Page 7 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #4

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‘n Rants

Just say “No” to Tron II "The Matrix," for that matter, but not sure.
I'm going to be blunt here. Tron that's a whole other groundbreaking -Russ Perry via e-mail
needs a sequel/remake like my computer-animated subject entirely.
Colecovision needs a couple of spin My plea to Hollywood: go plagiarize Thanks for the correction, Russ! We
cycles in the washing machine. someone else. Tron was a cool always appreciate good due diligence.
The recent rumors that Pixar is movie, perhaps more because of when I guess we now know we should’ve
planning on reviving the Tron fran- and how it was made than the content written: “Do not attempt to fight the
chise" (*what* franchise? It's one of the script. It's a truly prescient piece guard unless you have one helluva lot
movie and about a dozen games!), per- of what used to be considered cutting- of strength points and a boatload of
haps in an all-CGI form, fills me with edge filmmaking that would lose its time…”
dread. Have the lackluster remakes of uniqueness if put By the way, you’ll still find it’s
"Psycho," "Lost In Space," and other through the plot- easier to just hand him the
classic films and TV shows taught us recycling Cuisinart “Paper” to cross the bridge.
nothing? of Hollywood. On another note, our alert
Let me put it another way. The con- Leave it be. cover artist, Michael Thomas-
cepts and look of Tron were so far End of line. son pointed out that we failed
ahead of 1982 that the movie was al- -John Dillinger, to mention what system
most doomed to become a cult favorite California Dragonstomper was on. For
among computer geeks, gamers, and State Prison the record, it’s playable on the
virtually no one else. Yet, 18 years System #1304520 Atari 2600 when utilizing the
later, Tron comes across as a very sim- Starpath Supercharger.
plistic concept. These days, computer Mr. Dillinger (if that’s REALLY your
users *do* routinely send their alter name!), I think you may be right. If
egos forth to do battle with someone Flynn were to be digitized into a com-
else's alter ego via online multiplayer puter system today, I’m afraid he would
games. These days, the thought of a get his arse kicked rather soundly by
hacker taking over huge swathes any given character from Soul Calibur.
of computers through a global network Except, now how are we going to go
is the stuff of national news headlines about getting new Tron games (I’m still By George
and meetings in Washington, not just waiting to play Space Paranoids) and
sci-fi movies. These days, Clu's tank cool new Tron toys for our landfills? (Jones)!! We’re
doesn't have to be captured by Recog- I seriously doubt we’ll see the day a Mentioned
nizers - he could just as easily run into Tron sequel is released. Then again, it Again!
a firewall. certainly wouldn’t surprise me. In the
As dumbed-down-at-Disney's- meantime, check out our feature on
behest as I've always suspected Tron Tron Toys by Earl Green on page 19. Ziff Davis publishing’s
was, this movie was nearly two dec- Computer Gaming World was kind
ades ahead of the curve. enough to mention us on page 39 of
What could be done to the same Maybe if We Tried Saying “Please”? their August 2000 issue.
story that wouldn't seem incredibly There's a small factual inaccuracy in
simplistic now? The charm of Tron your Dragonstomper article. You say "Another retro-oriented effort is Clas-
was, quite simply, that it was a "Do not attempt to fight the guard. You sic Gamer Magazine
look at things that could someday hap- cannot win." This is NOT TRUE. You (www.classicgamer.com), a high-
pen. Granted, I haven't seen CAN beat him. The only problem is he quality fanzine based in San Diego
anyone use computers to suck Jeff has something like twice the hit points and run by editor-in-chief Chris Cava-
Bridges into a mainframe, let alone than the dragon has (I don't remember naugh. CGM offers up some lively
an orange (though, and this is kind of how many exactly though). discourse on everything from the Atari
eerie, extremely primitive teleportation A long time ago, when my brother, 2600 to the original NES to the earli-
experiments and calculations *are* tak- David Perry, was busy wearing out my est home computer games.
ing place, using fruit and vegetables as Survival Island tape, he was also play- In the latest Spring 2000 issue, for
organic test subjects). But it would ing a lot of Dragonstomper. He wasn't example, classic enthusiasts can read
wind up being a cold splash in the face content to believe the guard was im- about ADVENTURE for the Atari
of "so what?" possible to beat, so he bulked up for 2600, and a great nostalgia-inducing
As for a sequel...don't get me hours and went after him. He's not walkthrough of the early Ultima
started on sequels. Tron doesn't sure how many HP the guy had games."
need a sequel, either. Neither does though . . . he thinks 120 or 150 but is

Classic Gamer Magazine Summer 2000 7