Category Archives: Cyberpunk

Windows Central

Observer for Xbox One is an intense horror game set in a cyberpunk dystopia Windows Central Known as Observer (or >observer_), the game introduces a unique blend of psychological horror alongside a dystopian cyberpunk world. Although they're both established genres, the game's attractive premise could be a major differentiator from similar ...

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Observer for Xbox One is an intense horror game set in a cyberpunk dystopia - Windows Central

You've probably finished The Witcher 3 by now as well as its subsequent expansions, which has left a rather large hole, the exact shape of a CD Projekt RPG, within your sinking heart.

In such a situation only one thought can console you: Cyberpunk 2077.

But what is Cyberpunk 2077? Why does the name make our unmentionable parts tremble with excitement? Why haven't you heard a peep about it ages? Here we'll attempt to answer all these questions and more regarding CD Projekt's next enormous RPG.

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Thankfully CP77 will reach us well before this century's eighth decade. Development is still in the early stages, as CD Projekt didn't direct serious resources at CP77 until The Witcher 3 was complete.

According to the developer, the CP77 team is now the biggest it's ever employed on one game.

When it will reach our hands? We don't know, but as CD Projekt intends to release two full-scale AAA RPGs between now and 2021, it seems logical that CP77 should be with us at some point in 2018.

This should be come clearer when the Polish developer starts talking about the game again. Since the debut trailer in 2013, all the game's media accounts have descended into silence. The last tweet recorded on the official CP77 account was in December 2013.

The trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 is now four years old, and was little more than a concept piece. The CG short showed off a futuristic world of human augmentations and hyper-violence, but actually said very little about what to expect.

At this stage the game wasn't in full-blown development, so in fairness to CD Projekt, there wasn't anything to show off anyway.

Are we intrigued by blade arms and bulletproof skin? You bet we are. CD Projekt is a superb world builder, and we're excited to see what its take on cypberpunk dystopias (lower case) will eventually look like.

To this we have no answer. Cyberpunk 2077 will be a AAA RPG, but whether it will come to resemble The Witcher in any way remains unclear. Here are a few facts we're fairly sure of, however:

It will be big. "Cyberpunk is far bigger than anything else that CD Projekt Red has done before," CD Projekt VFX artist Jose Teixeira told MCV. Apparently its scale dwarfs that of Geralt's last adventure, which was a whopper in its own right.

It may feature flying cars. Last year CD Projekt was spotted advertising for a coder whose responsibility would be "creating the whole architecture of vehicle-related code and the physics of driving / flying in those vehicles".

It's an open-world, sandbox game. Expect the same, if not greater levels of freedom than those in The Witcher 3.

It's set in Night City. A fictional metropolis on the west coast of America. The location is taken from the Cyberpunk pen and paper RPG.

There will be a multiplayer component. But the focus will still predominantly be on an engaging single-player experience.

Mechanics will be based on the Cyberpunk pen and paper system. But exactly how this will be translated remains to be seen.

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Cyberpunk 2077 release date, trailer, news, gameplay, and everything you need to know - Digital Spy

By Joel Couture . March 11, 2017 . 3:00pm

Hover Cabbymingles Crazy Taxi with The Fifth Element, having players snag passengers and use their flying cab to drop them off as quickly as possible throughout a cyberpunk landscape.

Players will be tasked with finding potential passengers throughout the games 3D world of tall buildings, then rushing through them to take them to designated drop points as quickly as possible.

Hover Cabby is also set to give players the tools to make their own buildings and stages to create their own challenging routes. This is done through a neat tool that will let player create buildings easily, drawing them with a few quick commands that will have them populating towns in minutes.

Players can try Hover Cabby in its current state through downloading it on Itch.io, which is currently a checkpoint race that shows how the flying cab will control. The rest of the features are in development at this time.

Video game stories from other sites on the web. These links leave Siliconera.

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Hover Cabby Is Crazy Taxi In A Cyberpunk Setting - Siliconera

Resogun developers Housemarque are bringing their cyberpunk shooter, Nex Machina, to PC PCGamesN The Finnish developers have a new game: a top-down, old-school, cyberpunk shooter called Nex Machina. Like their other game, Dead Nation, you'll be using both sticks to move and shoot, but instead of cutting down undead you'll be putting an end to a ... and more »

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Resogun developers Housemarque are bringing their cyberpunk shooter, Nex Machina, to PC - PCGamesN

Take the ID@Xbox showcase for example. Of the 20 games on display, at least half are set in sci-fi worlds or feature dystopian themes (or both), including Tacoma, Tokyo 42, Tower 57, Songbringer and Aven Colony. However, two titles in particular encapsulate the raw, gritty future that's a staple of the cyberpunk genre: Ruiner by Polish studio Reikon and >observer_ by Bloober Team.

Ruiner is basically Hotline Miami in a 3D, Ghost in the Shell-style world. It's the year 2091; corrupt corporations and government officials rule a cold, technologically advanced society. In the introductory tutorial, the screen glitches out at odd intervals as instructions flood the environment, instructing players to "Kill Boss" while they run down metal hallways filled with hostile security forces. It's heart-pounding, rapid-fire gameplay in a distinctly cyberpunk setting, with incredibly satisfying shooting mechanics.

Meanwhile, >observer_ takes a more psychological approach to the sci-fi genre, throwing players in a horrific world where corporations control everything and advanced technology is reserved only for the elite. Ordinary citizens live in squalor, while government agents patrol the streets, able to hack people's minds as they see fit. This is full-on dystopian cyberpunk.

The Indie Megabooth also showcased a disproportionate amount of sci-fi. Six of the 12 games feature cosmic or cyberpunk-inspired settings, including _transfer, a dark, text-based adventure where players type commands into a program as they attempt to figure out why the world is ending, and Rogue Process, a sci-fi platformer about a hacker on the hunt for corporate secrets.

The video game industry's renewed push for cyberpunk is not only exciting -- it makes sense. The past few years of mainstream gaming have been dominated by fantasy franchises including Skyrim, Diablo, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Dragon Age and The Witcher, and it's about time the pendulum swung in the other, more futuristic direction. Recent big-name games like Halo Wars 2, Horizon Zero Dawn and the coming release of Mass Effect: Andromeda signal the beginning of this new sci-fi, cyberpunk cycle.

Plus, the world's eyes are on the video game industry as virtual reality hardware enters the homes of everyday consumers worldwide. For decades, VR has represented "the future" of video games -- and the vision of a technologically advanced society in general -- and, suddenly, it's here. The future is now. It isn't surprising that developers across the globe are thinking about "the future" within games themselves, inspired by the virtual environments now at our fingertips.

Advances in technology feed the video game creation process just as innovative games fuel the production of new hardware. The shift toward a more gritty, cyberpunk trend in the video game industry makes perfect sense given the current political, social and technological climate in the world today. These themes of corporate cruelty and tense class disparities reflect conversations happening in cities and towns everywhere, every day. Cyberpunk is a reflection of society's deepest fears and its greatest hopes for the future; in a time of rapid technological advancement and political upheaval, people -- including game developers -- are looking for the best way forward while imagining the dire consequences of choosing the wrong path.

Cyberpunk is back, baby.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from GDC 2017!

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The cyberpunk revolution begins with video games - Engadget

Archiact today announced that Darknet, a cyberpunk hacking game, is now available on PlayStation VR (PSVR) for $14.99 USD. In celebration of its launch, COGconnected is giving away codes on Twitter. Just retweet and follow us on Twitter for a chance to win.

Check out the launch trailer below:

Darknet is an incredibly deep strategy/puzzle game that was built from the ground-up for virtual reality. In Darknet gamers become elite hackers, contracted to retrieve data from the worlds most secure networks. Players dive into the net, install viruses, inject code, and hack their way through cybersecurity in an experience inspired by a classic cyberpunk vision of the future.

Darknet for PSVR gives players a virtual window to a hidden digital world. The title received incredible industry accolades when it was previously released on Oculus Rift and Gear VR, and has been refined and tailored for PSVR boasting several new improvements. This includes full audio integration added to the PlayStation 4 Dualshock controller, art enhancements to the UI and main menu, as well as all-new PlayStation trophies for players to earn.

Source: Press Release

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Cyberpunk Hacking Game "Darknet" For PlayStation VR Arrives ... - COGconnected (press release)

Nicki Minaj has clearly not been in the studio working on a response to Remy Ma following the release of two highly controversial diss tracks and attacks on social media earlier this week, but she's certainly been putting in time with a skilled stylist. At Paris Fashion Week, Nicki shocked and delighted audiences with a futuristic take on a classic hip-hop look: With one exposed breast, Minaj paid homage to rap legend Lil' Kim's most iconic red carpet outfit. But Nicki's putting her own spin on this throwback and has us wondering: Is this advanced cyberpunk aestheic a step forward in Minaj's evolution?

Check out the look, below:

Giving credit where credit is due, the jacket is by Mugler, the shorts are by Givenchy, the pastie is by Agent Provocateur, and the shades are by Veronique Leroy. Those who remember the scandal that broke out when Minaj's predecessor wore a rather similar outfit on MTV's red carpet in 1999 at the VMAs will surely draw conclusions about how much this outfit is (or is not) a sartorial tribute:

Notably, Lil' Kim herself has been trying to stay far away from Minaj and her current feud. "We all know the situation that's going on with Remy and ol' girl," said Kim to Billboard just a few days ago. "That's their situation and I have nothing to do with that."

Instagram connoisseurs will note that Nicki's been amping up the whole cybernetic future-bitch thing for a hot minute (most notably with oversized sunglasses, her current accessory of choice), and we're all just catching on:

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Nicki Minaj Served A Cyberpunk Lil' Kim Look At Paris Fashion Week - NYLON

To celebrate the release of The Ghost in the Shell movie, Tumblr and Paramount Pictures are collaborating for an event to explore the future relationship between technology, fashion, and humans.

Prototype will take place on March 7th during Paris Fashion Week, where the latest wearable technology will be showcased. The exhibition will feature creations from designers using technological advances to innovate the world of fashion, with garments that react to adrenaline, display video content, adjust the temperature of the wearer or change shape when they sense different sounds.

Curated by Tumblr, the event will also feature a headline performance from Viktoria Modesta, the Bionic Pop Star and face of Channel 4s Born Risky disability initiative. Following the event, Tumblr will showcase highlights and original content from the it online.

Featuring creations from designers using technological advances to innovate the world of fashion, the exhibition features garments that react to adrenaline, display video content, adjust the temperature of the wearer or change shape when they sense different sounds. Tumblr will showcase highlights and original content from the event online from March 10th.

The event will feature a headline performance from Viktoria Modesta, the Bionic Pop Star whos single Prototype inspired elements of this event through its exploration of fashion, art and technology. Modesta, who is also the face of Channel 4s Born Risky disability initiative will be performing live to some the industrys biggest opinion formers.

The Latvian born singer and model wears an extensive range of alternative prosthetic legs, regarding them as fashion items. Her approach to her disability makes her perfectly placed to explore the intersection of wearable technology and humanity prevalent themes of Ghost in the Shell.

Hollywood costume designers, Chromat will also be at the event to exhibit their Adrenaline Dress. Powered by Intel the piece is composed of printed panels interlinked into an expandable carbon fibre framework which mimics the bodys fight or flight reaction and changes shape to empower the wearer.

Other exhibitors include:

Wise Wear

WiseWear, is an award winning boutique engineering and design firm that develops innovative products from end-to-end. WiseWear fuses fashion with threads of technology by seamlessly integrating proprietary biosensing and wireless communication technologies into everyday items. The industry refers to WiseWear as the first FASHION-FUSIONISTS which strive to make electronics invisible a balanced blend of fashion, form and function. Fashion icon Iris Apfel is an avid spokesperson for the Socialite Collection.

Cutecircuit

The internationally renowned fashion house has been attracting fans to its interactive designs since its launch in 2004. With celebrity advocates including Katy Perry, Nicole Sherzinger and Sarah Brightman, the brand innovates through the use of smart textiles and micro-electronics to create both ready to wear and haute couture collections. Pieces include a Kinetic Dress which reacts to the wearers surroundings and mood to a dress which can receive and display tweets in real time.

EMEL+ARIS

Creators of the Smart Coat, which uses Far Infrared technology to warm the muscles of the wearer, improving circulation to allow the wearers whole body to feel warm. The luxury jacket for men and women is designed to bridge the gap between fashion and function with six of the garments available to trial at the event.

Silvia Fado

Shoe designer Silvia Fados work explores the relationship between the movement of the body and fashion footwear design on the one hand, and high performance Sports footwear and body movement on the other. Her Kinetic Traces collection of Hydraulic Heels brings Sports footwear fundamentals to high-end fashion to create an arresting anthology which uses springs, rubber balls and pneumatic hydraulics to absorb shock. To download a collection of images, click here: https://we.tl/0CRlGHS6Dq

Ying Gao

Designer Ying Gao will present her project Incertitudes, two interactive garments which use dress makers pins to create motion. The pins are activated by the wearers partner in conversation and create an engaging display to the spectator.

The event will be held during Paris Fashion Week on March 7, 2017 from 6-9pm at Le Dme, Elphant Paname. The restored Napoleonic mansion fuses history with innovation to create a unique space which will bring the themes of the event to life.

Ghost in the Shell opens in UK cinemas on March 31st 2017. Ghost in the Shell opens in France on March 29th 2017.

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Ghost in the Shell: Tumblr and Paramount sponsor cyberpunk ... - Netimperative

SAN FRANCISCO - If you want to make a video game that demands attention, simply do something thats never been done before.

Augmented Empire as far as I am aware is the very first cyberpunk tactical RPG released for a VR system, and that alone makes it worth noticing. Whats even better is that Augmented Empire has the potential to be a ton of fun, combining an intuitive control scheme with an unorthodox premise and an attractive art style.

I went hands-on with Augmented Empire for the Samsung Gear VR at GDC 2017, and while VR generally makes me a little queasy, I would gladly risk it to play more of the game when it comes out. You play as yourself, more or less, sitting at a desk with an augmented reality diorama setup. In the diorama, you can control Ashley, a futuristic operative, and her offbeat party members as they undertake action-packed missions in a near-future dystopia.

MORE: Most Anticipated Games

The full release of the game will have two distinct styles of gameplay: a simulation where you can sit at your desk, correspond with non-player characters by phone, observe your environment and so forth. Since this part of the game wasnt available in the demo, I stuck to the more traditional half of gameplay. Ashleys adventures in the diorama play out as an isometric turn-based RPG.

If youve played X-COM or Final Fantasy Tactics, you know the drill: Ashley and her party members get two actions each turn, and youll generally use one to move, and one to attack. You can also take advantage of terrain to make yourself harder to hit, or activate special abilities that can damage enemies, affect movement or restore health. Of course, your enemies can do the same, making each level a fine balance between keeping Ashley alive and taking your foes down.

Gameplay has one unique twist, however. Rather than simply ordering Ashley to attack or letting her take damage when baddies return the favor, players have to play a timing minigame. Tapping the touchpad at just the right time will determine whether Ashley hits, misses, or scores a critical hit, or whether she dodges, takes reduced damage, or takes full damage.

The difficulty of the timing depends on how far away you are from your enemy, and what kind of cover is available. The system is simple, but the tactical applications could be very deep, especially in later stages.

The demo itself was fairly short and straightforward: Ashley took out one foe on her own, then three foes along with the help of a party member. Since Ashley and friends didnt have many skills available yet, the battles were a straightforward war of attrition, but the gameplay felt fluid, and the art style was easy on the eyes. Despite the dark setting, the characters are colorful and cartoony, lending an agreeable air of fantasy to the whole thing. Neuromancer this is not, although its very much a love letter to the cyberpunk genre.

With so many VR simulations dedicated to sports, racing, and shooting, I was glad to see one of my favorite genres get the immersive treatment. Although I didnt see too much of Augmented Empire, what I saw was more than enough to put the game on my radar. The game should be out this summer, and while theres no hard cost, it will be one of the more expensive games on the Gear VR platform. (Currently, that would put in the $10 range, but well see what happens.)

British TV fans should also take note: If all goes according to plan, both Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Doctor Who) and Sean Pertwee (Equilibrium, Gotham) will lend their voice talents to the title.

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Augmented Empire for Gear VR Is a Cyberpunk Gem - Tom's Guide - Tom's Guide

Paramount Pictures

Itll be interesting to see how Ghost in the Shell plays out at the box office when it arrives in theater on March 31, 2017. The live-action adaptation has been fraught with controversy ever since Scarlett Johansson was cast in the lead role back in 2015. But while manga/anime purists like myself see Johansson as wrong for the character one the film has at least tacitly acknowledged by changing her name* from Major Motoko Kusanagi to simply The Major theres no way of knowing if the whitewashing controversy penetrated the movie-goer bubble or if its simply too inside baseball for the masses to care. *Of course, with Japanese actress Kaori Momoi playing Johanssons mother, its possible theyre going with another terrible trope popularized by Marvels Psylocke of putting a brain/psyche of a minority into the body of a white person.

So, will folks turn out to see Scarlet Johansson in a cyberpunk action movie? Her turn in Lucy proves ScarJo can carry a sci-fi film. But Lucy only had a budget of $40 million compared to what will no doubt be a higher production cost of GITS, based simply on the special effects budget seen in the trailers. A higher risk comes with the potential for a higher reward, but also a bigger marketing budget to whet audiences appetites. The double-edged sword there is each new piece of marketing also reminds fans (and potentially the core demographic) of the controversy surrounding the casting of the main character. With all that in mind, do these motion posters for GITS make you more excited to see the film or not?

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These Glitchy New 'Ghost In The Shell' Motion Posters Introduce The Cyberpunk Cast - UPROXX