Daily Archives: June 6, 2017

The most tantalizing predictions of cyberpunk never came true. There are no gangs of cyborgs ruling shantytowns in New York City and there are no corporations larger than the federal government. But the sci-fi subgenre envisions such dystopias being underpinned by something subtler: the state of mans soul when there are no longer limits.

The 1980s provided fertile ground for the piercing new vision of science fiction pioneered by William Gibson and his contemporaries. The global capitalism of Reagan and Thatcher ceded agency from nation-states to nation-agnostic corporations. Less obvious but just as important was the fact that the space race was over and Star Treks naivety was laid bare. Computers, not spaceships, would become the measure of progression towards the future. The sleek, utopian vision of the mid-century futurism was further discredited by soaring crime in urban centers.

Modernity that was once expected to bring matching space unitards instead brought radical self-expression. The overabundance of choice, these authors suggested, leads to decadence, decay and a society where people cant see clearly without losing their humanity.

And so the heroes of cyberpunk are outsidersthe punks to which the genre owes half its name. In cyberpunk, there are no more grand narratives about progress and triumph. Humans have nowhere to go and decay is globalized; this is sci-fi without the comforting thought of alien life. Readers experience an Earth where the concept of place has passed its expiration date. Protagonists, like the megacorporations they tangle with, exist across borders, anywhere being as familiar or foreign as anywhere else. Neon Japanese syllabary studs skyscrapers that loom over the crowded downtowns of American cities. Virtual reality is at once a catalyst and a coping mechanism for social breakdown.

What is an individual to do in the face of such brutal atomization? Why, he takes individualism to its perverse conclusions, William Gibsons Neuromancer suggests. Take the following passage:

His face was a simple graft grown on collagen and shark-cartilage polysaccharides, smooth and hideous.

The novel implies that the character might appear a little later with a completely different face. Self was another uncertainty that had been sloughed off by ceaseless momentum. Even the authors jargon serves to impart a feeling of unfamiliarity.

Were starting to live in a time when such terrible and wondrous things are not only technically possible but socially acceptable. Headlines were made last month over a fetal lamb being grown in an artificial uterus. The creature, invaded with tubes, suckles and kicks inside its bulging, rippling enclosure. The juxtaposition of twitching organism and sterile, utilitarian plastic is simply cyberpunk. Gender is going the way of that thugs cartilage-grown face. Male and female is looking more like Coke and Pepsi, with some opting to make their own artisanal cola blends. As rootlessness moves from exception to rule, obligations to others begin to look like hindrances. It isnt difficult to see how three-parent babies in polycarbonate wombs fit into all of this.

Change is fast these days. We can feel acceleration that was once only perceptible between generations. At the same time, the past is more crystallized than its ever been before. Todays everyman, immersed in a data-sphere orders of magnitude more efficient than any library, can see more clearly than ever that things were different in an ever-familiar past. A world with meaning resolves ever sharper as we speed away from it.

But the left-liberal ethic that was once a vantage point from which the genres founders saw so far is now fogging their sight, restricting them to toiling within the status quo. Cyberpunk has come true in ways that makes progressives uncomfortable if they are unpacked. The genres founders married a criticism of corporations to the dreary aesthetic of rootlessness, but progressivism only offers a critique of the former on its own merits. Take away the violence and grit and you get Brave New World, a world that the gender ideologue cant levy an argument against. Consumerization of the body, reproduction and social relations lost their conspicuous ugliness when they were rebranded as liberation. (Outside of sci-fi, the only major literary figure who tackles these issues, Michel Houellebecq, is painted as a reactionary.)

Gibsons upcoming book, Agency, has a plot one would expect from a lesser author: the future is awful because Trump was elected president. This might seem like a perplexing lack of creativity, but consider the intervening third of a century. Gibson was in the business of scrutinizing Frankensteinization when it was a distant flight of fancy. But becoming a Frankenstein monster of hormones and surgery is here and celebration is mandatory. Dialing down ones own ability to notice things to the level of a Daily Kos commenter becomes a matter of survival. This new subject matter reflects the aesthetics of culture that snapped his leash: lifeless and brutal in its insipid repetition.

Stories motivated by political disappointment are doomed to be forgotten as the election cycle resets. Cyberpunk, on the other hand, is more popular now than even during its literary heyday of the 80s. The blockbuster Ghost in the Shell hit theaters earlier this year and will be followed by a sequel to the seminal Blade Runner in October. Their combined budget probably exceeds that of every cyberpunk film that came before (there arent many.) Cyberpunk 2077 is set to cost around $100 million, making it the most expensive role-playing video game ever made. If we put on our cyberpunk goggles, all of this means something. Capitalism is a computer that processes desire.

Cyberpunk is not becoming marketable because it offers a solution for society. The message is clear that, in face of inexorable rot, the individual loses his sanity or loses his soul. What the genre does offer is a third choice: to view breakneck dehumanization as a roller coaster ride. There is grim exhilaration in the acceptance that an awesome decline cannot be stopped. A future that was once dark and hopeless is now dark and beautiful when one dives headlong into it. Ugliness becomes thrilling and alienation becomes adventure. The homogenous, numbing light of Brave New Worlds dystopia is replaced by the dreamy atmosphere of neon-lit alleys. Sisyphus cant change his fate, but he can refuse to nod and clap, blank-eyed, at the worlds loss of meaning.

Robert Mariani is the opinion editor at The Daily Caller and the co-founder of Jacobite, a magazine of the post-political right. Follow him on Twitter @robert_mariani

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Some rumors have surfaced regarding Cyberpunk 2077 that just might hint at something far bigger than what gamers were expecting. The information also coincides with recent information released by CD Projekt Red. This info that sits on the rumor side comes from various forum boards that relates to E3 and Mike Pondsmith himself.

I should note that all of this information may or may not be valid about the much anticipated game Cyberpunk 2077 by CD Projekt Red, but there is a high chance, if true, that this info regarding the game hints at something far bigger, given that it comes from Mike Pondsmith.

Firstly, on the Cyberpunk 2077 Reddit page, a user by the name of Xenolith234 caught a comment that Mike Pondsmith posted, who goes by the screen name of Therealmaxmike, and noted that

Mike Pondsmith commented last night on a thread and said that CDPR is pulling out all the stops. Curious.

If you dont know what that means, the devs are planning to go all out with whatever information there is about Cyberpunk 2077, meaning that it will be grander when news drops.

In addition to the above, this information links into what CD Projekt Reds CEO of the studio, Marcin Kicinski, announced during an investor call as noted below.

The promotional campaign (for Cyberpunk 2077) is already planned. Its main element is the surprise, so I cannot even say when it will begin. Simply because it has to come as a surprise.

Now I know what you are thinking, E3 is right around the corner, arent they going to show the game off there? Although it seems likely, but Im not ruling it out, according to E3s Exhibitors page (by Alpha), the devs dont appear to be showing up at the event. The information about CDPR not showing up can be seen below.

The above links into CDPRs 2016 financial results that contained the information about how 2017 is the year of GWENT. Again, Im not saying that the team may not do a secret appearance, but dont be shocked if nothing Cyberpunk 2077 related appears at this years E3.

Looking past the semi-heart breaking news and on to some heart warming news about Cyberpunk 2077. A certain user on the Cyberpunk 2077 forum board, Darthraver8686, noted something rather interesting. The comment lies below.

Yo im trying to keep my composure but something is def going on. Theyve hired marketing managers now and people to change the website.not too mention that on the subreddit cyberpunkgame mike pondsmith himself posts alot and in his last comment from the other day he said its his last comment on the boards for a while cuz hes going radio silent. He said that some projects are ramping up and life is getting busy. Not sure if hes talking about cp2077 but it sure sounded like it. I think somethings gonna happen soon. N im not saying E3 but wouldnt that be crazy if that was the surprise?

I already know what youre thinking, Thats not real. Well, youre wrong, because it is real. Upon doing research regarding Darthraver8686s findings lead me to a Reddit user named Zirfeld, who had asked a question recently and Mike Pondsmith himself actually answered the user. Zirfelds comment sits below for those interested:

Roleplaying games have become a very popuplar content on the web lately on twitch, youtube and other services. I am talking about channels like Geek & Sundry with Titanquest, Critical Role, Foreververse (and the occiasional game on Tabletop) or HarmonTown HarmonQuest on the more comical side of it. Shows with a relatively high prodcution value and recognizable players. Im not saying not so recognizable players cant be fun, too. But having a bunch of entertainment professionals sure helps the flow of the game (that and editing of course).

Is there any chance we are going to see something like this with Cyberpunk 2020? Maybe even the creator of the game as GM? I think a show like this would fit perfectly in the phase before the real marketing campaign starts to gain some momentum, and I sure would watch it.

Mike, I hope you find the time to answer, seeing that you have been very active here lately.

And here are all Pondsmiths replies to said user, which is rather surprising to me that he actually answered an everyday persons random comment.

Nothing planned that I know of (RTG media overlord Kirin handles that part of my life), but we will be doing Cyberpunk games at GenCon. I just got back from doing a live broadcast CP game onstage at Pyrkon in Poland and it was pretty awesome, so Im definitely up for a streamcast. Will let you all know if Kirin comes up with something.

Also, Ill probably be going dark on reddit for a bit, as Production is ramping up on several projects and life is getting busy.

Notice how he capitalizes the p in production when talking about these several projects ramping up. Its likely that hes talking about the Cyberpunk 2020 board game here, which is set to release exactly around the same time as the video game that CD Projekt Red is currently developing. Also, notice in the post that he mentions his appearance over in Poland, this information links into the most recent talk about the game in that he went to said country and was pleased with CDPRs progress on Cyberpunk.

So what does this all mean? Well, it means that when the game appears the devs will go all out and show everything there is to show in a surprising and breathtaking way or better put pulling out all the stops. This also means that the game may not show up to this years E3, but will more than likely appear during next years lineup of big game conventions in a flashy way. And lastly, it also means that Pondsmith is heavily involved with the board/video game and that both will be close to his envision of the original work.

You can learn more about Cyberpunk 2077 by hitting up cyberpunk.net.

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Here's The Latest Rumors Regarding Cyberpunk 2077 And Its E3 Appearance - One Angry Gamer (blog)