Has Steampunk ever been executed succesfully?

[Mullahgrrl]

Theese Guys:
http://www.wetanz.com/assets/videos/grordborts/RaygunsInfomercial/index_no_comp.html



But Yeah, SteamBoy is pretty awesome, even if you kinda loathe anime.

 

[Roganwilson]

I thought The Mutant Chronicles did well. It was hokey as hell, but still steampunk. And for games, I can't really think of any other than the ones previously mentiones. Gears of War kind of had a Victorian look to it, but not much in the way of steampunk.

 

[bilkobob]

I'll admit I'm more of a Cyberpunk fan. Either way, they are two sub-genres that rarely enjoy any commercial success. Blade Runner comes to mind. Later films would be Fifth Element or I, Robot.

Two of the best Cyberpunk Anime OVA's I can think of are the original Bubblegum Crisis and Cyber City OEDO.

One of the best Cyberpunk video games that tends to go unseen was Hideo Kojima's Snatcher for MSX and Sega CD. It's a true gem and WAY ahead of its time. Honorable mention goes to the Sega Genesis adaptation of Shadowrun. A difficult game but strangely rewarding.

Cyberpunk and Steampunk are great genres for occasional hits but the subject matter tends to be too centric to be a consistent cash cow... plus they tend to have to make stupid people actually think and Lord knows we can't have that.

Would you consider Dark City cyberpunk?

 

[heyheysg]

Steamboy and Full Metal Alchemist

Steamboy is probably the most accurate steampunk depiction you can find.

And Edge of Twilight will be delayed due to Tim Langdell claiming a right to the name and simultaneously releasing "Of Twilight a game by EDGE"

Disclaimer: Above are opinion of the poster and not meant to represent the Escapists or any opinion of the Escapist staff. i.e. Don't sue me

 

[robinkom]

I'll admit I'm more of a Cyberpunk fan. Either way, they are two sub-genres that rarely enjoy any commercial success. Blade Runner comes to mind. Later films would be Fifth Element or I, Robot.

Two of the best Cyberpunk Anime OVA's I can think of are the original Bubblegum Crisis and Cyber City OEDO.

One of the best Cyberpunk video games that tends to go unseen was Hideo Kojima's Snatcher for MSX and Sega CD. It's a true gem and WAY ahead of its time. Honorable mention goes to the Sega Genesis adaptation of Shadowrun. A difficult game but strangely rewarding.

Cyberpunk and Steampunk are great genres for occasional hits but the subject matter tends to be too centric to be a consistent cash cow... plus they tend to have to make stupid people actually think and Lord knows we can't have that.

Would you consider Dark City cyberpunk?

Yes, I would consider it Cyberpunk but its not a term that the mainstream is keen to use when marketing a film. I'm looking at the back of my Dark City VHS box this very minute and nowhere is the word Cyberpunk used. They instead flooded it with a variety of quotes from movie critics that just maybe over-analyzed it. One says it's a "futuristic thriller that's a dark and dazzling sci-fi mind-bender!" New Line Home Video even just generalized it on the side of the box and labeled it simply "Sci-fi."

 

[Straitjacketeering]

Steamboy?

/thread

 

[Lexodus]

As far as games go, I thought that Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends did a great job with steampunk.

Spoiler: Here's the intro

Damn, ninja'd. Anyway, RoL was totally awesome and it gets my vote.

I played The first rise of nations. Now I shall play Rise of legends.

Another thought; a good book series is Phillip Reeves' Mortal Engines quartet, of which a movie should be coming out soon (and, as usual, the fucking US boards have retitled the 'Hungry City Chronicles'. WHY???)

 

[Lexodus]

Damnati- Oh, wait, nevermind.

I can't remember really well, was Leuge of Extrodinary Geltemn steampunk? Or am I going crazy?

Wow, that was a fuck up. It's 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'. Say it with me. 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'. Although, to your credit, you did spell 'of' right.

 

[Spacelord]

Well to REALLY enjoy Steampunk inspired games you'll have to get the proper [http://blog.makezine.com/spc.jpg] equipment [http://www.impactlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/steampunk-computer-1.jpg].

 

[Chipperz]

Yes [www.warmachine.com]. It's definitely Steampunk mixed with high fantasy, but it works really, really well.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Most of the "best" Steampunk that I've encountered has popped up in either Comics or Novels.

In terms of Novels I can recommend...

The Court of The Air by Stephen Hunt
Perdido Street Station, The Scar or The Iron Council by China Meiville
Sun of Suns by Karl Schroder
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (Sorta Steampunk, Sorta Cyberpunk, Lotsa WTF)
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

In terms of Comics I'd go for...

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 1 by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neil
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki
Steampunk by Joe Kelley and Chris Bachello
Sebastian O by Grant Morrisson

For Videogames...

Final Fantasy 6
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura
Rise of Legends
Skies of Arcadia


All of these works I would say "get Steampunk right" and have a lot of fun with the wacky, impossible technology.

 

[zahr]

Thief II: The Metal Age is basically the ultimate steampunk setting.