ABSTRACT
Video games are a central part of the origin story of cyberpunk, a point William Gibson has discussed regarding his own fascination with the projected spaces behind the screen that await the user. With both the TRON video game and film (Lisberger 1982), however, the depiction of this space (which lies within the computer as a virtual world) becomes visualized along an axis of space, color, and shape that has since determined the design of cyberspace in cyberpunk video games: Three-dimensional grids mark out space and determine movement across it, starkly contrasting neon colors determine friend and foe in the games, and simple geometric shapes come to represent abstract data and access points. Video games reproduce, alter, or reflect upon these factors to seek their own diegetic (and marketing) needs. What cyberpunk video games highlight is the use of shape, color, and space helps construct and envision cyberspace in human-understandable terms that is necessary for successful gameplay.
