Poll: Steampunk or cyberpunk?

[Dioxide45]

Steampunk. For two reasons

a) Intricate and elaborate contraptions, hooooo!
b) The stereotypical British gentleman with a top hat and cane. Except with a steam-powered mechanical automaton as a butler. Awesome.

 

[Timbydude]

Cyberpunk. Honestly, I love anything futuristic and stylish much more than lame alternate history stuff.

 

[MatsVS]

People seem to be judging this purely on an aesthetic level, removing the -punk part of the equation, which is a shame, as this could have spawned some interesting conversation.

Snow Crash is more of a deconstruction of Cyberpunk though, sort of an early post-Cyberpunk if you will. And Altered-Carbon would probably fall in the realm of dystopic post-Cyberpunk as well.

I suppose that depends on the premiss: Are we considering these -punks to be full-fledged genres, thus free of certain restrictions, or are they sub-genres of sf&f?

 

[RedDeadFred]

Cyberpunk actually lives up to it's punk half and is a more established (sub)genre regardless whilst you can liste 'Steampunk' works on a single hand.

On a more personal note, I prefer the high-tech, low-life, cybered up future more than I do a super-extrapolated version of the industrial revolution.

Plus, I dunno. Steampunk usually seems to just be an art style more than anything. All like "I slapped some cogs and shit on something. It's STEAMPUNK!"

...I suppose that might be the way that Steampunk expresses it's punk side - just style that is entirely useless, like kill-counter tattoos and mohawks in Cyberpunk.

Is cyber punk just scifi. What are some recent games that are cyber punk so that I know what you're talking about before I vote.

It's a very specific sub-genre of sci-fi dealing with the near future, where cybernetic (and other forms of augmentation) have been taking off like crazy and oppressive regimes (be they governmental or corporate) are in control.

I haven't played any of those games although I've heard great things about Deus Ex. People have been saying Bioshock is steampunk. Is that true? I mean I love the game and I know it has steam and cogs and stuff like that but I don't really see any punk. If Bioshock is considered steampunk then that's what I'll vote for.

It is the dark future, a high-tech but low-life existence. Where folks go out at night strapped and with a pair of retractable claws hidden in their cyberlimb. Where armor-grade bulletproof clothing is the norm.

It's a genre that calls for a rise against, for a fight, and asks philosophical questions like what makes us really human. How much of your body can you tear away and replace with cold, hard steel before crossing that line? Is there even a line to be crossed? Etc.

Some games set in this genre are the entire Deus Ex series, Syndicate, Global Agenda, aaaand a bunch more I'm probably totally forgetting.

Hmm I guess I'll vote that then cause Deus Ex is pretty awesome.

 

[Scarecrow]

Steam punk.

Because I get too wear a top hat.

 

[Vicarious Vangaurd]

I have thirteen words to say about this subject, "Mass Effect."

 

[WOPR]

so pretty much System Shock, or Bioshock

I choose System Shock (cyber-punk)

 

[Evilsanta]

Steampunk. Because Mortal Engines.

This. And you have read them to? Yay!

Though they do have terminators and orbital satelite laser.

 

[Alar]

Cyber-steam punk.....yeah, thats awesome. lol

That is indeed awesome, my friend. That is indeed.

 

[Bigsmith]

Aesthetics-wise I go for steampunk, atmosphere-wise it's a tie.

I really see no point in picking one. I just love both.

Dieselpunk. It exists.

Indeed, as BioShock is the closest thing to a dieselpunk videogame we've got. It's way too advanced for steampunk.

YES, i knew I wansn't the only one who thought Bioshock WASN'T steampunk!

OT:Man the airships!

..yes i like steampunk.

 

[Zhukov]

Eh. Not fussed. They're both potentially awesome if done well.

But I'm voting for steampunk just because it seems to be less common and you didn't include a third option.

 

[Worr Monger]

Cyberpunk.... Blade Runner FTW..

 

[TyphoidMary]

I love Victorian fashion and accessories, and when you add things to them you end up with some really fantastic things. I like Cyberpunk fashion and everything, but it isn't as interesting to me. Steampunk uses fantastic fabrics and materials, lots of different things. Yay corsets.

 

[Tanis]

Steampunk seems more whimsical, but Cyperpunk is just cool.

 

[Sacman]

A lot of people are asking what cyberpunk actually is and where it came from, from what I've read over the years many believe this was the first Cyberpunk story http://www.amazon.ca/Neuromancer-William-Gibson/dp/0441569595/ref=pd_cp_b_3
And by a Canadian no less, WOO HOO

Actually it is widely accepted that the 1927 silent German film Metropolis is the forefather of Cyberpunk... besides even Blade Runner(1982), the most famous piece of Cyberpunk, came out before Neuromancer(1984) and even before that, in literature, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? came out in 1968...

and it saddens me that so very few people understand what Cyberpunk is... Most people just guess it has to do with the futuristic setting... but it doesn't have to do with setting or whether something is shiny or not, it has to do with themes and ideas surrounding the effects of technology in society, which means that the best cyberpunk doesn't need a huge over the top city or androids, all it needs is the ideas and theme that arise because of the use of technology... take for example my favorite show Serial Experiments Lain the setting isn't futuristic, if anything it's less futuristic than today, but it's still one the purest forms of cyberpunk because the way it handles it's vision of the internet and how it blurs the line between reality and fiction, which is a heavy cyberpunk theme... now look at something say, I dunno, Pinocchio, it really doesn't seem cyberpunk but it encompasses several of the same themes that are present in cyberpunk, like for example the main characters crisis of identity...

 

[HijiriOni]

Cyberpunk.... Blade Runner FTW..

This, and Robocop, and Terminator.

 

[Yureina]

I like Cyperbunk more. *polishes Ghost in the Shell fanboy badge*

Damn right. Gotta love Ghost.

 

[Ithos]

I like both. This thread makes me want to see Serial Experiments Lain again.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

Cyberpunk overall (What can I say, I love Sci-Fi!), but Steampunk on the other hand for a little retro, old fashioned feel to counterbalance here and there.