Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk (a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk) is a genre of science fiction that focuses on computers or information technology, usually coupled with some degree of breakdown in social order. The plot of cyberpunk literature often revolves around the conflict between hackers, artificial intelligences, and mega corporations, tending to be set within a near-future dystopian Earth, rather than the "outer space" locales prevalent at the time of cyberpunk's inception. Much of the genre's "atmosphere" echoes film noir, and written works in the genre often use techniques from detective fiction. While this gritty, hard-bitten style was hailed as revolutionary during cyberpunk's early days, later observers concluded that, literarily speaking, most cyberpunk narrative techniques were less innovative than those of the New Wave, twenty years earlier. Primary exponents of the cyberpunk field include William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, John Shirley and Rudy Rucker. The term became widespread in the 1980s and remains current today.

Games

Computer games have frequently used cyberpunk as a source of inspiration. The most prevalent of these are the System Shock series, the Deus Ex series, Shadowrun, and the Blade Runner video games.

Related Topics:
Computer games - System Shock - Deus Ex - Shadowrun - Blade Runner

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1994 brought the release of GameTek's action/driving game Quarantine, in which the player takes the role of an armored-cab driver in the cyberpunk urban sprawl of Kemo City. Both the atmosphere of the game and the plot, which involves rebellion against a corrupt megacorp, are rooted in and derivative of the genre. A recent notable cyberpunk computer game is Uplink, created by Introversion Software in 2002, in which the player works as a freelance hacker in 2010.

Related Topics:
1994 - GameTek - Quarantine - Urban sprawl - Megacorp - Uplink - Introversion Software - 2002 - 2010

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At least two role-playing games called Cyberpunk exist: Cyberpunk 2020, by R. Talsorian Games, and GURPS Cyberpunk, published by Steve Jackson Games as a module of the GURPS family of role-playing games. Cyberpunk 2020 was designed with the settings of William Gibson's writings in mind, and to some extent with his approval, unlike the (perhaps more creative) approach taken by FASA in producing the Shadowrun game (see below). Both games are set in the near future, in a world where cybernetics are prominent. Netrunner is a collectible card game introduced in 1996, based on the Cyberpunk 2020 role-playing game. In addition, Iron Crown Enterprises released an RPG named Cyberspace, now out of print.

Related Topics:
Role-playing games - Cyberpunk 2020 - R. Talsorian Games - GURPS Cyberpunk - Steve Jackson Games - GURPS - FASA - Shadowrun - Cybernetics - Netrunner - Collectible card game - 1996 - Cyberspace

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In 1990, in an odd reconvergence of cyberpunk art and reality, the U.S. Secret Service raided Steve Jackson Games's headquarters during Operation Sundevil and confiscated all their computers. This was—allegedly—because the GURPS Cyberpunk sourcebook could be used to perpetrate computer crime. That was, in fact, not the main reason for the raid, but after the event it was too late to correct the public's impression. Steve Jackson Games later won a lawsuit against the Secret Service, aided by the freshly minted Electronic Frontier Foundation. This event has achieved a sort of notoriety and given some to the book itself, as well. The tagline "The only RPG manual ever confiscated by the FBI!" has been used online as a sort of anti-endorsement. (See the GURPS Cyberpunk page.)

Related Topics:
1990 - U.S. Secret Service - Steve Jackson Games - Operation Sundevil - GURPS Cyberpunk - Electronic Frontier Foundation

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2004 brought the publication of a number of new cyberpunk RPGs, chief among which was Ex Machina, a more cinematic game including four complete settings and a focus on updating the gaming side of the genre to current themes among cyberpunk fiction. These tropes include a stronger political angle, conveying the alienation of the genre and even incorporating some transhuman themes.

Related Topics:
2004 - Ex Machina - Transhuman

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Recently, the d20 Open Gaming Movement has brought several new entries into the arena, including Mongoose's d20 Cyberpunk and LRG's Digital Burn.

Related Topics:
D20 Open Gaming Movement - Mongoose - D20 Cyberpunk - LRG - Digital Burn

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Role-playing games have also produced one of the more unique takes on the genre in the form of the 1989 game series Shadowrun. Here, the setting is still that of the dystopian near future; however, it also incorporates heavy elements of fantasy literature and games, such as magic, spirits, elves, and dragons. Shadowrun's cyberpunk facets were modeled in large part on William Gibson's writings, and the game's original publishers, FASA, have been accused by some as having directly ripped off Gibson's work without even a statement of influence. Gibson, meanwhile, has stated his dislike of the inclusion of elements of high fantasy within setting elements that he helped pioneer. Nevertheless, Shadowrun has introduced many to the genre, and still remains popular among gamers.

Related Topics:
1989 - Shadowrun - Fantasy - FASA - High fantasy

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The trans-genre RPG Torg (published by West End Games) also included a variant cyberpunk setting (or "cosm") called the Cyberpapacy. This setting was originally a medieval religious dystopia which underwent a sudden Tech Surge. Instead of corporations or corrupt governments, the Cyberpapacy was dominated by the "False Papacy of Avignon". Instead of an Internet, hackers roamed the "GodNet", a computer network rife with overtly religious symbology, home to angels, demons, and other biblical figures.

Related Topics:
Torg - West End Games - False Papacy of Avignon - Internet - GodNet - Angel - Demon

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Hideo Kojima's videogames also draw from cyberpunk culture, particularly his adventure game Snatcher and the first two Metal Gear Solid games, which are densely populated with spies who communicate via nanotechnology, computer hackers who design viruses to destroy malevolent programs and omniscient, omnipotent secret societies aiming to control the flow of information on the internet and manipulate human behavior through mind control.

Related Topics:
Hideo Kojima's - Snatcher - Metal Gear Solid

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:For more examples, see the list of computer and video games.

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