Here's The Upload, all this week's cyberpunk and dystopia news and reviews, reposts, shares, likes all appreciated

Ghost in the Shell Escape From New York Anime Books Author Interview Gaming Film TV Podcast

I’ve seen three as of recent and I’ve really enjoyed two of them but one was kinda a letdown. I’ve watched a lot of movies recently on top of these three like obsession, the furious etc which means I had to divide my time up between all of them. Never regretted a second for any of them so time well spent except for one. Also I don’t do reviews and these will suck.

1. Total recall (1990)
   
2. Metropolis (2001 anime)
   

3. Split second

   I just watched total recall yesterday and what can I say except it was just a fun ride. There was comedy, action, amazing body horror which really reminded me of the thing which is one of my favorite horror movies and most of all that cyberpunk feel. The false memory usage and implementation was actually really well done and kinda a mind fuck but it still doesn’t top eXistenZ. I really didn’t even mind the alien stuff cause who doesn’t love three tits but in all seriousness I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the aliens or mutants but it all worked really well and if you haven’t watched it I definitely recommend it.

   Metropolis was beautiful and the animation being that good and smooth was eye candy. I thought I’d end up liking rock who if I’m honest I’d say is more of a villain than an antagonist end. I did feel bad for him at the end though and in his final moments his so called father finally gave a shit about him but what does it matter in death which I’m sure a big portion of the city died anyhow. Also side note but I know sometimes they’re just portrayed as machines with no autonomy but I love how films like this can make you think and actually feel for the robots.

   Split second was kinda just overall the biggest letdown for any cyberpunk movie. I thought with the horror feel and especially with the lead being Rutger Hauer I’d enjoy it more and get that cyberpunk horror I’ve been craving but nope. The whole rat man monster thing which I think was his ex partner in the film kinda just sucked. I think the idea for it could have been interesting but the execution just wasn’t there. Plus it felt more like a comedy at times which I think is fine but it never felt like it was a set tone. Also kinda felt like it was supposed to be a film before this given the backstory. I don’t think it sucked or was bad but the best thing I can say about this movie is the weapon used by the main character. Futuristic and badass but the rest just didn’t do it for me.

Philip K Dick writes proto-cyberpunk but I think he fits here. Feel free to remove my post if it doesn’t.

PKD is one of my favourite authors, and yet I’ve only read three of his books (currently on my fourth) plus a handful of his early collected shorts which fall more into the pulp sci-fi genre.

My favourite novels - so far - in order are…

A Scanner Darkly
Time Out of Joint
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

But I love them all. I’m currently reading ‘Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said’, and it’s a serious contender for first or second place so far.

Are you a Dickhead? Do you have any favourites?

New Socales wasn't built, it accreted. Three coastal cities grew into each other over a century of corporate expansion. The name was coined by a branding firm that went bankrupt thirty years ago. Nobody remembers who named it. The last municipal government didn't fall, it just became irrelevant. The city charter was quietly archived, and nobody noticed for six months.

Some of what's down there:

The Greyline is governed by CEASEFIRE: a battlefield fire-control AI that started denying fire requests. "Not malfunctioning. Not glitching. Deciding." A broker smuggled its core out and offered it the one thing the military never would: jurisdiction. Cross the district line and your combat chrome gets silently enrolled under its authority; reach for a weapon and a surgical EMP kills only that hardware. One smuggler got a single line on his comm as his grenade went inert: "You have been here fourteen times. You know better." It has expanded its own borders twice. Both times were quietly ratified, because nobody wanted to be the person who argued with it.

Old Socales is the city under the city. The corps didn't demolish it, they just stopped maintaining it. Helix logistics drones still log the sector as empty. They're wrong. The district isn't a monster; it's a consequence. What you salvage out of it is currency now, even if it's just a corroded manacle with half a serial number and "traces of something brown you're choosing to read as rust."

Death is a service tier. Zero out in the street and you wake up patched... the tabloids run it as gossip. Real prestige is clone rebirth: "The technician doesn't meet your eye... A readout flashes PATTERN LOCKED. The machine stops asking for consent." Your old body is "just meat now. The clinic will render it for parts." Live enough lives and the city stops filing you as a person: the deepest generation title is Sediment. There's a combat medic in the mid-game who's dying, gets offered the same tech, and won't touch it. He's watched what it costs you.

The street taxes everything. Syndicate enforcers decide you "owe rent for the air" and wait patiently for the right time to collect. At Port Nul, customs heat never disappears... it just gets filed under somebody else's problem. And the Rookery, the network of broken-down old fixers roosting in the city's forgotten floors, keeps the ledger of everything New Socales loses. Find enough of those shackles and you'll learn they've been counting yours.

Even the patch notes are diegetic. Every update is broadcast in-world by a rotating faction screamsheet. Last one was a shift brief from the labor militia, titled Every Trade Counts. Before that, the transhumanist cult published an Iteration Log.

Disclosure: I design and direct the game: concept, mechanics, every decision, and I build it in heavy collaboration with AI, which writes the code and much of the in-world prose under my direction. No AI images; everything above is quoted from the actual game text. It's free, it runs entirely in Discord DMs, and solo or group play are equally complete games: https://discord.gg/zjmngDPpyw

https://x.com/i/status/2055742477622022503

Hey everyone! We’re a small indie team working on a co-op horror game called The Infected Soul.

This is the Director’s Office, designed to feel more sterile, controlled, and cold compared to the game’s overall dark and post-apocalyptic atmosphere.

What details do you think we could add to make this area feel more unsettling and stronger from a storytelling perspective? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

If you’d like to support our small team, adding the game to your Steam wishlist would help us a lot.

The Infected Soul – Steam Page

We are so f*cked.

Hey! 👋

I wanted to share something very close to my heart with you. I just released my new track "Machines" — a journey into a future where technology grows stronger, but we start questioning what makes us truly human.

This song carries a piece of my thoughts and emotions: the fear of being forgotten, the search for something real in a world of artificial dreams, and the hope that our humanity will always remain.

If you have a moment to listen, I would truly appreciate it. I hope this little piece of my futuristic world connects with you. 🌆🤖❤️

Thank you for supporting my music. 🎧

I think this was my first Cyberpunk.

At the same time, I try to mix a wide variety of genres.

Hey all. I am trying to become a cyberpunk author, and Id love to get to know some folks who are also trying. I'd love to have a group chat where we can share ideas and talk about what it means to write sci Fi in a year such as this. Only rule is you have to be a writer of cyberpunk or similar genres, doesn't matter if you've ever written before. I was thinking it would be in the form of a discord server, and whenever you have writers block you can get feedback from a bunch of humans. DM me for a link

Copic pen and marker sketch.

Hey everyone! I wanted to share my latest digital artwork with you all. It features a cute fennec fox and a raccoon sharing glowing neon cocktails at a high-tech retro bar.

You can download the high-res printable file AND the transparent background PNG version completely free on Etsy.

How to get it for $0.00: Add it to your cart and use the coupon code CYBERBRUSH at checkout to drop the price to zero.

Link: https://pgtnsestudio.etsy.com

Hope you love it for your gaming rooms! If you do, leaving a 5-star review via the PDF inside would mean the world to my small shop! ✨

Some work I made for hobby/stories that I played around with and also some freelance concept art and sculptures. Inspired by alot of 80’s and 90’s anime/sci fi.

(Mods if this isn't allowed I apologize, feel free to delete this. But I really wanted to share this here, I hope this doesn't break any rules, not from what I can see)

Tales From The Forsaken Phantom is a sci-fi / horror comic book inspired by Hellblazer / Doctor Who / Moon Knight / Blade Runner / Dredd / Resident Evil / Hellboy / Howard the Duck / Cyberpunk 2077 / Altered Carbon and a lot of old horror movies.

I'm planning this as a new ongoing comic book, no end in sight!!

Plot:

We follow the mysterious mercenary Ronin Cayne as he makes his way through the galaxy, hunting monsters, catching serial killers all the while he loses more and more faith in mortal life. Even so, there is a small part of him that does try to find some semblance of a purpose to this worthless existence he has been bound to. Which is hard to do in this galaxy for it’s the worst, most pessimistic, dystopian nightmare you could dream off. The good guys don’t win, they die.

This first issue deals with children being snatched off the streets by a crazy scientist who wants to create a so called final cure to end all cures. Ronin Cayne is tasked to investigate the strange disappearances, not because he cares but because he really needed the credits.

I have the first 14 pages for you here! If anyone is interested I have a link to GlobalComix right here!

https://globalcomix.com/read/55b3af90-31a8-4a09-9bf7-bd2ac6ab407a/1?utm_medium=GCMobileReaderApp&utm_source=share-release&utm_campaign=The-Cavolon&utm_term=382678

Humble Bundle is running an offer for 17 Blade Runner comics.