Can we make Cyberpunk good again?

[SheikhJahbooty]

Serious question guys, not just for the judges.

How are we on aliens? Are they cyberpunk?

Is anyone else considering putting in aliens, like in District 9, or Alien Nation or that Corey Doctorow story where the alien goes to all those rummage sales with that guy?

[misterecho]

aliens are not traditionally included in cyberpunk, however if you present a good case for why they are included in yours then you could get away with it

[tadk]

Ya know, my entry might not fit into the mold some are envisioning but then again, my take on CP has never been totally canon.

[kumakami]

I see no reason that aliens can't be...magic and fantasy races aren't CP yet Shadowrun does a good job of adding them

[misterecho]

excellent. New ideas are needed, or we wouldn't be trying to save it

[tadk]

Aliens feature in Voice of the Whirlwind and in Angel Station both by Walter Jon Williams.

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

In the early Gibson anthology that contained "Burning Chrome" and "Johnny Menemoic" There were two stories containing aliens ("The Belonging Kind about shape-shifting bar-hoppers, and Hinterlands) as well as one dealing with a possible alternate universe (Gernsback Continuum) and another set aboard an orbital station after the Soviets won the space race.

I would also point out the Anime Bubblegum Crisis - cyberpunk meets A-team with power armor, Armitage (androids on Mars, probably named in honor of the Neuromancer character), and the Mekton book Starblade Battalion which acts as an unofficial sequel to CP-2020 with giant robots.

Frankly, I feel you can include just about anything, so long as you get these points down:

1. Cyberpunk is visual - even in print!
Some of the best lines from Gibson are when he is describing the environment and objects within. "the sky outside the widow was a perfect blue, like a paint chip submitted to the contractor of the universe" - Idoru.

2. Its 20 minuets from now.
Or perhaps two decades at the outside. Its low Sf in the vein of low fantasy. There are still plenty of elements we recognize, they're just struggling.

3. A bottom up view.
The focus is usually on the marginal people - and usually ones that have a problem with the system.

[madunkieg]

[Rob Lang]

I think we're all agreed that aliens, if done delicately and in a new-punk-near-future way are all good. As long as their not all poncing around in the foreground.

[Thought]

With genetic engineering on horizon as well, the distinction between the classic humanoid alien and humans-proper will also probably be a little more blurred, making it even a little easier to incorporate those sorts.

Just an incorportated,

Thought