Cyberpunk shows grim future

The video game Cyberpunk 2077 was released on Dec 10 and has already made history by breaking the record number of simultaneous users on the video game platform Steam with 1 million players. The game allows players to explore a futuristic city where people have combined themselves with technology. As the title of the game indicates, these elements make up part of the genre known as cyberpunk. This genre is often described as “high tech, lowlife”.
12月10日，电子游戏《赛博朋克2077》发售，100万玩家同时在线打破了“蒸汽”游戏平台的相关记录，创造了历史。这款游戏让玩家探索未来城市，在这里人类能用科技组装自己的身体。正如游戏名字所示，这些元素构成了赛博朋克题材的一部分。这一题材类型往往被描述为“高科技，低生活”。

The cyberpunk genre itself is said to have started with Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, a science fiction novel by US author Philip K. Dick published in 1968. The book was later adapted into a film by Ridley Scott in 1982 called Blade Runner. In the film, a policeman must hunt down replicants, machines that look the same as people.
赛博朋克这一题材据称源于美国作家菲利普·迪克1968年出版的科幻小说《仿生人会梦见电子羊吗？》。这部小说随后被雷德利·斯科特改编为1982年的电影《银翼杀手》。在这部电影中，一名警察需要追捕一群与人类长相相同的机器人。

“I think the aesthetic of Blade Runner made the genre,” said Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the tabletop role-playing game that inspired Cyberpunk 2077. The film shows an ugly future where all-powerful corporations rule from high above a neon-lit cityscape where the city’s residents scrape by on the streets below. This vision of the future set the template for much of the genre going forward.
“我认为《银翼杀手》的美学风格创造了这一流派，”桌面角色扮演游戏的创始人迈克·庞德史密斯说道，他的桌游为《赛博朋克2077》提供了灵感。这部电影展现了一个丑陋的未来：无所不能的企业高高在上地统治着霓虹灯下的城市；而身处底层街道上的城市居民则勉强度日。这种未来的构想为这类题材的日后发展提供了模板。

The actual name of the genre was coined by writer Bruce Bethke in 1980, referring to an article he wrote about teenage hackers. The hacking aspect of cyberpunk was further solidified in William Gibson’s Neuromancer, published in 1984. In the novel, a young hacker named Case betrays his employer and is consequently damaged in order to prevent him from entering a vast cyberspace world within the internet known as “The Matrix”. The story is full of cyberpunk staples including dangerous AI, body augmentation and a wide divide between rich and poor.
这一题材的实际名字是由作家布鲁斯·博斯克于1980年创造，参照的是他所著的一篇关于青少年黑客的文章。威廉·吉布森1984年出版的《神经漫游者》进一步强化了赛博朋克中的黑客元素。在这部小说中，年轻黑客凯斯背叛了他的雇主，而为了阻止他进入一个名为“矩阵”的巨大网络空间，他也因此受到伤害。这个故事充满了赛博朋克的标配，包括危险的人工智能、身体属性提升、以及巨大的贫富差距。

The genre has grown in popularity over the years. With films and TV shows such as Akira, Ghost in the Shell, The Matrix and Altered Carbon among others, the genre seems here to stay.
近年来，这一题材日益受到大众欢迎。随着《阿基拉》、《攻壳机动队》、《黑客帝国》、《副本》等影视剧的风靡，这一题材似乎深入人心。

“It is a setting that is focused on the human experience,” said Lukas Litzsinger, the game designer behind the cyberpunk card game Netrunner, “and how far we can push the limits of both technology and ourselves.”
“这是一个关注人类体验的情景设定，”赛博朋克卡牌游戏《矩阵潜袭》的游戏设计师卢卡斯·雷辛格表示，“以及我们能将科技与自身的极限提升到多远。”

以上文章内容选自《21世纪学生英文报高中版》，详情请见《21世纪学生英文报高中版》高三736期