Cyberpunk writers and works
William Gibson with his novel Neuromancer (1984) is likely the most famous writer connected with the term cyberpunk. He emphasized style, character development and atmosphere over traditional science-fictional tropes, and Neuromancer was awarded the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards.
Raymond Chandler with his bleak, cynical worldview and staccato prose strongly influenced the creators of the genre. The world of cyberpunk is the dystopian, hopeless world of film noir, but pushed just a little bit into the future.
Other famous cyberpunk writers include Bruce Sterling (who functioned as cyberpunk's chief ideologue with his fanzine Cheap Truth), Philip K. Dick, Rudy Rucker, Pat Cadigan, and Neal Stephenson.
The film Blade Runner (1982) based on Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is set in a dystopian future in which synthetic life forms have substandard rights. The Robocop has a more near futuristic setting where at least one corporation, Omni Consumer Products is an all powerful presence in the city of Detroit.
The short-lived television series Max Headroom also introduced many viewers to the genre.
The Japanese manga-ka Masamune Shirow often writes in the cyberpunk style. His most notable stories within the genre include Appleseed, Black Magic M-66, and especially Ghost in the Shell. Ghost in the Shell has been adapted to the silver screen in a critically acclaimed and haunting Cyberpunk anime that questions, on several levels, the delineation between life and simulation. Ghost in the Shell has also been further adapted as a related television anime series called .
The most recent follow-up from Ghost in the Shell is the 2004 anime film from Mamoru Oshii called . Beyond his obvious reference to Blade Runner, achieves a unique spatial atmosphere and is one of the most philosophical tales related to artificial life in the fact that the story, full quoted with historical and literacy references, "does not hold the view that the world revolves around the human race. Instead it concludes that all forms of life – humans, animals and robots – are equal." (Mamoru Oshii)
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 Cyberpunk-titled games are set in the near future, in a world where cybernetics and computers are even more present than today.
Another Cyberpunk RPG included the (out of print) game Cyberspace, released by Iron Crown enterprises. Corporate corruption is a frequent theme in these games' adventures. The characters often find themselves skirting the law, if not outright flouting it. Recently, the d20 Open Gaming Movement has brought several new entries into the arena, including Mongoose's d20 Cyberpunk and LRG's Digital Burn.
In 1990, in an odd re-convergence of cyberpunk art and reality, the U.S. Secret Service raided Steve Jackson Games' 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, just a by-product. However it was too late to correct the public's idea of the events any more. Steve Jackson Games later won a lawsuit against the Secret Service for their action. (See the GURPS Cyberpunk page.)
Role-playing games have also produced one of the more unique takes on the genre in the form of the game series Shadowrun in 1989. Here, the setting is still that of the dystopic near future presented in other cyberpunk works, 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 the writings of William Gibson, and the game's publishers, FASA, have been accused by many as having directly ripped off Gibson's work without even a statement of influence. Gibson, meanwhile, has been reported to be less than impressed with the inclusion of elements of high fantasy within clearly derivative setting elements and storytelling techniques that he had pioneered. Nevertheless, Shadowrun has introduced many to the genre of cyberpunk, and still remains popular among gamers.
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.
Another notable RPG based on cyberpunk is Uplink, Created by Introversion Software in 2002, in which you work as a freelance hacker in 2010, and take jobs from different corporations. Missions range from stealing files from rival companies to the final mission where you either try to destroy the Internet or save it from complete destruction.
Netrunner is a collectible card game introduced in 1996, based on the Cyberpunk 2020 role-playing game.
Computer games have frequently used cyberpunk as sources of inspiration. The most prevalent of these are the System Shock series, the Deus Ex series and the Shadowrun video games.
An unusual sub-sub-genre of cyberpunk is steampunk, which is set in an anachronistic Victorian environment, but with cyberpunk's bleak, film noir world view. The Difference Engine was probably the novel that helped bring this genre to the forefront.
The emerging genre called postcyberpunk continues the preoccupation with the effects of computers, but without the assumption of dystopia or the emphasis on cybernetic implants.
Cyberprep is a seldom-used term that reflects the flip side of cyberpunk.
Quote
"Anything that can be done to a rat can be done to a human being. We can do just about anything you can imagine to rats. And closing your eyes and refusing to think about this won't make it go away.
THAT is cyberpunk." - Bruce Sterling
See also
External links
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