Poll: Steampunk or cyberpunk?

[duckers101]

oldskool steampunk is so much better
you cant really have top hats in cyber
and everyone loves tophats

 

[MatsVS]

First, let's get one thing clear:

Cyberpunk is not just science fiction with advanced technology, it's science fiction set in the close future, with equal focus on sociology and psychology. Usually this is exemplified by a contrast between the advanced technology and decrepit living conditions.

Cyberpunk: William Gibson (Neuromancer), Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash, The Diamond Age), Richard Morgan (Altered Carbon) & Ian McDonald (River of Gods, Cyberabad Days)

Steampunk: Jeff VanderMeer (mainly his editorial work), China Miéville (Perdido Street Station, Iron Council), Felix Gilman (Thunderer, Gears of the City), Michael Moorcock (Warlord of the Air)

Jeez, that's a close call, but I think I fall slightly on the side of steampunk. Perhaps a reread of Gibson and Stephenson would change my mind, as it has been many years. However, it could very well be the 'weird' elements of VanderMeer and Miéville that makes me love them as much as I do. Bah, hard choice!

 

[AvsJoe]

Cyberpunk. Because I <3 Vexille.

Because I <3 JAGs!

 

[lumenadducere]

Cyberpunk. You seem to get the more interesting stories - ethics of AI, questions about humanity, etc. and you can also easily get into stories of political intrigue. Steampunk has some titles like that (BioShock, Arcanum), but most seem to be high adventure...which I love, but I find myself more engaged with the more murky stories.

 

[Macgyvercas]

Steam punk, simply because I think that the Victorian Era was awesome and clockwork is amazing.

 

[Zero_ctrl]

I think a mixture of the two can be pretty cool.

 

[Chased]

Definitely Cyberpunk. Steampunk reminds me of rust, the Victorian Era and Bioshock all things which I dislike.

 

[MarsProbe]

Steampunk for me. I used to be one for cyberpunk but after perhaps a bit too much Ghost in the Shell and it's numerous tv series and films, I grew a bit tired of all the well, "cyber" stuff. So it's probably just as well I read the likes of Counterfeit World (cyber, perhaps, if not very "punk", Neuromancer and Snow Crash first.

Pfft, looks like I've beaten to the post on rhyming off two of those books. And there I was thinking I was going to come off like some literary genius!

But for now, I just prefer the whole aesthetic of steampunk. Until something shinier comes along anyway...

 

[Jfswift]

I've always felt cyberpunk was more interesting. There's more stuff you can do with it too, ie. higher technology levels.

 

[Arachon]

First, let's get one thing clear:

Cyberpunk is not just science fiction with advanced technology, it's science fiction set in the close future, with equal focus on sociology and psychology. Usually this is exemplified by a contrast between the advanced technology and decrepit living conditions.

Cyberpunk: William Gibson (Neuromancer), Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash, The Diamond Age), Richard Morgan (Altered Carbon) & Ian McDonald (River of Gods, Cyberabad Days)
[...]

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.

 

[OManoghue]

Steampunk I'd say, louder clunkier robots are awesome.

 

[Arctodus_Simus]

Steampunk, definitely, though personally I'm more fond of dieselpunk

Or better yet, a transitory mixture of the two (early 1900's ftw)

EDIT: Just realised I'm wearing my steampunk robot shirt from Woot

 

[Akalistos]

Lately I've been re-playing Bioshock and watching Star Trek on TV, and it got me thinking which is better, Steampunk or cyberpunk? So i figured i'd pose the question to you, my fellow escapists.

Personally i like Steampunk better because we are geting closer to cyberpunk every day and it's starting to seem...ordinary.

Steampunk is better. When you pick anything Cyberpunk, it's a cold computerized world. When you look at steampunkish contraptions, it's basic ingenuity and fun to look at.

 

[Godraz]

So.. Cyberpunk all the way.

The way i look at this setting is "fantasy vs. sci-fi" since steampunk isnt exactly comparable with cyberpunk. SteamPunk is "Once upon a time there was steam" and the other is "what if things get really F:ed up". Not complaining about those settings since that is kinda the point of a fantasy setting and people playing RPG:s in those settings in the first place.

I used to play games like D&D and cyberpunk 2020 (was suprised that it took as long as page 3 to get mentioned.) and always liked both settings. Being a "bit" of a geek the cyberpunk setting always worked better for me since i could build up those uber-cyborg-ninja-six-limbed-killing-machines.. well in the beginning before we actually started playing by the rules.

System Shock 1 and Deus Ex (not the second one) did an awesome job at fleshing out a cyberpunk world without resorting to the whole "look at me im CYBERPUNK!!!"..

Oh and is Shadowrun defined as "steampunk"? I tought that game was more like cyberpunk with magic or D&D + future or am i just ignorant?

 

[Oliver Pink]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...


Steampunk at its finest.

 

[ohellynot]

There's a difference?

Well yeah, cyber punk is futuristic where everything is powered by "energy cores" and whotnot and is all crome and shiny.
Steam punk is steam powered and made of brass and much better

 

[Spacelord]

Personaly i like Steampunk better because we are geting closer to cyberpunk every day and it's starting to seem...ordinary.

Shit, that's a good point. I think you just explained my entire preference for steampunk.

It's been dawning on me more and more that the future I dreamed of as a kid is here now. Not just the fact that the Terabyte is a standard measure of capacity for a harddrive nowadays mind you (though this was a ludicrous amount when I was younger - like a jillion bajillion megabytes). Not even the cloning. No, we have jetpacks now. DARPA is developing exoskeletons and railguns, and they're already using big frickin laser beams and robots to fight our wars RIGHT NOW. We can conceivably control robot limbs with our minds already, for fuck's sake.

I feel more and more overwhelmed by childhood pipe dreams coming to life every single day. No wonder I keep feeling more and more attracted to simpler times, where the inner workings of a device doesn't have to blow my fucking mind. Gears, I can understand. But processors so small they get affected by quantum physics? My brain needs a vacation

[small]incidentally everything I wrote in bold I can link to if anyone is interested - can't be bothered right now[/small]

EDIT: OT: I voted steampunk (obviously)

 

[Sacman]

I like both, Ghost in the Shell is a perfect example of cyber punk and Bioshock for steam punk.
I can't decide!

Bioshock isn't really steampunk though, it's more art deco.

Personally I prefer cyberpunk.

but the inclusion of the plasmids make it a little Biopunk as well...

 

[cj_iwakura]

Biopunk is a thing?

 

[Sacman]

There's a difference?

Well yeah, cyber punk is futuristic where everything is powered by "energy cores" and whotnot and is all crome and shiny.
Steam punk is steam powered and made of brass and much better

Does no one know what Cyberpunk is anymore? 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 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. does this make it cyberpunk? no, because it lacks the technology element but my point is with a little revision it could easily be cyberpunk...