Steampunk vs Cyberpunk

[WhyBotherToTry]

I know this has probably been done about a million times but screw it I'll ask anyway. Which do you guys think is better out of steampunk or cyberpunk? I'd say steampunk because I love the way the people in steampunk dress and the art-deco look of the buildings is nice. The gears everywhere are pretty cool too.

[Edit] After reading some of the comments, I should clarify that I know absolutely nothing about either genre. I was going purely on the basis of aesthetics. Hoewever, for those of you who do know more about them, feel free to talk about the more significant differences between the two if you so wish.

 

[Richardplex]

Definitely seam punk, I mean, the way pieces of fabric are sewn together... incomparable.

 

[Shadu]

I think they are two very different genres. Similar in some ways, but really at different ends of the spectrum.

However, if I had to choose, I would say Steampunk. Not simply because it's so much more widespread and easier to find, but becacuse I just love all the creativity of the people who do it. I love the idea behind it, and I love the work people make for it, and I love clocks and gears and metal like it.

I like the look and the people.

Edit:

Definitely seam punk, I mean, the way pieces of fabric are sewn together... incomparable.

To be a tw*t about the topic's mispelled title, I think Seampunk is pretty damn fine old-school. To let the seams show on everything, that's really epic stuff. The way you can have seams in metal, wool, cotton, cakes, and so on.

Oh ho, I see what you did there. My brain skipped over the fact the title was missing a "t," but very clever. I bow to you both.

 

[Slvrwolfen]

To be a tw*t about the topic's mispelled title, I think Seampunk is pretty damn fine old-school. To let the seams show on everything, that's really epic stuff. The way you can have seams in metal, wool, cotton, cakes, and so on.

 

[Zantos]

To not be a tw*t about the title, I'm just going ignore it since I fully understood what was asked despite the spelling.

I've dressed in both, and I must say that although cyber is definitely comfier, steampunk looks so much cooler. Also, it has girl genius, which despite being clear spankbank material for some people it's actually cool to read. Watch. Look at. I dunno, however you describe what you do with webcomics.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Obligatory missing 't' doucheness already dealt with. Thus...

I think they are two very different genres. Similar in some ways, but really at different ends of the spectrum.

This right here... I don't inherently think one is better than the other since they are 'different' and even the labelling common factor 'punk' doesn't really apply...

Cyberpunk is definitely more speculative and morally/ethically/philosophically more intriguing. Plus, there is a strong whiff of 'holy shit this may actually happen' (depending on source, of course). However, steampunk is more diverse in its machinations and there is much greater breadth for imagination and is by far an easier device to use for era-supplanting, which is always fun.

Therefore, as an intellectual: cyberpunk, but as a dreamer: steampunk.

 

[TorqueConverter]

I've never been one to fap to air balloons or glue superfluous gears and hoses to the printer, but I can understand the appeal of the Victorian era. I can stand some Victorian scifi in games and even movies but I don't approve of it as a lifestyle. There is something disturbing about a person who dawns a cape, plastic sword and goggles as soon as he gets off work to go be Sky captain.

Steampunk > cyberpunk but Dieselpunk beats all.

 

[RagnarokHybrid]

Steam punk is best to me. I'm kinda biased, though, because FF IX was pretty steam punk but yeah, who cares. It just feels really adventurous to see how civilization collapses yet prospers due to steam (or Mist, I guess, in FF IX's case) -powered ships, etc.

 

[Axolotl]

Cyber punk seems to slot into the dark niche and stay there.

I take it you've never read Snow Crash?

Personally I have to go with Cyberpunk overall. I like Steampunk but I just have two major problems with it 1) It allways seems to be a fairly flat characture of Victorian society, nowhere near as interesting as Victorian society actualy was at best it's a bland parody and at worst it's the same bland parody being played as if it were serious. 2) It always feels stuck more as an aesthetic than anactual style or genre, perhaps this is what causes my first complaint but all the great Steampunk things I've seen/read/played all seem to just use it as an aesthetic or just have "Steampunk elements". There seems to be no real paradigm works like Cyberpunk has with Neuromancer and Blade Runner, and I feel this leaves it weaker as a genre.

So while I like both I just feel Cyberpunk has the edge.

 

[Jonluw]

Going purely by aesthetic?
Steampunk. I just love the clockwork and brass look.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I prefer cyberpunk but my reason is just preferance (I just liek the look of the streamline steampunk stuff while steampunk is bulky).

 

[smearyllama]

Steampunk is cool and all, but I think it's been used a little too much lately, whereas cyberpunk has sorta been left in the dust.
So for right now, I'm gonna say cyberpunk.
I really love stuff like Akira, and I hope to see it return soon.

 

[Uzi-Bazooka]

Wow, looks like I'm going to be in the minority, but I actually prefer cyberpunk. A big part of that has to do with diversity - Steampunk always looks the same, more or less by definition: steamy. Brown and rusty and gear...y. Cyberpunk, on the other hand, has quite a bit more diversity: from the golden cities of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, to the red-and-blue, shimmery world of Hard Reset - still a common theme of "high tech and low life", but expressed in entirely different ways.
Now don't get me wrong - I love lots of Steampunk stuff. The Larklight series is absolutely fantastic, as is the Girl Genius series that Zantos mentioned. But besides the cyberpunk games mentioned above, the genre also includes the film Bladerunner, so it automatically trumps all.

 

[PoweD]

Can i say both?
I mean, i love impressionism era and all of its styled technology.But i also love stuff like Bionic Commandos arm(if you count that as cyberpunk).

 

[Darks63]

Im kinda of devided on this when i think of steampunk i think of the Thief games which i love, but when i think of cyberpunk i think of the shadowrun qames which i also like.

 

[gabe12301]

I think they are two very different genres. Similar in some ways, but really at different ends of the spectrum.

However, if I had to choose, I would say Steampunk. Not simply because it's so much more widespread and easier to find, but becacuse I just love all the creativity of the people who do it. I love the idea behind it, and I love the work people make for it, and I love clocks and gears and metal like it.

I like the look and the people.

Edit:

Definitely seam punk, I mean, the way pieces of fabric are sewn together... incomparable.

To be a tw*t about the topic's mispelled title, I think Seampunk is pretty damn fine old-school. To let the seams show on everything, that's really epic stuff. The way you can have seams in metal, wool, cotton, cakes, and so on.

Oh ho, I see what you did there. My brain skipped over the fact the title was missing a "t," but very clever. I bow to you both.

Can you bend time? You managed to quote slvrwolfen before he made his comment.

OT: I like steampunk much more. With cyberpunk the most you can do is slap neon lights on it and make it fly.

 

[Axolotl]

Cyber punk seems to slot into the dark niche and stay there.

I take it you've never read Snow Crash?

Not only have I never read it, I've never heard of it.

You should, it's pretty much the book that ended Cyberpunk largely as a big genre, and it did it by taking the Cyberpunk idea of a completely corperate future and making it awesome. And awesome is the best word to describe it because the whole book is totally dedicated to being as cool and stylish as possible. To give you a good example of this the main character is a samurai, hacker called Hiro Protagonist and while that sounds silly taken out of context the book is really intelligent and the prose can actually support that level of style all the way through.

I realise this post comes of as an advert for it but anyone interested in Cyberpunk (or speculative fiction at all) should read Snow Crash.

 

[York_Beckett]

I love both themes.
I think the sheer potential of creating worlds, weapons and technology is something that hardly shows limits as long as you have the right imagination, and that's what makes it appealing.