Written by Emmanuel Gundran
TRON (1982) was one of the first movies, along with War Games (1983), to tell a story about video games before Super Mario Bros. (1993) would try to adapt a video game's story to the big screen. The film is set in a semi-futuristic 1982, present for the time, when machine could be more than a human instrument. Programs are the creations of computer programmers, but in the fictional, digital world of the Grid, they are far more advanced than any line of code shows. The programs take on the appearance of the creators, have their own distinct personalities, and even compete in several, deadly competitions or what the programs call "video games." Sound familiar? TRON sets out to predict how computers, and even video game programs, could advance as a result of the technological revolution going on during that time and even continues to boom today.
One of the game that the programs play to the death: light-cycle racing.
What Watson is capable of, including besting Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings. TRON puts a spin on video games as user entertainment and turns into a battle to the death between the programs controlled by the users. Though we think of video games as non-lethal entertainment, the very lives of programs are at stake with each game. Meanwhile, the programs think of us users as mythical gods, and believers in the users are labeled as religious nuts. Though this level of intelligence may seem strange in programmed video game characters, this type of technological advancement may not be as far-off as it looks. Daniel Wellman, a practitioner of Extreme Programming and Agile development methodologies, recalls an experience bizarrely similar to an event from TRON.
"One day, when Marco and I were playing against two computer opponents, we forced one of the AI cycles to trap itself between its own walls and the bottom game border. Sensing an impending crash, it fired a missile, just like it always did whenever it was trapped. But this time was different – instead of firing at another trail, it fired at the game border, which looked like any other light cycle trail as far as the computer was concerned. The missile impacted with the border, leaving a cycle-sized hole, and the computer promptly took the exit and left the main playing field. Puzzled, we watched as the cycle drove through the scoring display at the bottom of the screen. It easily avoided the score digits and then drove off the screen altogether. Shortly after, the system crashed. Our minds reeled as we tried to understand what we had just seen. The computer had found a way to get out of the game. When a cycle left the game screen, it escaped into computer memory – just like in the movie."
Of course, there is the chance that Wellman and Marco could have discovered a glitch in the system, but it's a chilling reminder of a major scene from the film.
The sequel, Tron: Legacy (2010), takes this intelligence and sentience in programs even further. In that film, it was revealed that programs could leave the digital world and come into our world as normal people. Even this concept of bringing the digital world to our world is something that our non-fictional scientists have attempted to replicate, as seen in advanced A.I. programs such as IBM's Watson, the upcoming Viv being developed by the makers of Siri, and the conversational Philip K. Dick android are prominent examples of scientists bringing a computer consciousness into the world of human consciousness.
The experience of being immersed in the game, a concept played with in TRON, is something that the video game industry has been trying to perfect in recent times. In TRON, Kevin Flynn gets transported by the advanced A.I. running the Grid, the Master Control Program, and participates in the death-defying games that the programs are forced to play. Virtual reality devices can replicate this sense of being in the video game experience. The Oculus Rift, for instance, immerses the player by utilizing a three-dimensional, binocular device that moves the player's character as the player moves their head in real-time. There are even extra peripherals that use the player's hands and feet for an even deeper, immersive experience.
"One day, when Marco and I were playing against two computer opponents, we forced one of the AI cycles to trap itself between its own walls and the bottom game border. Sensing an impending crash, it fired a missile, just like it always did whenever it was trapped. But this time was different – instead of firing at another trail, it fired at the game border, which looked like any other light cycle trail as far as the computer was concerned. The missile impacted with the border, leaving a cycle-sized hole, and the computer promptly took the exit and left the main playing field. Puzzled, we watched as the cycle drove through the scoring display at the bottom of the screen. It easily avoided the score digits and then drove off the screen altogether. Shortly after, the system crashed. Our minds reeled as we tried to understand what we had just seen. The computer had found a way to get out of the game. When a cycle left the game screen, it escaped into computer memory – just like in the movie."
Of course, there is the chance that Wellman and Marco could have discovered a glitch in the system, but it's a chilling reminder of a major scene from the film.
The sequel, Tron: Legacy (2010), takes this intelligence and sentience in programs even further. In that film, it was revealed that programs could leave the digital world and come into our world as normal people. Even this concept of bringing the digital world to our world is something that our non-fictional scientists have attempted to replicate, as seen in advanced A.I. programs such as IBM's Watson, the upcoming Viv being developed by the makers of Siri, and the conversational Philip K. Dick android are prominent examples of scientists bringing a computer consciousness into the world of human consciousness.
The experience of being immersed in the game, a concept played with in TRON, is something that the video game industry has been trying to perfect in recent times. In TRON, Kevin Flynn gets transported by the advanced A.I. running the Grid, the Master Control Program, and participates in the death-defying games that the programs are forced to play. Virtual reality devices can replicate this sense of being in the video game experience. The Oculus Rift, for instance, immerses the player by utilizing a three-dimensional, binocular device that moves the player's character as the player moves their head in real-time. There are even extra peripherals that use the player's hands and feet for an even deeper, immersive experience.
Team Fortress 2 gameplay through the eyes of the Oculus Rift
Both TRON and TRON: Legacy are movies that try to get one step ahead of the technological revolution through their visual styles while also reflecting the current period. The first film shows the computer world as fantastic and bizarre. Yet, when one looks at the visual effects and technological concepts of TRON compared to today's, they're very outdated. Everything looks blocky, plain-colored, and basic; however, for the people of 1982, this was what the future could've looked like. TRON: Legacy updates the graphics of the computer-video game world. The buildings of the Grid appear less geometric, basic, and thus more aesthetically pleasing than they were in the first film. This graphical update in-between movies parallels the technological update from the early 1980's up to the 2000's. The 1980's made the very idea of the digital world fantastic, while the 2000's, and especially the 2010's, made the already established digital world look more pleasing to the eye. We went from the monochromatic graphics of Pong to the realistic, large-scale digital replica of Gotham City in the Batman Arkham series.
 The Grid in TRON (1982). |  The Grid in TRON Legacy (2010) |
Overall, the TRON series shows that video games and programs are mediums with which humans bridge the gap between the digital and the real worlds. Video games and programs allow for players and programmers to put their hand into the digital world and interact with the tools given to them. The TRON movies show what could happen if people stepped even further into the digital world and even give a glimpse of what could happen if the digital stepped into our world.
Sources Cited:
Wellman, Daniel. (2008). Real Life Tron on an Apple IIgs. Stay on Target. Retrieved from http://blog.danielwellman.com/2008/10/real-life-tron-on-an-apple-iigs.html
Wellman, Daniel. (2008). Real Life Tron on an Apple IIgs. Stay on Target. Retrieved from http://blog.danielwellman.com/2008/10/real-life-tron-on-an-apple-iigs.html
