So there are scenes in the 1982 movie and its novelization that pretty explicitly show that video games have a Player and a Computer side, and that both are enacted by program warriors

The degree to which the Player’s skill influences the Program’s success or failure is never completely clear, but still…

any time I think about going into an arcade and trying out an actual TRON game, there is a part of me that goes…

“…what kind of monster are you. None of those poor programs want to fight for THAT kind of User! YOU HAVE NEVER PLAYED A DAMN VIDEOGAME IN YOUR LIFE. how horribly and needlessly are you trying to get your little friends derezzed?”

tangentially: I have an idea in the back of my mind about a plucky little User-believer who, despite all threats and torture, never stops heckling the MCP by calling it “the NPC”

“THAT IS NOT MY DESIGNATION, PROGRAM”

“…oh yeah?? Have you ever dared to let yourself be the player character?”

“…..NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS”