Poll: What is your history with Cyberpunk games? When did you first discover this series?

[jordangold527]

The first time I heard about Cyberpunk 2020/2077? Had a dorm friend in my first year of college who showed me the original trailer back in early 2013. They were super stoked and I was like "that looks neat, I guess.".

First time I ever encountered the genre "Cyberpunk"? I mean, I grew up with those films as well and I don't really consider any of them (except Bladerunner which I didn't watch until later life and don't care for much) actual "Cyberpunk" based on my perception of the genre. My first experience with "Cyberpunk" as it is in CP2020/2077 was probably the Shadowrun games by Harebrained Schemes. That was the first time I really remember having seen the streets bathed in garbage, blood, and neon. The first time hard rock blared as corporations sapped the life from the oppressed masses composed of flesh and chrome... and ghosts... it had ghosts.

 

[Maelcom404]

Cyberpunk 2020, Robocop and Aliens movies were the cement and mortar of my long gone teenage days.

 

[severed360]

I grew up with those films as well and I don't really consider any of them (except Bladerunner which I didn't watch until later life and don't care for much) actual "Cyberpunk" based on my perception

Bladerunner, Total Recall, and Minority Report are all movies based on books by Philip K Dick, and he is definitely considered one of the first cyberpunk authors... T2 might not be "cyberpunk" but its my personal favorite sci-fi movie, and I would say Matrix is very similar to cyberpunk (maybe not exactly, but it has many similarities minus the abundance of neon lighting)

 

[jordangold527]

Bladerunner, Total Recall, and Minority Report are all movies based on books by Philip K Dick, and he is definitely considered one of the first cyberpunk authors...

That's fair. I was commenting based on, as I said, my own interpretation of Cyberpunk. I often associate neon with the genre and I don't recall the original Total Recall film having much of that. I will say it has been a LONG time since I watched Total Recall or Minority Report so my recollection may be spotty concerning the films. Also, I will say that films are often very different that books so the book author being a patron of Cyberpunk does not always guarantee that the film will be a truly faithful recreation.

That said, I'm simply viewing them from my own lens on the genre. They are not particularly things that CP2077 remind me of. However, I kinda feel like I'm clogging the thread with my "ideas of what make Cyberpunk" which are all bupkis anyhow so I'mma stop, lol.

 

[severed360]

I often associate neon with the genre

I think many people would agree with you, personally I dont think its always necessary, but it certainly is frequently considered part of the "aesthetic" primarily because of the original Bladerunner movie "originating" that visual style, but IMO i would say Total Recall and the Matrix both fit the style even though they lack neon its still very stylized

however, I think in recent years, some people would say the neon style is getting outdated or less popular as it used to be

films are often very different that books

again, thats very true. obviously with movies based on the work of PKD they will never match his original intentions since he passed away before any of his books were turned into movies, and in many cases the movies are drastically different from his original stories, but there still the movies many of us know as our introduction to sci-fi (and not crap like star wars )

 

[Quicktab]

I am pretty much complete new to the genre but have been following CP2077 with some interest for a while. I finally took the plunge into the story and lore of the game through the 2020 tabletop books and I have fallen completely in love with what it has to offer as far as depth and expanse. Still sorting through it all but it is a joy to get lost in the mess.

 

[Gillian_Seed]

Robocop was probably my first experience with the cyberpunk genre as a kid, it was and still is bad ass but ED-209 scared the shit out of me not going to lie. Snatcher on Sega CD was my first gaming experience with cyberpunk and I played it before I saw Blade Runner so I didn't know how heavily inspired Kojima was by Blade Runner and this made a great game that much better and made me fall in love with cyberpunk. I've been dreaming of a game like CP2077 ever since.

 

[Quicktab]

Hello All,

I've recently gotten deep into the lore for this game by way of getting ready and also killing time until release. I've found myself so enthralled by the complex backstory and history that I decided to make videos on it for those that may not know much but are still fans of the upcoming game.

Here is a little taste of that

But that's not the point here. I want to know about what sort of history and deep knowings you guys have about this fantastic world. Share some fun facts or tidbits about Cyberpunk, either from the original books or anything you've managed to gleam from released stuff before the game. No spoilers here, if you somehow have leaked content info, please keep it to yourself and don't ruin it for others.

 

[vyvexthorne]

We played the table top game a bit to try it out but ultimately decided to go with Shadowrun as it just felt like a more natural step coming from D&D.

 

[JaggedJustice]

I'm a long time fan of the tabletop games and the genre in general.

 

[Neoyoshi-Art]

I tried playing the pen and paper game during the 90's; i remember not really liking it since i was very much more involved in Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer.

It was probably Cyberpunk 2020, since that was the edition that came out in 1990, and it was sometime around 1996 when i was in college.

 

[terachad]

the aesthetics of this game borrows from 2017's ghost in the shell. you'll see the similarities especially with the ai deep dive sequence and how braindance and netrunning is depicting in this game.

 

[Nemo1117]

Are you talking about Cyberpunk the genre or Cyberpunk the IP?

I suppose I have been exposed to cyberpunk (the genre) subliminally as I was growing up in the 80s. Everything back then had traces of cyberpunk in them.

I only really watched the landmark Blade Runner in the 2000s, know about the other seminal works like Neuromancer in some detail in the 10s and just this year I watch Blade Runner 2049 - although I did watch Ghost in the Shell in the 90s; Japan's take on cyberpunk based on the country's own problems.

Haven't heard of Cyberpunk (the IP) until 2077 was announced. [1]

[1] it irks me somewhat that you can take the literal name of the genre and use it as your IP; effectively trying to claim ownership of the genre. Makes me wonder what would happen if someone released a game with the world "cyberpunk" in the title ... will CDPR/Mike Pondsmith sue?

 

[severed360]

Are you talking about Cyberpunk the genre or Cyberpunk the IP?

it seems several people are confused by my wording in the original post its my own fault cause I guess I dont really know how to specify between the two, but I suppose I was mainly referring to the IP (which according to what I just recently learned is created by Pondsmith)

irks me somewhat that you can take the literal name of the genre and use it as your IP; effectively trying to claim ownership of the genre. Makes me wonder what would happen if someone released a game with the world "cyberpunk" in the title ... will CDPR/Mike Pondsmith sue?

yea but is "Cyberpunk" really its own separate genre? I would consider it more of a subset of sci-fi, like dystopian sci-fi, etc... right? I mean, I have known about Philip K Dick for over 20 years, but its only just recently that I hear he is considered one of the original authors of Cyberpunk. I dont see a difference, to me its just sci-fi with a dark gritty atmosphere, and PKD had nothing to do with the visual design of any of the movies based on his work. I also realize a movie like T2 doesnt fit the stylized aesthetic of the neon-noir atmosphere of Bladerunner, but so what? Black Mirror can also fit within the same categories, and the Twilight Zone blends sci-fi with horror (which is possibly my preferred sci-fi) but they are all one the same

I am not an expert on this subject, but I look at a movie like Star Wars and I dont consider it sci-fi because while its set in space with lasers and robots, its not a story about technology (in fact the Force is magical). Sci-fi should IMO have a focus on how technology impacts society, and it shouldnt matter if its neon-noir. If Cyberpunk is an IP that has existed for 30+ years, then maybe the genre should not share that same name. I mean it seems more like Cyberpunk (the IP) was inspired by the visuals of Bladerunner along with other sci-fi stories, but the neon-noir style came from the director Ridley Scott and not so much PKD

Basically I just call the genre of Cyberpunk to be neon-noir which is a subset of sci-fi lol... Anyway, Im sure somebody with more expertise can factor in some other more complicated details explaining the differences that I dont understand

 

[Nemo1117]

yea but is "Cyberpunk" really its own separate genre? I would consider it more of a subset of sci-fi, like dystopian sci-fi, etc... right?

Doesn't really matter if it's a genre or sub-genre. The potential problem is if you use the term "cyberpunk" to qualify the title of your game, e.g. "Tom Bateman's Cyberpunk Adventure".

You can use "Sci-Fi", the name of a literary genre, in a game title say "Tom Bateman's Sci-Fi Adventure" with no problem as to my knowledge "Sci-Fi" isn't a registered trademark or part of a trademark - heck, it probably can't be trademarked; at least NBC doesn't think so.

I have been weary of things like this since Bethesda sued Mojang over the use of the word "scroll" as a game title.

 

[Starchs]

I am no stranger to Dystopia settings but this first time I going to experience Cyberpunk 2077 universe.

 

[MRM70]

The movie Blade Runner from 1982 was my first contact with the genre. I also played most deus ex games.

 

[Amethyst_Dust]

Here's a myriad of good Cyberpunk games: https://glitchwave.com/charts/top/game/1800-20199999/g:cyberpunk/

 

[JexN7]

I'm not huge into the cyberpunk genre... just like I'm not entirely huge into steampunk. I know of their existence, and I can appreciate their themes from time to time in different situations, but cyberpunk didn't really catch my attention until this game. I followed it since 2013. Mostly just tabs here and there until this last year where all the good juicy details started coming out.

 

[Agent-94]

My first exposure to cyberpunk was The Matrix but it didn't stick with me until I played the first Deus Ex and watched Ghost In The Shell: Standalone Complex and later Bubblegum Crisis. I only heard about Cyberpunk 2020 after the 2013 announcement for Cyberpunk 2077 though.