The tagline of the movie is “The game has changed.” Need I go into the dialog? “Your move, Flynn!” “The only way to win the game is not to play.” And I’m pretty sure “Game over” gets used at least once. His last memory with his father is a deal to go play a game together. Sam Flynn lives his life as a game, not taking much seriously at all.
A major set piece is Flynn’s now-defunct video game arcade and secret laboratory. In Tron and Tron: Legacy a series of gladiatorial fights take place for dominance (and, presumably, entertainment purposes). Kevin Flynn breaks into the ENCOM computer to dig up dirt on Ed Dillinger, eventually taking over ENCOM and creating a Tron video game based on his digital experiences. Without further ado, the top seven things you can learn from Tron: Legacy for your own games. So it should come to no surprise to have Tron: Legacy stir up some of those wonderful memories of back “in the day” when you saw the original Tron and played the video game too many times in-between prepping your Rolemaster game and TSR’s Gangbusters. Retro is the new gamer-geek cred currency of choice, Chummer. Hell, I’m about to kick off a Birthright campaign using the Reign rules, a game that’s been out of print for over 15 years! That which was old is new again, or, in other words, as the members of our aging hobby become older and older it becomes more attractive to cash in on those fond memories and taking Living Steel out for a test drive one more time. Gamma World is the Game That Refuses to Die while Paranoia, GURPS, and HERO (bless you, Steve Long!) all chug along. From entire franchises (James Bond, Batman) to scratch-your-head “what were they thinking” movies ( The A-Team, Dukes of Hazzard), RPGs can also cash in on the nostalgia. Over the past decade retros, retreads, and reboots have been all the rage. In this case, Tron: Legacy has more than a few nuggets we can learn from.įair warning: Spoilers ahead! Retro is Chic
These also serve as test beds for what one ought to do or not do in narrative storytelling. Inspiration for our games surrounds us in many forms and traditional media is particularly rich in ideas.