Steampunk

[Chipperz]

Speaking of steampunk, Has anyone played Damnation? Is it any good.

I'm not a huge fan of steam punk, but I want this sooo much.
[spoiler/][img/]http://www.etoday.ru/2007/06/18/steampunk2.jpg[/img][/spoiler]

No. I'm gonna write a review of it for this lovely site, but 4 levels, bland characters and magical "Indian powers" are currently turning me off. Almost as much as it being a Third Person Shooter that requires you to have a button held down while you want your gun drawn.

 

[Alex_P]

Anyone ever seen Steamboy? I think that pretty much defines steampunk.

I remember that one. Absolutely abysmal pacing. A full 30 minutes of the film consists of the Steam-Death-Star slowly exploding while the characters do random incoherent crap inside. Otomo should've just taken the random little scenes in the credits and turned those into the plot of the movie.

-- Alex

 

[seamusotorain]

When did the "punk" get attached? Do they sing "Holiday in the Sun" and beat up ethnic minorities?

 

[comet5002]

I think it's really cool, and an interesting concept, but other than that it doesn't really do anything else for me.

 

[traceur_]

Yes steam punk is pretty awesome.

Spoiler

That steampunk guitar is pretty sweet. It's so aesthetically awesome.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

I like cyberpunk, steampunk gets a disctinct 'meh' from me though.

 

[D_987]

Lost Odyssey, my favourite game, has at least one steampunk-styled city (I think, I'm not to familiar with the term - I'll post a video of the cutscene that shows the city and you can tell me) but other than that I've not run into the style at all.

Spoiler: Video

 

[Cowabungaa]

It's all about finding the most ridiculous way to recreate high tech results with low tech (seeming) parts.

Indeed, that's what I love about it. Plus, where else can you controll a massive, steam belching robot wearing an eveningdress, a top hat, and a monocle? No one around me knows what steampunk is though, such a shame.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

Attention Customers:
GO STEAMPUNK!

That is all...

Perfectly said.

I'm so old that I'm kinda stuck in cyberpunk mode.

Cyberpunk is fun and all but it lacks the strong style the steampunk has.

Disagree. Cyberpunk has always had a strong style, from books to games, but it's always pretty much been grittier. A gaming example is Snatcher, a movie example would be Blade Runner, an Anime example would be Ghost In The Shell, and I guess an example of cyberpunk-lite would be Perfect Dark. All tend to have solid story-lines also.

Yes steam punk is pretty awesome.

Spoiler

That steampunk guitar is pretty sweet. It's so aesthetically awesome.

I was waiting for someone to post that image, I love it.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Disagree. Cyberpunk has always had a strong style, from books to games, but it's always pretty much been grittier. A gaming example is Snatcher, a movie example would be Blade Runner, an Anime example would be Ghost In The Shell, and I guess an example of cyberpunk-lite would be Perfect Dark. All tend to have solid story-lines also.

True, but it's also so down, depressing, almost post-apocalyptic (I don't think gritty equals depressing). Steampunk however, is set in the Victorian age, where everything is new and science is entering a new era. Optimism, exploration and experimentation is abundant, it's all new and fantastic.

 

[Alex_P]

When did the "punk" get attached? Do they sing "Holiday in the Sun" and beat up ethnic minorities?

"Steampunk" was originally kinda of a joke term for works that referenced Verne and Wells and the like. The "punk" in cyberpunk is really about social decay -- in cyberpunk, rapid technological change and an information revolution create upheaval and uncertainty but utterly fail to mitigate exploitative economic relationships and class inequality. Many of the iconic stories in the genre specifically focus on a lower-class technophile counter-culture that's somewhat inspired by real-world punk subculture.

Most steampunk stuff I've heard of isn't "punk" in that sense at all. Works like The Difference Engine do try to address social issues, but increasingly "steampunk" has turned into a term for action-adventure with monocles and gadgets rather than cyberpunk-in-a-Victorian-age. To a lesser extent, this has happened to cyberpunk as well.

I'd argue that these days, with the proliferation of "steampunk" and "runepunk" and "magepunk" and "dieselpunk" and "bronzepunk" and whatnot (especially in gaming), "-punk" has turned into a prefix that actually means "copies the aesthetics of _____, dialed up to 11, but is really just a standard modern action-thriller thematically".

-- Alex

 

[Pickel Surprise]

I like steampunk, but mostly the technology rather than the culture. I've always preferred the early 1900s to the late 1800s. I know that that's a bit of a stretch, but I feel like steampunk should be more defined by the technology present than the time period in which it takes place.

Clockpunk is cool too, especially since a lot of it overlaps with steampunk.

 

[curlycrouton]

Books, Movies, Games, anything steampunk seems to automatically be awesome. I am tired of people giving me funny looks every time I mention it. My question is, how many in the escapist community are steampunkists?

I'm not a steampunk, but I confess that the subculture does deeply fascinate me.

 

[M-JN]

I've spent the past few months organizing a steampunk ball for my nonprofit. This required fundraisers, a whole crapton of scrap metal, and explaining to pretty much everyone involved what steampunk is.

It appears to have worked, though, since I got a call from the newspaper asking for an interview. They're going to run an article on steampunk and its surrounding culture the day after the ball, with photos of all our costumes and all the junk we made. I am spreading the word. Steam will be the new Vampires, soon, you watch.

 

[The Shade]

The first few Myst games could be said to be Steampunk. Or at least have some of the elements.

 

[seamusotorain]

Spoiler: A serious answer to a not-so-serious question

"Steampunk" was originally kinda of a joke term for works that references Verne and Wells and the like. The "punk" in cyberpunk is really about social decay -- in cyberpunk, rapid technological change and an information revolution create upheaval and uncertainty but utterly fail to mitigate exploitative economic relationships and class inequality. Many of the iconic stories in the genre specifically focus on a lower-class technophile counter-culture that's somewhat inspired by real-world punk subculture.

Most steampunk stuff I've heard of isn't "punk" in that sense at all. Works like The Difference Engine do try to address social issues, but increasingly "steampunk" has turned into a term for action-adventure with monocles and gadgets rather than cyberpunk-in-a-Victorian-age. To a lesser extent, this has happened to cyberpunk as well.

I'd argue that these days, with the proliferation of "steampunk" and "runepunk" and "magepunk" and "dieselpunk" and "bronzepunk" and whatnot (especially in gaming), "-punk" has turned into a prefix that actually means "copies the aesthetics of _____, dialed up to 11, but is really just a standard modern action-thriller thematically".
-- Alex

Why thank you, kind sir.

 

[Fallingwater]

I'm primarily a science fiction guy, but I do like steampunk ambiences very much too, though they usually tend to not make terribly much sense. We do have too few steampunk games. The only ones I can think of off the top of my head are Bioshock, Arcanum, possibly Stratosphere and the forgettable game with the Fallout engine whose name I couldn't remember to save my life right now. Oh, and one or two JRPGs that I won't even consider, since I share Yahtzee's opinion that all JRPGs are worthless garbage.

 

[NoodleWoman]

I've spent the past few months organizing a steampunk ball for my nonprofit. This required fundraisers, a whole crapton of scrap metal, and explaining to pretty much everyone involved what steampunk is.

It appears to have worked, though, since I got a call from the newspaper asking for an interview. They're going to run an article on steampunk and its surrounding culture the day after the ball, with photos of all our costumes and all the junk we made. I am spreading the word. Steam will be the new Vampires, soon, you watch.

Will you marry me?

 

[M-JN]

I've spent the past few months organizing a steampunk ball for my nonprofit. This required fundraisers, a whole crapton of scrap metal, and explaining to pretty much everyone involved what steampunk is.

It appears to have worked, though, since I got a call from the newspaper asking for an interview. They're going to run an article on steampunk and its surrounding culture the day after the ball, with photos of all our costumes and all the junk we made. I am spreading the word. Steam will be the new Vampires, soon, you watch.

Will you marry me?

Yes. You bring some ridiculously large cogs and I'll bring wormwood lollipops for party favors. I wonder if we'll get any hydraulic toasters as gifts.

 

[Captainguy42]

I've got a Query: How many kinds of Steampunk are there? And is it me or does the term Steampunk seem to be a overstretched one?