Mike Pondsmith on Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk RPG creator Mike Pondsmith talks about the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 and his collaboration with CD Projek Red. I like the direction they are heading with this game, seems to be a small jump forward in the story arc and not a complete re-imagination like CPv3.

Cyberpunk 2077

The new trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 hit the net today and it looks great. I am a huge fan of the old RPG, I loved the dark gritty future packed with megacorporations, cybernetics and drugs, drugs, drugs.

Hopefully they stick with the world created in the original books and not the shitty Cyberpunk 203x which was absolute garbage.

I love the videoboard in the background with the female, I think her name was Alt. The same picture was used way back in the second edition rulebook, nice nod to the old school players. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one!

From Role Playing game to Video Game

The company that created The Witcher video games, CD Projekt RED, has announced its next game in production will be based on the Cyberpunk 2020 role playing game by Mike Pondsmith.

I've never played either of The Witcher games but they have been well reviewed which makes me excited for a video game version of Cyberpunk.  I guess the big question will be what era will it reside it?  The 1980's version of the future or a new and updated version that more closely matches our own possible future?  Either way I will probably be happy though I could not stand Cyberpunk V3 and found it to be a little to far out there to be a proper cyberpunk game.  Lets hope Pondsmith doesn't push this version!  Above and below are the only two pieces of concept art that are available so far and they look great!

You can see the announcement over on Actiontrip: Cyberpunk video game official

Games I Love - Cyberpunk 2020

As a role player I have dabbled in many systems and games over the years. There was always a few games that stood out for me, ones that I usually stuck with for extended periods of time due to theme or system. I'm going to spend some time over the next few weeks taking a look back at the games that ignited my imagination in one way or another.
First up is Cyberpunk 2020. This game was by R. Talsorian Games and was first released as a box set in 1988, the name at the time was Cyberpunk 2013, but was changed to Cyberpunk 2020 in its second release in 1990. The world has gone to hell and mega-corporations have taken over for much of the U.S. Government. These corps have no oversight and do pretty much whatever they please. Characters play mercs called Edgerunners, people living on the edge of society looking to score the next big deal. Cybernetics, gear, netrunning, artificial intelligence and cloning are all part of the landscape.
I think what I found so appealing about the game was its darkness. Drugs and addiction were were a regular part of our game play, after coming from D&D and always playing the heroes it was fun to play someone with questionable morals. The combat system was brutal and very lethal, If you pulled a gun you had better shoot first and straight or you were on a one way trip to the county morgue. If I remember correctly the system included rules for blowing off body parts, gruesome stuff. I believe the combat system went by the name Friday Night Firefight.
Despite being based heavily on William Gibsons Neuromancer, we never really spent much time netrunning, the system felt tacked on to me, we were much more focused on playing shady scumbags living in the shadows. One of my favorite parts of the game was the cybernetics; want to swap out your arm for a stronger one, sure! Want to scoop out your eyes and get nightvision add to your new cybernetic eyes, you can! There were pages and pages of all kinds of hardware that you could add to your body. The only problem was the more you added the less human you became, eventually succumbing to cyberpsychosis. It helped to balance the gameplay and make sure everyone did not become a hulking machine that could dish out and absorb tons of damage.
If you've never had a chance to play this game, check it out. Its still avalble out there, just stay away from the newest version CP 203X, its a steaming pile of junk.