First time I ever saw Tron

IdahoFarmer

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The first time I ever saw the Tron arcade game was when my parents took me to see the movie. For some reason we saw the movie at a theater we rarely visited, Laemmle's Town Center 5 in Encino, CA. We lived 20 minutes away, and there were at least 4 or 5 other theaters closer. It was maybe only my second time there.

I was 10.

After the movie there was a bunch of older kids huddled around the game. I remember my dad put me up on his shoulders so I could watch.

I remember the theater was cool because it was underground. You would drive down into an underground parking garage, and then the lower level had shops and the movie theater. The lower level opened up to the top floor via an atrium. Pretty interesting.

Today I did an internet image search to see if I could find a shot of that theater and where the game used to stand. Found one on yelp... game would have been on the wall on the very far left side of this photo. Just one Tron game. No others. I expect they brought the game in special for the movie release. Funny though, I remember the lobby area being much larger.

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I didn't get to play a game that day... but I did get to play it later at Farrell's in Woodland Hills, CA... which was a childhood favorite. Attended many birthday party celebrations there. I couldn't find a photo of the arcade space, but here's what the rest of the place was like:

Farrells.jpg
 
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That was a good read. Just the sounds from that game bring back so many memories.
Thanks for sharing.
 
I have movie theatre memories as well when I was 13, used to love going there during the late 80s/90s generation with MK2, Hard Drivin Cockpit, NBA Jam Tourney, and a Xenophobe. Always a crowd of 20+ watching players play. Those were some fun times. I even tried to impress a girl by performing a Liu Kang fatality. She didn't care.
 
Man, I miss farrels. Such an awesome place....loved it when somebody would order the jumbo bowl of ice cream and they'd run it out on a ladder carried on their shoulders with sirens going off.
 
First time I ever saw or played Tron was when I bought it. :) To me it's straight 80's in every way possible, and that's why I enjoy it.

Just like PheonixStar I too come from the late 80's/90's era of gaming, Tron was long replaced in arcades by then.

Cool story though IF, I could envision your memories. Thanks for sharing.
 
Nice story. So I was about to make a post here about Farrells ice cream because there is still one around here, at the Mission Viejo Mall. Then I started wondering if the Beach Blvd location is still there because that's the one I went to as a kid. After looking it appears there are only three locations left, those two and a newer one in Brea that has opened. I figured there were more of them than that. Edit: it looks like the Mission Viejo one went out of business about a year ago, doh! Went to a birthday party there a few years ago, and had a bitchen pair of prada sunglasses someone had given me pocketed while there (placed them on the window frame next to the table, people next to us must have taken them, so annoying).
 
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First time I saw TRON arcade game..

It was at the local bowling alley Mchenry Bowl that's still there but it was too cool when they had the games lined up along the walls behind the lanes..Man that game was beyond cool BITD and still such a cool game!!!
 
Man, I miss farrels. Such an awesome place....loved it when somebody would order the jumbo bowl of ice cream and they'd run it out on a ladder carried on their shoulders with sirens going off.

Oh man, that brought back some memories I didn't know I even had anymore.

Awesome!
 
Funny you mention this, same thing happened to me as a kid. We saw the movie near Deptford Mall, NJ and then went to the ground round for food, where they usually hand a handful of games near the lobby. Well, they had a Tron upright! Awesome times.

Thanks for sharing the story, always fun to read stuff like this.
 
My first time seeing Tron was at Trolley Corners movie theaters' in Salt Lake City. It was located just east of Trolley Square. Trolley Square was an old historic trolley repair and storage facility for Salt Lake City back in the day. Trolley Square is now a trendy shopping center and Trolley Corners theaters is long gone.

The movie theater release of Tron was huge, lines out the door and a very long wait. We traveled 40 miles from where I lived to see Tron, and it was worth every mile and every minute to see a cutting edge technology movie with the newest graphics. The icing on the cake was the single Tron game just outside of the theater door exits. The crowd was huge and the line to play it was just as big. It was then that I had in my mind that I always wanted my own Tron game.

I didn't care how much it cost, how long it took, I was going to own this game. I finally found one in poor shape and in pieces, but this was one the games on my must/will have list. It took time, patience and lots of money to put this game back together. Yes, Tron is a money pit, that I do admit, and it was one of my favorite project restores. Every part I found, slowly cleaning, down to sanding and painting, brought me back to that magical moment watching the movie on the huge theater screen when Flynn entered the world of Tron. I wanted to go there or have the next best thing to actually being in the movie, Tron the arcade game.

The game was located just outside theater 1 near the lobby from what I recall. I found this site with lots photos of the movie theater. Looking at these pictures I can see and hear the crowds reactions to the game. I can smell the popcorn, and now every time I play my game it brings me back to that special day when I saw the movie Tron for the first time, and then seeing and hearing a Tron arcade game being played with huge crowds gathered around it. We were all being awed by the possibility that the world of Tron could exist and it is physically right in front of us. This is the arcade magic from the imagineers of Walt Disney.

http://utahtheaters.info/Theater/Albums/2/Trolley-Corners
http://utahtheaters.info/Theater/Album/614
http://utahtheaters.info/Theater/Album/589
 

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TRUE STORY: My sister had her 6th birthday at Farrell's in Montclair, CA (my brother and I also had more than one there as well!)...

During the party, one of the girls started choking on something. I remember everyone was freaking out. My mom literally picked the little girl up, shoved her hand down her throat and tipped her upside down shaking (obviously, she wasn't a student of the Heimlich maneuver, which, at the time, had only been published 8 years prior). The little girl literally started to turn blue... but AMAZINGLY in my moms CRAZE somehow whatever was in there came dislodged and out and the little girl, after some crying, was fine.

CRAZY stuff...

Mom was nutz.
 
I played Tron for the first time in a now closed mini golf, batting cage, arcade place right off of I-4 in Orlando. It was just before you got downtown, after the old bread factory that was there. I want to say it was a Malibu Grand Prix, but I don't remember for sure (I found this newspaper archive online, so I believe it was it). It was early 83 so I was 7 at the time and my parents surprised me by bringing me there. I loved it. I remember being in awe of the Tron arcade game. It obviously meant so much to me that I remember that night out of everything from that age.

I played it numerous more times over the years and always wanted one when I got way older and realized that was even a possibility. I missed a few opportunities to get one and got screwed over by the seller on a couple other deals, but I am happy to say I finally did get one a few years ago and it had a really cool history as well., which makes it even that more fun.
 

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My 12-year-old son and I rented Tron last night on Vudu, we are really enjoying it!

I actually just watched it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I can imagine how this must've blown peoples minds back in '82. The movie as a whole still holds up well today, I think.
 
I don't remember the first time I ever saw the game, but the first time I ever saw the movie was in 1997 late one night after getting back from a club but not ready to sleep for a variety of reasons :p ;). The movie really made an impact in the state I was in as I basically spent the next six or seven years buying every single Tron related item I could. I still have a huge collection I need to sell 90% of, but I'm keeping all the best/rarest items. I just wish I had stepped up to the plate and paid up back in 2004 or so when DisneyAuctions sold a number of prop pieces on ebay for what would now be considered peanuts. I was the runner up on a couple pieces, but didn't win any.

The movie as a whole still holds up well today, I think.

Once Flynn is in the computer I mostly agree with you, however the first 20 minutes is quite slow compared to most movies these days and puts some people to sleep...it took my wife several tries to get past the first 20 minutes without falling asleep :eek::001_stongue:
 
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Haha, I don't dare invite my wife to watch. This just isn't her genre. :D

I dunno, I enjoyed Flynn using Clu with the tanks and Flynn's Arcade in its hey day, that was all in the first 20 minutes or so. I had seen Tron Legacy when it came out, so it was cool to see how this whole thing started out. :)
 
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