We're now in the Cyberpunk World

Recently I watched Bladerunner 2049

on the plane back from Japan. And also I was playing Cyberpunk 2077 last year but didn’t finish it, thanks to some Monster Hunter Wilds distraction.

Maybe a separate topic, but do you find it difficult to get back into a game, regardless of how player-friendly and comfortable the game is, after you’ve left for a while?

I wasn’t exposed to much of the Cyberpunk world and aesthetic early in my life.

Perhaps the closest would be Final Fantasy VII? Or maybe (with a big, big stretch) Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger? Although the latter two’s Cyberpunk interpretations are different from Bladerunner 2049 and Cyberpunk 2077.

Perhaps since I wasn’t as exposed to the high-tech, capitalistic, neon-lights Cyberpunk world, it made the lessons from Cyberpunk 2077 and Bladerunner 2049 less impactful.

Instead of feeling like

“Oh that’s not a world I want to live in, such a capitalistic hell-hole!” Or “Hmm… that’s a warning sign of a potential future world I want to avoid”

What I felt was more of

“Wait, aren’t we all already in this world? There’s just less neon lights, which are the nice parts!”

I was living in Singapore for a better part of my early adult life.

Moving out of Singapore, I noticed that many aspects of Cyberpunk life was already there.

Am I shit-talking the “best country” in the world?

Not too long ago there was a concert held in Bangkok. A Nier Automata concert, no less.

There were many Singaporeans there cause the concert skipped Singapore (It’s okay, they’re going to Singapore in 2026 and skipping Bangkok instead).

The merchandise sale had the Nier vinyl collection on sale, which sold out pretty early on. There was an announcement about it.

Once the announcement was made, you can feel the audible sigh from the crowd, most of whom were from Thailand.

However, a Singaporean queueing in the merchandise line in front of me exclaimed with a sense of pride that “Who still buys vinyl? We already have Spotify!” and laughing with his friend.

In the Cyberpunk world and aesthetics

the prevalent theme is capitalism has won i.e. we don’t own anything, had to subscribe to everything, and we have no other choice.

In Singapore, although nobody actually own their cars (IF they can afford it) and houses (aside from an elite few), they see that as a first-world life, better than the rest of the region or even the world.

And to my surprise, even while living there, they’re happy about it.

There are ABUNDANT of blog posts and social media posts exclaiming that it is the right way to live.

Maybe I’m old school

but I still see value in owning a house, a freehold one.

In Bangkok I often see old cars still running fine.

Just last week, I saw a Toyota Corona driving fine. No, not a misspelled Corolla.

People who visit the historic city center of Bangkok will know there’s a bustling car repair and mechanics community that helps keep these old machines alive.

But at the same time, Bangkok is also surrounded by billboards everywhere, another of the Cyberpunk world’s aesthetic.

The magic of owning things

I used to be in the renting-and-subscribing-to-everything cycle.

What changed was perhaps COVID.

That’s when I realised that no matter how affluent and comfortable we are at paying these constant payments right now, that ability might not last forever.

And in moments where we lost that ability,

it’s crucial that we don’t lose access to the important things.

Important things like

• our mode of transport (not every city is walkable, and even if it is, how far can we walk)
• the place to lie and sleep at night
• the place to keep our stuff (our means of living, our memories) safe every day

even our media library. Like the music that reminds us of who we are and where we were the moment we hear the first note.

While we have the ability to earn monthly income and pay for monthly or weekly subscription, it can feel endless, life we can do it forever.

Until we can’t.

Cyberpunk used to be a warning about a dark, distant future.

and I still believe it is.

But we’re very close to it now. And some are already living in that first world.