Amazing Games We Really Wish Existed: Vol 3 

Oh yes, get ready for more games from films and TV shows that we just wish we could play. From Dash Dingo to Cones of Dunshire, so far there has been a wide range of these marvellous, yet sadly, fictitious games. Well, buckle up, we’re in for five more!

ENCOM Mainframe from Disney’s Tron

Starting with the Disney cult classic from 1982, we have the ENCOM Mainframe from the Tron universe. Set inside a computer mainframe and one of the first major motion pictures to utilise CGI, there’s a reason why Tron holds a special place in our hearts. The visual representation of what being inside a computer might look like is enough to make any PC enthusiast happy. Add in Light Cycle races, and well, you’re really onto a winner.

Being trapped inside the mainframe of a computer by an AI which is already blackmailing someone else, the original Tron story is straight-up sinister. Yet, the iconic aesthetic is undeniable. The graphics may be basic by today’s standards, but the combination of illuminated circuitry on greyed-out avatars is very effective.

It would be amazing to explore the inner workings of a computer. We get a taste of this in Kingdom Hearts 2, but you know we love to imagine what the real deal would be like. Just think of the Light Cycle races. We’ll just skip over the “crash and you’ll be derezzed” issue and focus on the speedy, RGB bikes.  

Fun fact: I was today years old when I learned that “Tron” is short for “electronic”. Mind. Blown. 

ENCOM Mainframe Specs

In the original film, the ENCOM Mainframe is described as being cutting edge, as to be expected from an innovative tech company. Equally, we see that it has had a significant upgrade in the second film, Tron: Legacy (2010). Lines are smoother, the neon is brighter, and the world is continually expanding. 

What does all this mean in terms of tech? Would it need a mighty AMD Ryzen Threadripper to run the Master Control Program (MCP) or are these human-like programs accessible with more domestic hardware? 

A Tron PC game was released in 2003, perhaps this is what we base our specs on? 

These are specs for Tron 2.0.

ENCOM Mainframe Recs

Basing our recommendations on a game released in 2003 and ported to PC in 2014 doesn’t feel like we’re doing the ENCOM Mainframe justice. Going down the Threadripper/server route, the only suggestion is the 8Pack Supernova. However, given we are over ten years on from the second film and the aesthetic matches so perfectly, it can only be the 8Pack Meteoroid. 

8Pack Meteoroid MK2 Gaming PC

• AMD Ryzen 9 7900X CPU
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 GPU
• Customising options including case material and printing
• Dual radiator cooling with bespoke distro plates
• Iconic 8Pack branding and blue lighting

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Alien Child from Her

The 2013 film Her features plenty of “not too distant” future tech, from AI operating systems to augmented reality gaming. Of course, these are technologies already being explored, most households have a smart speaker and games like Pokémon Go delve into augmented reality. The beauty of the tech in Her is how seamless and integrated with the everyday environment.

Let’s face it, who doesn’t want to have conversations with someone who sounds like Scarlet Johansson? 

What really captured our imagination, though, was Alien Child, the AG game we briefly see Theodor Twombly (Phoenix) play. Is it the giant bulbous head or the gaming platform we love? Maybe it’s their adorable potty mouth? Let’s be honest, it’s all three.

The gameplay we see is so painfully short but just enough to pique interest. Theodor seemingly controls his avatar by walking his fingers, making camera adjustments with his hands, and interacting with the game interface using his voice. Tell me how that’s not the futuristic gaming we dream of! 

Of course, the voice interaction is really where the Alien Child game comes into its own – encouraging the player to swear back at the game. Who here hasn’t sworn at the game they’re playing? It’s always the failed steals on JRPG bosses that get me. 

Alien Child Specs

With Her being set not so far in the future and the story hinging on technology we already sort of have, being able to play Alien Child feels oddly within reach. Even if we’re still ten years off from this level of innovation, games are often able to run on older generations to optimise accessibility. Therefore, it’s perfectly reasonable to assume we’d be able to play Alien Child on the tech we have available now. Or at least the next generation or so. 

Of course, the voice interaction between user, computer, and program may be a little taxing on our hardware. Not to mention the fancy sci-fi trope of being able to project a screen with the wave of a hand! Still, based on the assumption that older tech can run new games, I reckon Alien Child’s official specs would look a little like this: 

Alien Child Recs

Right now, the closest thing we have to augmented reality with this level of immersion is VR. The HTC Vive COSMOS Elite would be an excellent candidate. You may not be able to move by making little walking motions with your fingers, but the controllers are highly intuitive and could be the next best thing. 

HTC Vive COSMOS Elite HMD VR Headset

• PC VR headset
• All new LCD panels
• Form fitting headphones with spatial sound
• 1440 x 1700 pixels per eye
• Refined inside-Out tracking

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Ninja Ninja Revolution

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is known for its postmodern view, featuring homages to films, comics, and games. The one that really caught our eye – other than the 8-bit Scott – was Ninja Ninja Revolution. Dance Dance Revolution is an arcade staple and has been since the late 90s. It has even made its way to other platforms, including PC, Game Boy Colour, and as a TV/DVD game.

So, is it really any surprise we want to play a ninja version? 

Much like the traditional arcade model, we see Scott (Cera) and his girlfriend Knives (Wong) play together on the raised platform, trading dance for combat moves. The graphics are reminiscent of many popular fighter games, such as the Tekken or Mortal Kombat series, except the on-screen ninjas are side-by-side not face-to-face. 

It’s the overall whimsy paired with familiar format that makes Ninja Ninja Revolution so appealing. Gameplay is intuitive – we see that in the way Scott and Knives effortlessly play, certainly the first-time round – and we know it has various levels to complete. There’s even boss to defeat in battle. 

Who doesn’t want to try taking on the NegaNinja in front of an arcade full of people cheering you on? 

Ninja Ninja Revolution Specs

It’s safe to say, an arcade machine is built a little differently from a gaming PC. Sure, there will be similar components, but they will be specialised to cope with near-constant use. So, putting together the guestimation of the arcade machine’s specifications is a little outside our wheelhouse. However, there have been several iterations of DDR on PC. Based on the assumption that NNR is an accurate parody of this arcade classic, then we can certainly believe there are PC versions existing in the Scott Pilgrim universe. 

As such, we have the official specs for DDR V for PC right here.  

Ninja Ninja Revolution Recs

As we can see, these specs are not that demanding at all. We are a number of generations on from the tech listed, so it’s a fair assumption that pretty much any PC can handle Ninja Ninja Revolution. The DDR V real-life counterpart is compatible with USB dance mats or keyboards as a means of input, so it’s up to you how you’d bust a ninja move! 

For your PC, you can’t go wrong with the Refract Gaming pre-built range. Each of these gaming PCs has been crafted with cherry-picked hardware to suit a variety of gameplay styles. The Refract Jade is perfect for mainstream gaming at 1080p. Plus, it comes with three years parts and labour warranty as standard. 

Refract Gaming Jade Pre-Built PC

• AMD Ryzen 7 7700 CPU
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GPU
• Stunning RGB lighting
• 32GB DDR5 RAM
• Three Years warranty included as standard

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If you don’t have a DDR (or rather Ninja Ninja Revolution) mat hidden in your tech closet, then a keyboard with N-key rollover will be perfect. Especially if it boasts vivid, per-key lighting like the Powercolor x Ducky One 2 collab!

Powercolor x Ducky One 2 SF RGB Mechanical Keyboard

• 65% form factor gaming keyboard
• N-Key rollover
• Per-key RGB lighting
• Custom spacebar
• Kailh White switches with tactile feedback

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Buzz Lightyear: Attack on Zurg from Toy Story 2

Cast your mind back to 1999, you’re watching the opening to Toy Story 2. Buzz Lightyear is heroically venturing through unknown territory, looking for a way to defeat Emperor Zurg once and for all. Theeeen, he gets blown in half and it’s revealed that actually we were just watching Rex play Buzz Lightyear: Attack on Zurg. Hello the start of my obsession with PC gaming.

I have plenty to say about Toy Story 2 as it is – peak Toy Story, this is the hill I die on – but Attack on Zurg is something else. If we take the film release date as a ballpark for when this game was also released, then it would have been competing with the likes of Crash Team Racing, Gran Turismo 2, and Age of Empires II. Nostalgia may make us remember the graphics a little better and the gameplay a little smoother, but they were certainly limited in what you could do. 

Attack on Zurg, however, shows multiple modes of transport, using the environment to your advantage, and dynamic combat. You want examples? Buzz arrives on a jet pack, walks, and then saves himself from a great fall with a bubble belt gadget. Upon being surrounded by thousands of bots, he shoots his laser into a crystal to efficiently defeat them all at once. Then, when fighting Zurg, he uses the fallen platforms as a shield before leaping over his combatant. Imagine how much more Rex could have done if he could reach the d-pad and action buttons at the same time! 

Can you see why I want to play this so bad?

Buzz Lightyear: Attack on Zurg Specs

When Toy Story 2 first came out, it had an accompanying PlayStation 1 game, Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue! Sadly, this was not a replication of Attack on Zurg and more a companion for the film. (From what I remember, it was really difficult too.) 

With the advanced gameplay depicted in Attack on Zurg, we could expect a true version of the game to be more like the companion game to the latest instalment, Lightyear. Available on most of the current platforms (but not PC – boo!), Lightyear’s companion game was made with Unreal Engine 5. So, for the Attack on Zurg game of our dreams, we can use the UE5 specs as a baseline for what the game would run on. 

These are the specs required for running Unreal Engine 5, detailed in Who Needs Sleep – Photorealistic Horror With Unreal Engine 5.

Buzz Lightyear: Attack on Zurg Recs 

To be entirely honest, my PC recommendation was less influenced by specification and more so by the fact it matches the Buzz Lightyear colour scheme. Can you guess what it is? Only the OcUK Gaming Genesis Limited Edition PC inspired by the popular anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. The green and purple are just perfect.

OcUK Gaming Genesis – Limited Edition Evangelion Inspired Powered By Asus Gaming PC

• Limited edition PC – only 12 units!
• Evangelion ASUS hardware, including motherboard and GPU
• Iconic Evangelion green and purple colour scheme
• Custom printed PC case and hand-made extension cables
• Alder Lake CPU and RTX 30 Series GPU

Unfortunately, this gaming PC is no longer available. We have an OcUK Gaming Genesis MK2, which has a phenomenal EVA 02 design. It just doesn’t match Buzz Lightyear.

Bamboozled from Friends

The final entry on today’s list isn’t technically a PC game or even a board game with a workshop mod on Tabletop Simulator. It’s a game show, that never even made it to air in the fictional setting it’s from. Certainly not in its original format anyway.

I am, of course, talking about Bamboozled from Friends. While we never see the chaotic and convoluted game show come to life, it is enough watching Ross and Chandler help Joey prep his audition. 

From Wicked Wango cards to hopping bonuses, you have to wonder if the writing team watched Japanese game shows for inspiration. On its surface, this is a trivia quiz game. It just comes with the added layer of mayhem that makes contestants cry out that it’s the best game ever! As the episode progresses, we see Joey, Chandler, and Ross become more swept up in the excitement – choosing Google cards or spinning the Wheel of Mayhem. 

Honestly, it just looks like a great way to spend game night with your friends! 

Bamboozled Specs

As this isn’t a video game – fictitious or otherwise – we can’t really take an educated guess at what the specs might be. Discuss what we reckon the set would have looked like? Absolutely. I see a lot of glitter, pseudo-Aztec décor, and a colourful tux for Joey. Drop a comment below with your thoughts and theories!

Bamboozled Recs 

If someone ever was to bring Bamboozled to life in a way that we could play, perhaps a “print and play” version, then I reckon it would make for some hilarious content. Imagine streaming your way to Paradise Pond – by spinning the Wheel of Mayhem, going up the Ladder of Chance, past the Mud Hut, and through the Rainbow Ring to get to the Golden Monkey. It would be the best kind of chaos. 

To get yourself set up for streaming, Streamplify is the way to go. This range of streaming hardware is designed for ease of use whilst still providing a professional finish. Explore a range of ring lights, microphones with a variety of stand types, and so many must-have streaming gadgets. 

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