Tron Legacy Exposed

KingofGnG writes "Disney has chosen the San Diego Comic-Con International to present its new sci-fi project: the sequel to Tron. The classic movie from 1982 dealt with video games, virtual reality and 3D graphics when none of those things were widely popular. The new movie has got an official title and synopsis now, and they've released the very first trailer from the movie (this time without silly censorship) together with some concept art and the teaser poster." No matter how silly the movie is, they'll at least get my money for sheer nostalgia.

Comments

1982

[arizwebfoot]

Had lots of Atari games in 1982 - like Asteroids.

Wow, those were the days.

Before that, like in the late 70's we had Pong, which I could play for hours - depleting my entire savings of quarters.

Re:Videogames in 1982?

[WillAdams]

::applaud:: and agree.

Here's a blast from the past:

âoePac-Man Feverâ (Pac-Man)
âoeFroggyâ(TM)s Lamentâ (Frogger)
âoeOde to a Centipedeâ (Centipede)
âoeDo the Donkey Kongâ (Donkey Kong)
âoeHyperspaceâ (Asteroids)
âoeThe Defenderâ (Defender)
âoeMousetrapâ (Mousetrap)
âoeGoinâ(TM) Berzerkâ (Berzerk)

William

FPS from 1980

[tepples]

But, though pacman was popular, were 3D graphics even in existance? Wasn't Wolfenstein, released in 1992 the first game with 3D graphics?

The early arcade first-person shooter Battlezone was released in 1980, and it might not even be the first.

Re:FPS from 1980

[Anonymous Coward]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaxxon was another great 3D game from the 80s.

Re:FPS from 1980

[Anonymous Coward]

Zaxxon was isometric, like "Attic Atack" "head over heels" "marble madness" and the first FIFA soccer.

Re:FPS from 1980

[klui]

Night Driver was not a shooter.

Tail Gunner, on the other hand, was released in 1979 as opposed to Battlezone in 1980.

Re:FPS from 1980

[sconeu]

Not an FPS, but a 3D wireframe: Tempest.

What Plunky is talking about

[tepples]

Do not give Disney your money, they will only use it to steal your culture

Before you mod Plunky's post all the way to -1, consider that The Walt Disney Company was one of the two biggest advocates of the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 (the other being the Gershwin estate).

Re:What Plunky is talking about

[srmalloy]

When you create something under copyright, you are making a contract with the government; the government establishes your legal right to control copying of that work (and the profits thereof) for a specified period of time, during which the government will enforce penalties for infringement of your copyright, after which the work becomes freely available to all. You agreed to that contract when you filed the copyright. Now you come back, seventy years later, and claim that -- even though you already agreed that your work would fall into the public domain five years from now -- you deserve to have the terms of that contract changed, and should be allowed to continue to profit from and control distribution of that work. You already got the term of protection you agreed to, and you're arguing that you shouldn't have to be required to carry out your end of the agreement.

Yes, Disney still makes money off Mickey Mouse, both as copyrighted cartoons and as a trademark. However, the work "Steamboat Willie" was created and copyrighted for a specific period of time, which would have by now expired, making the cartoon public domain. Disney went back to Congress and lobbied successfully to get the term of copyright changed retroactively. And that is what the "huge issue" is. I don't think that people would have had a problem with the Copyright Term Extension Act if its effect were to amend the term of copyright so that any copyrights granted after it took effect had a longer term. What is objectionable about the Act is that it went back and changed the terms of copyrights that already existed -- and I fully expect Disney to keep going back, as the extended copyrights come up on expiration, to go back to Congress again and again, attempting to keep control of their creations in perpetuity, rather than being required to comply with their obligation to release them into the public domain.

Re:Disney pah

[Etrias]

Say what you want about Disney (I'm no fan, myself), but they will get my money for Tron.

You should see the trailer for Legacy: It's here.

Kinda weird mashup

[Ryvar]

Somebody already mashed this trailer up with Michael Jackson's "Beat It" - it works disturbingly well.

--Ryv

Re:Videogames in 1982?

[AKAImBatman]

Wasn't Wolfenstein, released in 1992 the first game with 3D graphics?

Not even close. Wolfenstein wasn't even the first raycaster game. It was preceded by Catacombs 3D (also by Id) which itself was preceded by Hovertank (also by Id).

Before those were even a twinkle in Carmack's eye, we had MIDI Maze (1987) and Star Wars Arcade (1983), just to name a few. There were tons of attempts at 3D games before Carmack. He merely popularized the First Person Shooter genre and made 3D Graphics the standard.

less slashdotted trailer link

[ChrisCampbell47]

http://www.complex.com/blogs/2009/07/27/wake-n-watch-tron-legacy-teaser-trailer/

Armagetron Advanced

[tepples]

I see the other 10% of their revenue coming from the new game "LightCycles 3D"
Which I sadly will probably buy a copy of.

A video game published by Disney probably won't run on Linux, unlike Armagetron Advanced.

High Definition Trailer

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.flynnlives.com/media/video/0xendgame.aspx

Re:Videogames in 1982?

[timeOday]

He didn't "merely popularize" them in the sense of using star power or deep pockets to get people hooked (since he had neither). Rather, he made 3d (or 3d-ish) games that could run well and look good (better than the competition) on PC-compatible hardware in the pre-acceleration days. This brought 3d to critical mass where it was worth developing 3d acceleration products for the masses. You could look at any of the previous innovators in 3d gaming, including all the ones you mentioned, and say they merely did this or that, since there was no single breakthrough that defined gaming as we know it. But his contribution - his technical contribution - was larger than most.

Re:Videogames in 1982?

[pilgrim23]

For Technical contributions Honorable Mention should be given to Ken Silverman: Walkan, Ken's Labyrinth, Build Engine for Duke Nukem 3d, etc Ken was a brilliant young programmer who we all love but never knew. You rock Ken!

Re:Screw TRON

[Toonol]

There was NO CGI in Tron.

I see you've been modded down to -1, so there's no that much point in responding, but I might as well: Yes there was. It contained a mix of practical and CGI effects. Certainly more CGI than in any prior film. The light cycles (partially), tanks, ships, landscapes... most were computer generated.

Re:Lightcycles only do straight lines!

[Anonymous Coward]

I noticed that too... They've taken a few liberties but overall I'm happy to see that they've mostly kept with the original look and feel. It looks incredible while still being true to the unique Tron environment. It's nice to see what you can do now versus then. The lighting on the suits isn't as blown out and the reflections are awesome.

That's not true. They only left straight walls behind, yes. Once they escaped from the game grid, they did all sorts of chicanes and s-curves when fleeing the army of Flynn's tank programs he'd created before he left Encom. They even "slid" sideways.

Re:Screw TRON

[NormalVisual]

MAGI/Synthavision certainly would be surprised to learn that, after all the time they spent creating/rendering the light cycle race, among other scenes.

Re:Lightcycles only do straight lines!

[NormalVisual]

Lightcycles could navigate curves in the original movie, and were clearly shown doing so during their escape from the game grid. When I get home tonight I'll pop the DVD in and give you a timestamp to look for.

Re:Lightcycles only do straight lines!

[Stormwatch]

That's not true. They only left straight walls behind, yes. Once they escaped from the game grid, they did all sorts of chicanes and s-curves when fleeing the army of Flynn's tank programs he'd created before he left Encom. They even "slid" sideways.

They still got it wrong. Choose: free movement OR wall-trails, not both at once.