A bit of chronology for my DC-84 research project
1982: “Blade Runner” – Ridley Scott
1983: Bruce Bethke coins the term “cyberpunk”
1984: Neuromancer by William Gibson (cyberspace)
1986: “Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology,” – Bruce Sterling editor
1986: Steve Jackson Games releases “GURPS Cyberpunk”
1988: “Islands in the Net” by Bruce Sterling
1990: “Operation Sundevil” raid by the Secret Service on Steve Jackson Games occurs over the GURPS Cyberpunk sourcebook being labelled a “handbook for computer crime.”
1989: “Shadowrun” tabletop role-playing game released (cyberpunk plus magic).
1992: “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson published
1995: “Ghost in the Shell”
1999: “The Matrix” – Wachowskis
2000: 2000s and onwards – Wider adoption in films and literature
2020: “Cyberpunk 2077”
Personal notes
Some personal notes on this timeline:
- I met Bruce Sterling once or twice when living in Austin, which I was super excited about.
- Shadowrun was one of my favourite tabletops in high school – wish I still had that set!
- The raid on Steve Jackson games is part of the origin story of the EFF and EFF-Austin, which I got to do some work for both of those organisations.