"No wonder you have demons. Everything you ever did is coming back around."
I've wanted to do this topic for a while, and I came across a pretty decent object lesson this week to illustrate what I mean...so here we go. I fucking love cyberpunk. We fucking love cyberpunk. I grew up on Shadowrun, and yes, I love Johnny Mnemonic even though it's one of the stupidest movies known to mankind. I saw that movie and I was stunned with how accurate to Shadowrun it was, even though it was based on SR's grand-daddy, Cyberpunk 2020. Everything was grimy and dirty. Cables ran everywhere. Technology had serious, literal weight to it. There was a guy with a monowhip! Hell, the Black Shakes? You could just call that VITAS.
But there's a bit of a problem. I assume you read the title. Cyberpunk as we know it isn't going to be around forever, unlike other genres. Younger generations simply aren't going to understand it. Today I'm gonna go into why, and I'm going to use two bands to help get my point across. I'm not making any commentary on their music at all: I love them both. I'm also not making any commentary on who "works harder". That's ridiculous, they both put their heart and soul into their music. No, we're just looking at the technology they use. Side note? If you use thematic music in your games, both of these bands need to be on your Shadowrun playlist.
Before we begin, I'm gonna give you a little giggle warning. Yes, our first band is seriously named Fartbarf. No, they're not a joke band. Yes, I'm serious. I suggest a few minutes getting over their name before you go any further. Lord knows I needed it.
Fartbarf - Double Click Me
So, there's no need to watch that whole song. Really, a few good looks will give you the point I'm trying to make. Fartbarf is an analogue synthesizer band, and I want you to look at their setup. Pause if you need to. Nothing they use is fancy or modern. they've got a real set of drums, sure, but look at the rest of their instruments. Big, heavy keyboards. a massive control box with wires all the fuck over it. Some kind of switcher that looks like a 1920s phone board. Dials and big clicky buttons everywhere. Yes, your author is super technical with his descriptions.
The Glitch Mob's Musical Playtime Takeover
Here's our second example, The Glitch Mob. No need to watch the whole video, but in this they actually describe their instruments and kit, please watch that whole segment. The Glitch Mob is, well they make Adventure Dance music, he says it in the clip. Not that I know what that means. Pay attention to what they use to put everything together. Everyone's got those sleek touch-screen displays with hundreds of customizable "buttons" on them. They've got that MIDI controller, which is probably the only piece of tech that looks like it fits in with the stuff Fartbarf uses. They have a laptop controlling everything and piecing it together. Even their DRUMS are some kind of digital.
You probably already know where I'm going with this. In fact, how well illustrated my point is by these two bands is why we're finally having this conversation. The difference is that The Glitch Mob use all the modern technology available, and Fartbarf is (according to their website) resisting a touchscreen future. They are a throwback band using older styles of technology. The sort of things you'd see in the 80s. Fartbarf fits right in to Shadowrun, you can easily picture them playing in some club surrounded by people with mohawks and cyberlimbs. Even down to, and this is a side note, what they're wearing. I could describe that in a Shadowrun game and you wouldn't even blink. Men wearing ape-like masks and NASA jumpsuits. Sure. Glitch Mob, on the other hand? While the music certainly fits the genre, you'd be hard pressed to fit those sleek touchscreens and laptops into the world.
Cyberpunk is speculative fiction stemming from the technology of the 80s. It chooses to cast aside the idea that technology always gets smaller and more friendly. Just like the world has progressed past the technology Fartbarf uses, the world has also progressed far past the level, the pastiche of technology that cyberpunk is built on. It's become harder to understand the limitations of the system and its gear. It's even caused common problems in my own gaming experiences: the book says rather specifically that a Pocket Secretary can't jack into the Matrix, but we're so used to looking up websites on our phones that it's near impossible to remember this fact. Literally, a modern smartphone has a far greater amount of capabilities than a pocket secretary.
Imagine a child who's very young today, 2 or 3 years old. They're going to grow up understanding most technology is wireless. He's going to grow up with touch-screens and the insane convenience of apps like GPSes, Uber, Grubhub and that app that has people going to the grocery store for you. Simply put, they aren't going to understand how cyberpunk is intended to work. The restrictions aren't going to line up with their notions of how things work, and it might be very hard for them to get it. For (most of) us, it's easy. We grew up with 80s technology.
4th edition and 5th edition of Shadowrun do try to re-contextualize and update portions of the genre to combat this. This is positive, because we do have some wiggle room. 5th edition Shadowrun also alters some of the themes of the world to discuss concepts such as omnipresent advertising and digital clutter. Wireless technology is a strong theme, mechanically as well as lore-wise. 5th edition is a pretty good game that still manages to feel like Cyberpunk in a lot of ways.
But something is lost. Obviously. Technology isn't heavy and cumbersome. Twisting cables and wires aren't as ever-present. If Cyberpunk is the future of the 80s, Shadowrun 5e's version is the future of the 2000s. That's okay. This iteration still feels pretty close, and it's easier for us to contextualize. That child we talked about earlier will have no problem fitting right into 5e. But will 6e still feel the same? 7e? As we progress, it's going to get harder and harder to justify and keep Cyberpunk feeling like Cyberpunk. Part of the genre is tied heavily into how its technology feels.
Is there hope? Maybe. Fallout can easily be described as the future of the 50s. We all easily understand how it's intended to work. Maybe our children will be able to look at Cyberpunk that way. Technology-based heroes who have been portrayed over decades have altered to fit a new era without feeling much different. Iron Man has gone from a guy wearing big fuckoff metal plates, rocket boots and the equivalent of a laser gun to a technological marvel packed with everything you can think of, all with awesome holographic displays. So maybe the people of the future will be more able to understand the genre than I think.
I guess I'll tell you in 20 years. I'll keep a DVD of Johnny Mnemonic handy.
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