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，電子游戲《賽博朋克2077》發(fā)售，100萬玩家同時在線打破了“蒸汽”游戲平臺的相關(guān)記錄，創(chuàng)造了歷史。這款游戲讓玩家探索未來城市，在這里人類能用科技組裝自己的身體。正如游戲名字所示，這些元素構(gòu)成了賽博朋克題材的一部分。這一題材類型往往被描述為“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.
賽博朋克這一題材據(jù)稱源于美國作家菲利普·迪克1968年出版的科幻小說《仿生人會夢見電子羊嗎？》。這部小說隨后被雷德利·斯科特改編為1982年的電影《銀翼殺手》。在這部電影中，一名警察需要追捕一群與人類長相相同的機器人。

“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.
“我認為《銀翼殺手》的美學風格創(chuàng)造了這一流派，”桌面角色扮演游戲的創(chuàng)始人邁克·龐德史密斯說道，他的桌游為《賽博朋克2077》提供了靈感。這部電影展現(xiàn)了一個丑陋的未來：無所不能的企業(yè)高高在上地統(tǒng)治著霓虹燈下的城市；而身處底層街道上的城市居民則勉強度日。這種未來的構(gòu)想為這類題材的日后發(fā)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.
這一題材的實際名字是由作家布魯斯·博斯克于1980年創(chuàng)造，參照的是他所著的一篇關(guān)于青少年黑客的文章。威廉·吉布森1984年出版的《神經(jīng)漫游者》進一步強化了賽博朋克中的黑客元素。在這部小說中，年輕黑客凱斯背叛了他的雇主，而為了阻止他進入一個名為“矩陣”的巨大網(wǎng)絡空間，他也因此受到傷害。這個故事充滿了賽博朋克的標配，包括危險的人工智能、身體屬性提升、以及巨大的貧富差距。

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.
近年來，這一題材日益受到大眾歡迎。隨著《阿基拉》、《攻殼機動隊》、《黑客帝國》、《副本》等影視劇的風靡，這一題材似乎深入人心。

“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.”
“這是一個關(guān)注人類體驗的情景設定，”賽博朋克卡牌游戲《矩陣潛襲》的游戲設計師盧卡斯·雷辛格表示，“以及我們能將科技與自身的極限提升到多遠。”

以上文章內(nèi)容選自《21世紀學生英文報高中版》，詳情請見《21世紀學生英文報高中版》高三736期