Tron: Legacy / The Next Day

[Ben]

Manomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomano-manomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomano-manomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomano-manomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomanomamanoMAN!!

God, they're getting this SO right. And those graphics are the best imitation Atari2600 styled graphics that I've yet seen...they ABSOLUTELY feel like they could have come from 1982 and a company called ENCOM.

ENCOM really should exist, you know. Perhaps Disney could reinvent Disney Interactive or start up a new action/Marvel/mature player games company and use that name. Heck, even as a non-gamer, I'd be interested to see what a company called ENCOM would put out!!

[EricJ]

God, they're getting this SO right. And those graphics are the best imitation Atari2600 styled graphics that I've yet seen...they ABSOLUTELY feel like they could have come from 1982 and a company called ENCOM.

In the first film, "Vice Squad" was just a reference in a script--
Retro-geekdom has turned it into an entire tribute to "A.P.B."

ENCOM really should exist, you know. Perhaps Disney could reinvent Disney Interactive or start up a new action/Marvel/mature player games company and use that name. Heck, even as a non-gamer, I'd be interested to see what a company called ENCOM would put out!!

...Oh, don't think we won't get some PS2 form of "Tron Universe" retro-games, whether the postcards are "real" or not.
(Not the least of which being an excuse to recycle Space Paranoids off the website.)

And if they build another faux-arcade for SDCC, consider it a given.

[Ben]

I'm sure we'll get the games Eric...the point was that the logo and ENCOM name just looks so iconic that Disney should consider using it as an "inside joke" name for a new games company. That company needn't make a Tron-inspired game in its life, but would be a very cool name to give to a division that turned out "different" product, and had a cool, geeky story in its name to boot.

[EricJ]

Folks have yet to figure out what the hidden message lurks from within, but many believe something will definitely go down at Comic Con, which already has the big Thursday panel and a booth set to rock the convention center.

As "associate" Encom employee, got my own postcard in the mail (and Vice Squad, at that)--
Given the timing, there's the sinking feeling that we ARE supposed to barscan these in person at San Diego, so...we'll have to have some designated lucky bum tell us what we missed.
(The FlynnLives.com site already retired last May, so we can't expect help from them.)

[Dan]

I can't believe I missed on this one.

April 3, 2010.

ENCOM Press Conference in San Francisco.

[EricJ]

That was for the unveiling of Space Paranoids Online, which was secretly supposed to unlock hidden-area barcodes that would access concept art from the movie, but...I'm not sure how.

But you have to love:
"I often wonder what Kevin Flynn would say about Encom's technology today...Actually, I do know: 'I TOLD you so, man!'"

(That, and "When we first met, she was....digitizing an orange, wasn't it?")

[Randall]

Interesting reveal of who's been helping out with TRON:

http://www.spinoffonline.com/2010/07/14 ... -rewrites/

[Dan]

The coded blackstrips have been deciphered.

A group of members at the Unfiction message board found that when you gather together all of the strips and lay them on top of one another in a transparency style, they read as:

ENCOMGAMESDOTJP

That obviously means:

EncomGames.jp

It's essentially the Japanese web site for ENCOM. When you translate the Japanese text, it doesn't reveal anything hidden. But it does contain a link to a playable game:

Circuit Cycles

You progress through the game and earn badges. The final badge reveals a new subpage for the Flynn Lives web site:

http://www.flynnlives.com/identityraid/

Like last year, it reveals a countdown. And the countdown ends on Thursday, July 22 at 11:30am.

Right in the middle of the Tron Legacy panel at Comic Con.

Hmmm...

[Ben]

OMGOMGOMGOMG!!

Interesting news on the Pixar input, though I wouldn't put much stock in this changing the direction of the film, since it would be feedback that may shape only two or three scenes tops. Still, nice to see them be involved, since many of them got into CG because of the first film, as noted by Lasseter himself.

Also opens the doors for more input on the proposed sequels, maybe even on a visual effects level? That could be very cool. As one of the posters on that page says, though, should we be worried that the film needed rewrites/reshoots/outsider input? I'm personally thinking "no", the film is about done and every film goes through a limited number of pick-ups and reshoots as a result of the editing process and seeing what's working and what might need more subtlety or expressive explanation. From what I hear, the reshoots weren't even "extensive", which is the real sign of something not working and needing to be "fixed"...doesn't sound like that at all.

Also, I think the film has been given time to breathe, as in a date wasn't set and they weren't racing towards it. So I think any tinkering now isn't that it needed it, but rather that they're making some things more clear or, even given the fan reaction so far, inserting a couple of things for the sequel set-ups, knowing that they pretty much have a sure-fire hit in the waiting (even non-film and non-fan people are writing/excited/talking about Tron Legacy).

As for the decodes: ooohhh, I wish I was going to the Con more than ever now. Any bets on Dillinger turning up (like Gordon Gekko, he could be emerging from a prolonged jail term, and all has been VERY silent on the Tron set/David Warner front lately)? Maybe he's been "saved" for the pick-up shoot so as to protect the secret as long as possible. That would all make sense and still be very cool.

Man...they have been doing this all so perfectly. I guess there will be other Cons in future to go to in order to lap up some Tron goodness!

[EricJ]

Any bets on Dillinger turning up (like Gordon Gekko, he could be emerging from a prolonged jail term, and all has been VERY silent on the Tron set/David Warner front lately)? Maybe he's been "saved" for the pick-up shoot so as to protect the secret as long as possible. That would all make sense and still be very cool.

If you "hack" around the Encom site, there's already plot-planting mention of "Kurt Hardington" as the new annoying-martinet executive CEO who runs the company, under Alan Bradley's figurehead image--
Doesn't seem to factor into the cyber plot as much as Dillinger/Warner did, but they're certainly letting us know his name early.

[Ben]

Just as long as it's not Rutger Hauer!

[Dan]

Flynn's Arcade will be back in business during Comic Con. It will be set up at the same location as last year. And also like last year, it's open to the public so you don't need a Comic Con badge.

The address is 335 6th Street in downtown San Diego.

Additionally, they will be screening the original Tron at the Marriott Hotel at 6:05pm on Thursday. Unfortunately, only Comic Con attendees can go.

[Dan]

So I managed to get in during the Tron Legacy panel at comic con. The eight-minute clip they showed was AWESOME! The cast was great to see and hear from. But perhaps the coolest part is that they recorded us doing cheers and chants that could end up in the movie. Just imagine 6,500 of us going "DISK WARS! DISK WARS!" or "DE-REZ! DE-REZ!" It was fantastic.

[Randall]

That sounds pretty cool.

In case anyone missed it, Dacey posted a link to the new trailer on the Views front page.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/tron-le ... 1#movTitle

[Dacey]

Apart from the story looking absolutely AWESOME, the thing that stands out most about that preview is how they've managed to take like 20 years off of Jeff Bridges. I'm starting to become convinced that movies are capable of doing anything.