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: