Search for 'cassette futurism' I think you'll find what youre looking for.
this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2026
20 points (95.5% liked)
Cyberpunk
2012 readers
38 users here now
What is Cyberpunk?
Cyberpunk is a science-fiction sub-genre dealing with the integration of society and technology in dystopian settings. Often referred to as “low-life and high tech,” Cyberpunk stories deal with outsiders (punks) who fight against the oppressors in society (usually mega corporations that control everything) via technological means (cyber). If the punks aren’t actively fighting against a megacorp, they’re still dealing with living in a world completely dependent on high technology.
Cyberpunk characteristics include:
- Dystopian city setting where mega-corporations rule
- Full integration of technology into society, featuring cybernetic implants
- Outsider protagonists (punks) who often are very familiar with the technology around them
- Hard boiled detective and film noir vibes and influence
- Themes dabbling in trans-humanism, existentialism, and what it means to be human.
Prefixes for posts
- [AI Art]
- [Art]
- [Book]
- [Game]
- [Meme]
- [Movie]
- [Video]
This is a community focused on cyberpunk as a genre of fiction. Please post any news articles about our real world slipping into a dystopian nightmare at: !aboringdystopia@lemmy.world
Icon created by @hammerjack@lemmy.zip
If someone is interested in moderating this community, message @brikox@lemmy.zip.
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
I know it’s not cyberpunk, but Muther in Alien and HAL 9000 (the actual computer interface and pads, not the iconic red eye) are some of my favourite retro future interface aesthetics.
They work to a clear common computer archetype as cyberpunk and the aesthetics blend in very well when you dress them up with punk elements. I know that isn’t exactly what you wanted, but I think of it as a solid foundation to build on.
Tron Legacy did that and created some incredible cyberpunk aesthetics with the boardroom computer (which I think was modded eMacs) and the arcade interfaces.
Take a look at cyberdecks. From what I gather they're actual computers (sometimes just a raspberry pi compute module for instance) but in alternative formats, so their "shells" are always different.
I was actually looking at that since I’m using a pi. The situation is that I’m making it for a festival camp for these regional burns (kinda like small burning man festivals for people who know people and don’t wanna do the big one for whatever reason) the camp has been tested once and they want another activity, the retro game console. I want to use a 15-17’ screen and add some 2 player games. The size was leading me towards bigger 90s style crt as an enclosure, but with a more old school cyberpunk vibe. The akira style computers I saw were too much of a mainframe, the serial experiment pain ones weren’t cyberpunky enough. I saw a few more but they didn’t inspire me.
Sorry for the ramble; I’ve had some drinks tonight. Maybe I will look at cyberdecks and expand the style to something bigger
Heh, by the time you add a 15" screen it's not particularly (for some values) cyberpunk, think 5ish " mobile. Sounds like you can do ARM (or maybe RISC), but there's heaps of choices of SBCs (single board computers) out there. When you sober up, set some criteria (needs 2xUSB, SATA, hdmi etc) to narrow things down.
Sounds very interesting. Do take a look, ask around. Was hoping you would get more mature answers than what my limited knowledge can tell you. For the OS you could use something like retropi, although I'd focus more on stability rather than presentation if it's for an event like the one you're describing.
Personally, I think Batocera is easier to configure and better looking than Retropie. Although I haven't looked at Retropie in a couple years since switching to Batocera.