is far superior. Trust me: I own both versions, and I'm speaking from experience. When BVG and Climax ported the game to the Xbox, many detrimental changes and sacrifices were made. The graphics on the PC are better, there are virtually no bugs once it's patched up (unlike the Xbox version, which has some irritating bugs), and things have not been cut or downsized in order to cram it into the Xbox's more limited 64MB of memory.

TRON 2.0 is an older title now, so it's not exactly considered a demanding game any more. Any PC bought in the last 2-3 years should be able to play it at maximum settings, without breaking a sweat.


Q: Does TRON 2.0 work on Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8?

A: Yes, to all three. I can personally verify this: since I have run TRON 2.0 on the original release of Vista, Vista SP1, Vista SP2, Windows 7, Windows 7 SP1, and Windows 8. The game even works with the 64-bit versions, which can sometimes be more problematic with compatibility than the 32-bit versions of Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 that some people might still be using.

If you are having a problem getting the game to install or run in Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8, it's not directly the fault of the operating system. You probably need to update one or more of your drivers, or download all the Windows Update hotfixes. Also make sure that you are running the game in Administrator mode. The game has been tested and confirmed to work on both the original release of Vista, and Vista updated with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Service Pack 2 (SP2).

And on Windows 7, the game runs better than on Vista or even Windows XP. Yes, I am serious. Windows 7 is incredibly good and I recommend it. There is little reason to hesitate upgrading to Windows 7, like was the case with Vista. Games like TRON 2.0 run faster and smoother on Windows 7 than they ever did on Vista.

However, I personally do not recommend upgrading to Windows 8 at this time. When it comes to playing games, stick with Windows 7 for now. If I change my mind on this, I'll update this Mini-FAQ. Despite the recommendation, TRON 2.0 does run even smoother on Windows 8 than it does on Windows 7. Believe it or not.

One bit of advice I can give if you're having any difficulty, is to try using the Unofficial Patch instead of the Official one. And this goes for all versions of Windows. Sometimes, in rare cases, the Official Patch won't install properly.


Q: Does TRON 2.0 support widescreen?

A: Not properly, no. That is not to say that the game won't work at all at higher widescreen resolutions, of course. It's just that if you run the game on a widescreen monitor, the picture will become distorted. TRON 2.0 only properly supports resolutions with a 4:3 aspect ratio, while widescreen displays use a 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratio.

However, the TRON 2.0: KILLER APP Mod v1.1 solves this problem. One of the features in this release of the mod, is proper widescreen support in the game. Here is a video trailer demonstrating widescreen support at 1280x720 resolution with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

As I was visiting some of my favorite web sites today, you can imagine how unexpectedly — and pleasantly — surprised I was when I discovered that Rock, Paper, Shotgun had an article remembering TRON 2.0.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun is a site that specializes in news and discussion about PC games. That they'd remember, or even mention, TRON 2.0 in a million years is quite heartwarming to yours truly. The author of the article, Jim Rossignol, basically republished a review he did of the game for PC Gamer UK, back when the game was released. But he tweaked and updated it, to reflect upon the game today.

The review is positive, overall. He cites many of the weaknesses of the game, which I admit are there and should be taken into consideration. But he also rightly points out that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, to borrow an old cliché.

If you haven't seen or tried the game, and would like to: there is a demo of TRON 2.0 that has a couple of Single Player and Multiplayer levels from the full game. It works on just about all versions of Windows: 98, Me, 2000, XP, and even Vista. Naturally, the full game also works on all these versions of Windows. But the Multiplayer component of the demo isn't compatible with the full version of the game, unfortunately.

According to Surfer Girl, the upcoming TRON sequel is apparently going to be released in     3-D. As in, the "you will be wearing 3-D glasses and the film will leap off the screen", type of 3-D. This news is also suggesting that TRON will likely be re-released in theaters, shortly before the new film premieres.

Who is Surfer Girl? That's a good question. Apparently, nobody really knows. But "she" seems to be an insider in the entertainment business. She's posted many rumors about films and video games, and the majority of them have come true.

As crazy and far-fetched as this news may sound, there may be a grain of truth to it. It's a known fact that George Lucas wants to re-release the Star Wars films in 3-D, theatrically. The technique for making 3-D films has improved dramatically, in the last decade or so. Lucas apparently had a short test segment done for Star Wars a while back, and people were blown away by it.

Also, Disney has announced plans to theatrically re-release Toy Story 1 and 2 in 3-D right before Toy Story 3 premieres (also in 3-D).

I personally think that redoing films in 3-D is gimmicky, and serves solely as a cash grab by film studios. It's true that certain films like Star Wars may benefit from it. But Toy Story? Come on. And I'm not really sure that a TRON sequel would benefit from this treatment, either.

No matter what anyone may think of this news, what's most interesting about it is that it implies the TRON sequel is a definite go. So this should mean we'll be hearing a "greenlighted" announcement soon?

Thanks to Steve for the news!

The Starz Entertainment network has been airing the pilot episode — for a potential new series — called Hollywood Goes Gaming, in repeats for the last couple of months.

Among the people interviewed, is TRON Director Steven Lisberger. In fact, he is apparently the first person interviewed in the episode.

I have not watched the show, because I don't receive Starz. But according to a couple of reviews here and here, Lisberger speaks at length about how well the TRON arcade games did compared to the film. And about how they pioneered the idea of the video game tie-in to go with a Hollywood motion picture.

He also discusses, again, how TRON was denied an Academy award for special effects because — at the time — the Academy members felt he had "cheated" by using computer graphics. Which, as one of the reviews I linked to states, is a laughable notion today.

If you receive Starz in your channel line-up, you can catch this hour-long episode again on Thursday January 24th, 2008 starting at 10:50 PM Eastern Time on Starz Edge (East).

Thanks to tron_fanfare for the tip.

The release of TRON Arcade and Discs of TRON on the Xbox 360's Live Arcade is finally imminent, after an extremely long delay and a lot of guessing games about release dates. But it's not entirely clear to me if Discs of TRON is being released together with TRON Arcade at the same time. It would appear the releases are separate, going by the post on Major Nelson's site.

If this is correct, then each should cost 400 Microsoft Points when released. Which comes to about $10 U.S. for both.

Why the games have been delayed for so long — after their original announcement last year in May — is an open question. In this forum post, a representative from Disney Interactive Studios responded to a customer and claimed that they were "currently working on" Discs of TRON, as of this past December. Why they still needed to "work" on the game, considering the completed version had already been reviewed last year in the July/August timeframe . . . I'd really like to know.

Sounds like a bullshit excuse to me. Unless, perhaps, it had something to do with the fact that OXM UK slammed both games. Maybe DI decided to spend a bit more time polishing the games for release? Nah, this is BVG DI we're talking about.

Whatever the reason, for those of you who own a 360 and have Xbox Live: enjoy the games. I have no intention of purchasing a 360. If I'm desperate for an old-school TRON fix, I can always play the games on MAME. So for those of you who check out the games . . . let me know how good (or bad) they are. Was OXM UK justified, when they gave these games the thumbs-down?

UPDATE #1: Team Xbox has posted their review, giving TRON Arcade a score of 6.8. Reactions from fans are decidedly mixed so far: as can be seen here, here, and here. Most cite the game as having inaccurate sound, poor control, and flaky multiplayer that doesn't work very well.

UPDATE #2: Shane Monroe of RetroGaming Radio has started a petition, in the hope of getting Disney Interactive to fix the problems with TRON Arcade. Does any of this seem familiar to you?

UPDATE #3: Several more reviews of TRON Arcade have appeared at Metacritic. The reviews are almost uniformly negative. According to Major Nelson's site, TRON Arcade debuted with sales in the #3 spot and dropped to #4 in the following week. Also, Metacritic lists Discs of TRON with a release date of June 1st, 2008 right now. Looks like the second TRON title is not coming any time soon.

The site Chop Shop has a couple of TRON inspired shirts, as seen above. The shirts range from $20-$25 bucks U.S., and are available in several different sizes. They have some very cool designs. Thanks to Sketch for this info!

And over at the site Instructables, Greg Madison has posted instructions for a do-it-yourself project, on how to create your own TRON-style lamp: with circuit-like patterns, that appear to glow. Nice!

The web site for the channel IllusionTV has posted an interview with Syd Mead, where selected questions that viewers submitted, were asked.

As you might expect, some of the questions covered TRON. Syd answered them, and provided some details about his involvement in the film that I don't think have been mentioned anywhere else before. Particularly, how he went about designing the TRON electronic world.

On a side note, the documentary on Syd called Visual Futurist: The Art & Life of Syd Mead by Director Joaquin Montalvan is now available on sale in Japan, so Japanese fans of TRON and Syd's other works can now purchase the DVD in their country.

For fans in North America and Europe, the DVD can be purchased directly from Syd Mead's web site.

You can read my review of the DVD in this previous article.

April 16th, 2010 UPDATE: This article is out of date. The Killer App Mod v1.1 has been released.

The KILLER APP Mod has been postponed until January 18th, 2008. All of us on the team really wanted to release it in time for the holidays as a gift to TRON fans, and to release it during the year of TRON's 25th Anniversary. But it's still not ready for release just yet. Our apologies.

We hope to reward your patience in the New Year, which is only a short time away now.

The site Tom's Games (part of Tom's Hardware) has an interview with TRON Director Steven Lisberger, discussing his upcoming film Soul Code. (See this previous article for more info on Soul Code.) It also touches upon the possibility of production commencing, on the TRON sequel that was announced a few months ago.

It's definitely a worthwhile read. Though it's a bit saddening, to hear Lisberger a little downbeat about the possibility of a sequel being made. But I completely understand where he's coming from: considering that plans for a sequel have materialized and then fizzled again, many times over. Disney just doesn't get TRON, and they have no clue what to do with it. It's been frustrating for Steven, and TRON fans, alike.

Thanks to Cyberwolven for the news!

Fellow LDSO member Zook_One has just created an awesome machinima video using TRON 2.0, called Sark Gets Skooled.

If you want to watch his video, click on the picture to the left, or click here.


If you like the video — and frankly, I think it's freaking awesome — then please vote for Zook's video, and help him win the Blackbird Machinima contest! Click the large green plus "+" button to vote.

Yes, another asking-for-votes-to-win-a-contest post. Come on, you know you want to vote and help out! Zook's video is too cool not to win. ;)

According to Metacritic.com, both TRON Arcade and Discs of TRON for the 360's Live Arcade have new release dates of February 1, 2008. But considering the tradition of Live Arcade games only being released on Wednesdays, this date is again suspect. February 1st in 2008 is not a Wednesday.

Well, so much for releasing these games "in honor" of TRON's 25th Anniversary. You guys at Disney missed the mark (and the point) by a country mile. Maybe that's Microsoft's fault, but either way: these games should have been released around the same time as the Anniversary for maximum impact. That opportunity has been lost.

Metacritic also has pages for both game titles, with scores and quotes from the first reviews. For TRON Arcade, the US version of the Official XBOX Magazine (OXM) gave a score of 70. For Discs of TRON, the US version of the magazine gave a score of of 80.

But the UK version of the Official Xbox Magazine (OXM UK) gave both TRON Arcade and Discs of TRON a score of 20, slamming both titles. OXM UK declares TRON Arcade "a train wreck", and says that for Discs of TRON "without even a two-player mode, this won't last you ten minutes". Ouch. Harsh words. Who to believe?

Here are the links to the two relevant Metacritic pages:
TRON Arcade at Metacritic
Discs of TRON at Metacritic

April 16th, 2010 UPDATE: This article is out of date. The Killer App Mod v1.1 has been released.

ModDB is holding their annual Mod of the Year contest for 2007 right now: and we at the LDSO team working on the TRON 2.0 KILLER APP Mod, would be very honored if TRON fans out there would vote for us if they like what they've seen of the mod so far.

If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, see this earlier article that previews the TRON 2.0 KILLER APP Mod.

Voting is easy, just click on this link or the image to the right. You don't need to sign up or be a member of ModDB to vote. Then scroll down the KILLER APP Mod page until you see the large grey button, and click on it.

I don't think any of us on the team hold any illusions that we're going to win anything, or make it into the Top 10 choices. But that's not what we want, anyway. If we can make it into the Top 100, ModDB promises that news of these 100 mods will be "widely syndicated" across the web. This would, hopefully, mean that TRON 2.0 for the PC would garner some attention once more. Reminding people that this game exists, and that there's a great new mod for it. That's all we want.

The voting ends on December 20th, 2007, so please vote before then. And tell all your friends and other TRON fans, to vote as well!

UPDATE: The voting has been extended until December 22nd. So if you thought it was too late: please vote, if you haven't already!

Thank you, from the LDSO team.