The unconventional design sense of the TRON movie universe has had an even larger cultural impact than the movie itself. The movie failed to live up to expectations, but its beautiful virtual game universe (with it's wacky neon lighting and abstract vehicles) live on in a variety of ways including the upcoming film sequel and it's influence on video games. Two of the most interesting things I discovered from Nintendo's Media Summit (from last week) are that they are doing downloadable game remakes of 'X' and 'Dotstream'. Curiously, both games have an undeniable stylistic influence from the TRON film. Is it strictly coincidence that both remakes are coming out in the same year as TRON 2? I don't know and don't care. All I know is that both games look and sound great and I look forward to playing them both!

I happened to have owned both games at different times in my life. In the early 1990s my uncle lived in Japan and he'd often purchase and send me used Game Boy games he'd come across. Two of his more memorable purchases was the puzzle game 'YOSHI NO TAMAGO' (Yoshi's Egg) AND 'X'. I remember being incredibly frustrated with 'X' because it was an atmospheric and technically impressive game for the Game Boy (with it's amazing soundtrack and polygon wire frame graphics) but I had NO IDEA how to play the damned thing. I'd keep screwing up and and seeing that funky head talk to me in Japanese and couldn't read enough to understand what to do. I have no idea what I have done with my copy of the game. It might still be stored in the attic at my parents house...

I also currently own DOTSTREAM. I purchased all the Bit Generation games from a video game import store when the came out. I LOVED the concept and packaging and was pleasantly surprised that the majority of them were also very good games. DOTSTREAM is a very fun expansion on the Tron light cycle concept complete with super minimalist graphics and an amazing soundtrack.

I love seeing what the original games were like and comparing them to the new versions. You can check out the original game and revamp videos below.

Original 'X' Game Boy game from 1992:

Revamped DSi sequel 'X-Scape' to be released in 2010:

Original 'Bit Generations: Dotstream' Game Boy Advance game from 2006:

Revamped Wii Ware successor 'Art Style: Light Trax' to be released in 2010:

It took a while, but I finally got around to watching TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY with my wife. It's been many, many years since I saw the film (last time I saw it was over 15 years ago at the age of 13 or 14). As a young teenager, I remember really liking the film but not being in the manic frenzy that many of my friends were in for it (for example, I just saw it once in theaters compared to a buddy that saw it roughly 10 times... in theatre!). I also remember it brought a bit of attention back on Guns 'N' Roses since they did the theme song.

So, how was it at my more critical age of 31 years? Good. My wife really liked it... but many bits of it were a bit too hokey for me. Having the first TERMINATOR film film fresh in my memory, the more kid-friendly version of T2's Arnold's T-800 leaves a bitter taste after the utter bad-assery he embodied in the first film. It tended to drag a bit with some extremely long action sequences, but it was still a fun film to watch that holds up over the years.

One thing that really stuck out for me was how long the film would go without dialogue. Many of the action scenes were minutes of pure action with just the sound of guns, vehicles and destruction. It was during these moments I came to realize how universal the film was since story and character are largely being conveyed without any need of understanding the English language. In place of a spoken language, characters spoke through movement, how they looked, and weapons/vehicles of choice. Arnold's T-800 was a beast of force. His weapons of choice were things like grenade launchers, vehicles like Harley Davidson motorcycles. The T-1000, by comparison was way more efficient... often killing with liquid blades and riding around in a police car. One of the most impressive things in the film is the perfect complement the T-800 and T-1000 are to each other. As the T-800, Arnold Schwarzenegger is over-powering beast... something like a gorilla. Instead of choosing a rival with a similar presence, Cameron and his team went in a completely different direction with the T-1000, creating a monster that is far more elegant and quick... something way more feline in physicality. The T-1000 is beautiful, lithe, and almost-feminine compared to the testosterone-fueled physicality of Arnold's character. It's a fascinating and very entertaining choice. It's odd that, in many ways, the T-1000 feels even more feminine than Sarah Connor (who has become so obsessive with the ominous future since the first film that she's dedicated her life to training for the War). But it's also one of my biggest problems with the film because Sarah comes across like a dysfunctional alcoholic more than someone who has dedicated their life for battle.

All in all, it was fun to revisit T2. It's not as 'cool' as it was when I watched it at 13 (which seems to be the age they were aiming for when making the film) but pleasant nonetheless.