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Cyberpunk 2077 News & Guide

Cyberpunk 2077 – Richard Night, Night City & Mob Wars Lore!

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In Today’s Cyberpunk 2077 & Cyberpunk Lore video we are talking about Night City, how it was founded, the visionary behind it, Coronado City vs Night City, Richard Night, The Mob wars and the downfall of America’s dream city.

Now within the world of Cyberpunk 2020 this was reprinted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Night City on May 17th 2019. If you take a gander at the calendar that is today in our time atleast in North America it is also May 17th 2019.

Night City was first conceived by Richard Night when he was a young partner in a construction company called Halsey Ferris and Night, which was a firm tackling massive corporate construction projects.

With hard effort and excellent results, the firm prospered and all three partners became very wealthy men. By 1990 however working on office plazas and corporate structures started to not be enough for Richard Night who departed to start his own firm Night International.

An ambitious man Night had a dream of creating a city of the future so grand that all cities build before or after it would pale in comparison. With immense design and visionary aspirations, he drew up plans for Night International to make this city a reality.

His next move would be to secure the unheard of amount of capital needed to finance the gargantuan project.

In Night’s Idealistic city, governments would be run by the corporations allowing optimum zoning and no anti-business elements to interfere with corporate growth. Ideally it would be a capitalist mecca of opportunity.

By 1992 Arasaka, EBM and Petrochem had all signed on with Night and all that was left, was to find the ideal location to build.

From the beginning Night focused on the central Californian coast due to its seaport potential, lush environment and an ideal location for an intercontinental maglev.

Funny enough whilst drafting a buy-in package with Petrochem, it was discovered that the megacorp owned the rights to drilling and most of the land situated around the Del Coronado Bay region. By 1993, Coronado City, Richard Night’s dream city was under construction.

Night’s plan involved a bay which accommodated bulk carriers, a picturesque old downtown and a gigantic corporate plaza, the new heart of the city.

During its construction however, Night International used a large number of advanced building styles and techniques which didn’t include archaic methods being used by older companies. His old associates of Halsey, Ferris and now Skiv were excluded during the building process. Furthermore, they had unwisely joined with a local mob figure who had a domineering presence over the NorCal region.

Via his scorned ex-coleagues, Night received frequent threats to his life within the first 4 years of the construction of Coronado City. A proud and self-reliant man, he typically ignored these threats. When the threats escalated, he called in for backup from his Corporate partners who dealt with the issue swiftly and ruthlessly.

Night’s luck eventually did run out however, and was shot and killed in his penthouse suite in newly constructed Parkview tower on September 10th 1998. The killer was never found, and in his memory the newly appointed city council renamed Coronado City Night City.

The next seven years were bloody as a multitude of different powers and influences battled for control of Richard Night’s vision. Whilst corporations controlled the government and the corporate center, the mob controlled the surrounding businesses and outskirts.

In this time, gangs backed by either the mob or the corporates began their ascent to power, in one of the forgotten areas of the city, known as The Combat Zone. Gangs are so firmly rooted here that only way to scramble them all would be a full on destruction of the zone.

By 2005 the Mob had ousted everyone else and became the ruling force. The next 4 years were the dark ages of night city with the mob ruling with an iron fist killing anything and anyone. In this time notorious gangs like the Blood Razors and Slaughterhouse formed, and Night City soon became the closest thing to hell on earth.

After 4 years and countless blood spilled on the streets, the corporations had enough and thus the Mob war was started between 2009 and 2011. Lagging behind in profits and reach within the city, the corporations took the battle to the streets to destroy anything not aligned with their corporate agenda.

Led by Arasaka trained para-military troops in assault vehicles, tanks and combat aerodynes, a wave of bombings, assassinations and killings descended down to the Mob who in their hubris was ill prepared.

The corporations inevitably succeeded and replaced the Mob as the new rulers of night city.

As it stands in 2020 Night city has just about recovered from its initial rocky stages. Night City is an armed society, and while complete chaos may be over, night city is very much still a dangerous place.

Cyberpunk 2077 News & Guide

Cyberpunk 2077 – Arasaka Corporation! (Lore Explained!)

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In Today’s Cyberpunk 2077 Arasaka Explained Video we are talking about one of the most ruthless Mega corporations in Night City, Arasaka Corporation. We will be looking at it’s history, what it actually does, the family history of the Arasakas, why they are so insidious and some gameplay moments where we see Arasaka and what that means for the world of Cyberpunk 2077.

Arasaka seems to be prevelant in Cyberpunk 2077 so far with many towering megabuildings with their name on it, as well as scenes of Araska meetings featuring all black employees and a potential cyber-assassination attempt. Whilst Militech pops up fairly frequently, we don’t actually get too much insight into Arasaka from the 2077 content we have so far.

Araska corporation is a world-wide mega corporation with headquarters in Tokyo dealing in corporate security, banking and manufacturing. They had 1 million employees as of 2020, and their value at that time was 475 Billion Eurodollars.

Arasaka weilds more financial power than any other single corporation and use ruthless methods to retain their power including blackmail, extortion, and bribery. They also cover their tracks and dark rep with cyberassassins and netrunners, the best lawyers and connections with powerful gangs like the Yakuza.

Arasaka itself specializes in protective services and the distribution of their Japanese made products throughout North America.
Founded in the late 1800s, early 1900s by Sasai Arasaka in Tokyo Japan, the company got it’s big break leveraging the World War to increase their reach in the world, forecasting that Japan would lose, and that they would have to inevitably spread out across the globe. This was spearheaded by Sasai who was smart enough to diversify his holdings around the world.

Sasai died in 1960 and his son Saburo took control of the company, who was a former lieutenant in the Japanese Navy. We see Saburo Arasaka as a backstory option in the 2077 WIP demo, so presumably he is still alive in 2077.

He is referenced to as a Corporate God for his role in creating a powerful divison of Arasaka in the Arasaka security division. By the mid 1990s this security division had skyrocketed to one of the best in the world and had personnel involved in some of the most powerful corporations.

Kei Arasaka, Son of Saburo became the CEO of Arasaka sometime before 2020 although he was just a medium for Saburo to project his decisions through.

Next let’s check out each division in Arasaka a little bit more in-depth.
First we have their security division. Due to low budget protection being null and void in the world of Cyberpunk, people started to require higher level security due to the increasingly dangerous world of cybernetics, autonomous weapons, AI and corporate warfare and espionage.

Arasaka’s countermeasure is developing and training their security divison at the Arasaka school in Hokkaido, Northern Japan, and can contract out anywhere from 1 to 1000 guards depending on clients needs.

Clients purchasing security from Arasaka can hand select their personnel based on gender, language and a variety of other factors. All personnel do however need a basic level of proficiency in English.

Next we have Arasaka and their Private Hire policies. Private bodyguards and home security are popular for higher up celebrities and media personnel who see this as not only protection but a status symbol and fashion accessory.

Another option is for individuals who need a specific job done, but won’t need security at their beck and call at all times. For this a single operational contract may be needed where highly trained and prepared teams carry out certain jobs and high risk tasks whilst masking the identity of the client.
Arasaka also leases out weapons and equipment like cameras, alarms, weapons, and deterrent systems. It will also sell most of these things outright to clients.

Arasaka’s police force is also a pivotal service. Nations and governments who can no longer support their own police force can many times hire out Arasaka’s own police service. Their training and efficiency is much like their security division but with more of an emphasis on public rules and interpersonal skills.

In 2020 Araska owns high profile police stations around the world and in many cases chooses to not charge a fee for their services and instead leverage their political power. This is used to establish Arasaka as a dominant worldwide corporation.

Arasakas headquarters are located in Tokto, Japan in two parallel skyscrapers. They dominate the Tokyo skyline and security is very tight knit. Prominent Arasaka members stay near the top and the landing pad at the top is stacked with Helicopters and AVs for quick entry and exit.

Some examples of Arasaka weapons from the manufacturing division are the Bullpup assault weapon, the Autopistol, The Half bow and the computer aimed weapon.
Arasaka also makes assault vehicles as well as light personnel vehicles

Cyberpunk 2077 News & Guide

Cyberpunk 2077 – Braindance & Its History! (Lore!)

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In Today’s Cyberpunk 2077 video we are talking about Braindance, what it is, the history of braindance, creating a braindance, how to view braindances, what it’s used for, and its dangers in Cyberpunk 2077.

The best way to explain a Braindance is that it is your own personal immersive Virtual Reality experience. In Night City, poverty, class disparity, slums, homelessness and an overall poor quality of life leads to the inescapable hum drum of existence. Despite all of this, there is still the concept of showbiz and the glitz and glamour of luxurious lifestyles.

Now with the leaps in Neural technology of 2077, this can be easily experienced by even the poorest slum dweller via a Braindance. Braindances are similar to a Netrunners Interface, as it allows someone to experience a completely different realm or reality via a neural transmission.

Braindance was originally developed as a program for convicted criminals, and later as a Military simulator for troops to practice in before they are deployed.

Once the braindance chips have been compiled and edited, they are distributed for mass production to the public.

The public has 3 ways they can access and views Braindances.
First we have arcades. These are multiple level rooms of private booths where people can experience the latestest braindances distributed by that particular arcade.

The second are in bars which have a couple Black Boxes to view braindances in, and a subscription to a service that distributes Braindance recordings.

The 3rd way is to buy your own Black Box and rent chips from arcades or subscribe to BD services yourself.

In the gameplay Demo for Cyberpunk 2077, it also looks like we can order braindance chips from these Night City Vending Machines.

Braindance otherwise known as the Alternative Reality process was invented by Yuriko Sujimoto a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2007.

Using the Moss equation, which is the basis for neural responses, and a Netrunner interface, Sujimoto managed to record all of her thoughts, emotions and physical sensations into a standard information chip. Plugging the chip back into the Netrunner interface or Cybermodem, she was able to experience all the thoughts, emotions and physical sensations that she had recorded.

Knowing this, and trying to apply it to real world Problem, Sujimoto deduced that it was best used as a method to reform and recondition hardened criminals and their mental states.

Criminal reconditioning was approved by the Supreme court within this time period for certain anti-social crimes.

Now before this, criminal reconditioning was largely ineffective, but with Sujimoto’s new Discovery this psychological reconditioning could be done cheaply and effectively.

Now in order to create an aversion to crimes in the minds of these Criminals, these braindances had to be recorded in such a way where if a criminal repeatedly played in in their minds, they would start to loathe all crime in general and lull themselves back into a mentality that is safe for the streets.

In order to do this however, they had to make new recordings of criminals actually committing these crimes and recording their sensory and neural processes.

Sujimoto eventually got the Californian State Senate to fund the project and offered reduced sentences to volunteers who would re-enact these crimes with small changes made to them, that when viewed would turn any potential criminal off that specific crime. This got the attention of Militech who stepped in and helped with funding in exchange for a license to market Braindance machines as a military simulator.

Despite this the program still lacked volunteers, but on March 7th, 2009 Sujimoto and crew would get a big break.

This also led braindancing to be pivotal in treating and reforming different kinds of criminals, namely Cyberpsychos who suffer from Cyberpsychosis, a prevalent mental disease in Night City you can induce if augment yourself with too much Cyberware.

Now Creating a braindance for mass consumption is a fairly straight forward process. All you need is one Braindancer, a video technician, and a braindance technician who control the neural feeds.

Recording a braindance can be done in one of two ways, either via a scripted sequence or by real life events.

A braindancer typically compiles 5 hours of footage, and hands it off to an editor who curates the footage down to around and hour.

There are some dangers associated with Braindance however. Illegal duplication and distribution of braindance chips come with a multitude of risks.

Cyberpunk 2077 News & Guide

Cyberpunk 2077 – Militech Explained!

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Militech is one of the biggest MegaCorporations in Cyberpunk 2077. Today we are going to be looking at it’s history, how it came to power, key people involved, what they actually do and how they operate in Night City arming and supporting assassins, mercenaries and even full scale military operations. Welcome to Cyberpunk 2077 – Militech Explained!
What we’ve seen thus far from Militech in trailers or the demo is the Militech Crusher, Armored Vehicle, Meredith stout and her surveillance drone, and
Militech International Armaments is a megacorporation valued at 432 billion Eurodollars and specializing in weapons manufacturing and private military contracting. They are the largest weapons manufacturer in the world, and their catalogue of gear, arms and equipment are used by hundreds of nations in departments such as mercenary divisions, assassinations, corporate security and full scale military operations.
Based out of the Eastern US and working closely with police and military forces they have substantially contributed to civilian security systems. They manufacture high grade military tech from simple firearms to heavily armored combat vehicles.
Initially founded as Armatech-Lucessi International by Italian Weapons designer Antonio Luccessi in 1996, Militech didn’t find its footing until 1998 with the trials for a new US infantry assault weapon. The US Government was recovering from bankruptcy during this time, and began the process to replace outdated weapons tech in the M-16A2 rifle. The trials came down to 3 competitors looking to become the new standard issue rifle for the government. The FN SAP, a cheap but clunky and unreliable weapon that allowed the US to maintain low costs, the Colt AR-17X a good but expensive gun, and a submission by Armatech-Lucessi, a compact, reliable and moderately priced rifle.
A member of the joint trial General Donald Lundee lobbied for the Armatech-Lucessi weapon, but due to a further collapse of the economy and a tightening of the budget the government picked up the FN SAP for their standard issue.
Now 6 years later in the second south American conflict, in the jungles of central and south America these unreliable SAP rifles unsuited for tropical climates led to many deaths of US soldiers.
Lundee observed this from afar, and having resigned from the marine corps and taken a comfy seat as CEO of armatech at the request of Luccessi he began to formulate a re-haul of the system and saw th need for an efficient military manufacturer producing high quality equipment. During this time of growth, the company was rebranded to Militech Arms International.
Their first success was in 2004 after a disastrous Central American War where the US finally scrapped the SAP and began new trials for a new standard weapon. The final choice was Militechs Ronin Light Assault Rifle and they soon won the military side arm contract. At the same time this is where Militech expanded their catalogue which included heavy weapons, artillery, and vehicles and aircraft systems. As a more established contractor, they took advantage of yet another economic collapse to buy up competitors to utilize their designers and resources and this is how they came to be so dominant.
Some notable people during this time include Roland Yee, current chairman of the board and one of the original investors in Armatech
We also have Margaret Ellen Goldstein one of the original investors and one time lover of CEO Donald Lundee
Mils Engelsson – vice president and director of the special projects division and known as Dr Death for his unethical and horrifying experiments, and Meredith stout who is a senior operations manager working for Militech in the year 2077, who we see in the demo.
Thanks for watching guys, check out the lore explained playlist to learn more about the world of Cyberpunk 2077 and join the notification squad by hitting that bell and by subscribing!

Cyberpunk 2077 News & Guide

Cyberpunk 2077 – The History Of Night City! (Lore Explained!)

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With the plot for Cyberpunk 2077 being largely unknown, I thought we would talk about what has happened in the world of Night City prior to 2077. I think It’s safe to assume the story will not be an exact continuation from Cyberpunk 2020 where the Cyberpunk narrative was first fully developed.

This is because CD Projekt Red has stated that they’ve juggled the timeline of prior events to fit with their vision of 2077’s current events. This doesn’t mean however, that large portions of the story won’t be similar, or even a continuation of Night City’s dark and loaded history.

Today we lay a foundation of understanding on what’s happened in the world of Cyberpunk and Night City that’s lead up to present times.

Cyberpunk 2020 takes place In the year 2020 in Night City, an area of 5 million people on the west coast of the United States somewhere between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Following an event called “The Collapse” in which there was a socio-economic depression, the United States government has begun to heavily rely on Mega-corporations to keep the nation afloat. As you can imagine, with all the power lying on the shoulders of the Megacorporations, this gives them overruling authority of Night City.

There are a bunch of Megacorporations in this time, but the notable ones are Militech and Arasaka, who have been butting heads since their inceptions.

Militech is an arms company, whilst Arasaka provides corporate security and police to other corporations and governmental bodies.

Now Cyberpunk 2020’s main plotline is told in 3 separate parts called The Firestorm Triology, although the last part never actually came out. This gleaves us with lingering questions that CDPR can address in 2077 should It choose to follow this path.

In late 2021 two major rivalling aquatech companies are back and forth over a third corporation. Each side brings in another megacorporation as the situation escalates, with Militech Being in one corner and Arasaka being in the other corner.

Each company is trying to aquire stock in a related third corporation and thus the Ocean War is started.

During the Ocean War, a variety of things happen

First combat netrunners were recruited by each of the corporations to make runs on stock holdings and muscle their way into acquiring them for their respective companies through the Net.

NetWatch who are essentially the Net Police and work for The Net warn both Arasaka and Militech to stop their net activities with a 12 hour communications embargo.

Militech recruits grizzled Solo Hero and world class Mercenary Morgan Blackhand to oversee securirty operations during this time to bolster their intelligence.

With war brewing banks start to step in namely Eurobank, to increase profits by offering both Militech and Arasaka loans to help in their fight against each other. Both Militech and Arasaka refuse and Eurobank tries to manipulate them into agreement. Megacorps may have unscrupulous morales, anbut the banks are no different.

There is a settlement after turmoil dies down and a peace accord is signed between Militech and Arasaka, oddly enough with the help of Eurobank.

Now the Ocean war had devolved into Militech and Arasaka taking the spotlight from the Aquatech corporations that hired them. Whilst these Aquatech corps fell back into a calmer state, Militech and Arasaka were plotting their next move, and by early 2022 a violent shadow war had begun with Militech and Arasaka trying to covertly hit each other in the pocket books as well as on the frontline with hired mercenaries, cyber-assassins and netrunners.

Now during the Shadow War Arasaka was deep in developing a the Soulkiller Program 2.5, a weaponized computer program that would trap the consciousness of a netrunner on the net forever, forcing their minds to float endlessly in cyber Space.

They can also use this program to unravel Militech secrets and breach into their installations, projects and plans.

With Militech desperate to protect themselves from this devastating program, they reach out to Rache Bartmoss, the best netrunner in the world for help. He refuses their offer, so Militech contact Alt Cunningham, who created the beta version of the Soulkiller and now wants to see its destruction. Alt agrees to get back at Arasaka who has wronged her in the past, and she convinces Bartmoss to join in the campaign.

Bartmoss hits hard and manages to hack himself into Arasaka Killer Satellites to destroy Arasaka’s space factories. Arasaka proceeds to put out a huge bounty on Rache Bartmoss.

Bartmoss, however is deceptive and cunning and ends up locating the Soulkiller master program, and although killed in the process, deploys an unknown program into the Soulkiller.
Alt also, involved in the mission, is absorbed by the Soulkiller.

Continued in Video …

Credits to ceedoceedo on Instagram + DeviantArt, and C33D0 on reddit for the image in the Thumbnail!

Cyberpunk 2077 News & Guide

Cyberpunk 2077 – The Combat Zone Lore! (What Is It?)

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Today’s Cyberpunk 2077 Lore video is on The Combat Zone. The Combat Zone is one of the most dangerous places in Night City. Run by rutheless Gangs and walled off from the rest of Night City, Cyberpunk 2077’s Combat Zone is a place where violence and gangs run the area. Combat Cabbs, Netrunner Gangs, Gang Distribution, and The History of Megacorporations, The Yakuza, and The Combat Zone are all highlighted in this Cyberpunk 2077 Lore video. Make sure to stick around to learn the ins and outs of the Combat Zone including what is really is!