Cyberpunk vs Steampunk

Neither trip my trigger particularly hard, but I'm going steampunk by a pretty wide margin. I wonder if these two options would line up pretty directly with the fantasy vs. scifi crowds...

Fantasy gets a bit more support than steampunk but sci-fi still wins by a big margin.

I'm a fan of both, but I would choose cyberpunk.

While steampunk can be done right, I've watched enough Ghost in the Shell SAC and played enough Deus Ex to tell you that people with cyborg parts getting their cyberbrains hacked and whatnot is something I wholeheartedly am into. Steampunk is far more limited in scope.

@arbitrarywater: How does Ghost in the Shell SAC compare to the first movie? I've caught glimpses of the show here and there but never really paid much attention to it. I like the movie a whole lot though.

@pr1mus: To put it in context, I found Ghost in the Shell (the movie) to be enjoyable in spite of it being full of philosophical wankery about what makes something human and blah blah. Stand Alone Complex asks the question: "What if we dialed down all this self-indulgent nonsense and made a show about awesome cyber cops doing cyber cop things in future Japan?" and very much exploring the societal implications of what that world would be like. It's probably one of my favorite animes of the few I have seen, though I got bored halfway through the second series and then it was taken off netflix.

@arbitrarywater: Ah well that philosophical wankery is in large part why i liked the film. That combined with it's deliberately slow pacing and atmosphere very similar to Mamoru Oshii's previous work really resonate with me. But i'm not opposed to cyber cops doing cyber cop things in future japan! The film's style wouldn't keep interesting over the length of a couple dozen episodes. I'll check it out. I need something to complement that X-Files marathon i'm going through at the moment.

Cyberpunk kind of wins by default, simply by the virtue of having way way more material for us gamers to relate to.

Steampunk can potentially be amazing if done right but there just aren't any real good examples on can point to besides Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura

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Im more of a steampunk guy, but I also prefer Fantasy over sci-fi. I like the limitation's because of the lack of technology. but both are great so its whatever!

Which one is NOFX?

Cyberpunk for sure, so many more options that just make too much sense.

Steampunk. I find Cyberpunk too dark for my taste, Steampunk is much more upbeat. Also I have trouble seeing cyberpunk as anything more than 'grungy sci-fi'.

And you always give me shit whenever I mention that I love dystopian future stuff.

All dat cyberpunk.

Im a CM Punk kind of guy myself.

@shinboy630 said:

You're right, there's definitely a bunch of fiction with dystopian elements that is pretty damn good - like V for Vendetta, Ender's Game and Equilibrium. There's also a bunch of cyberpunk that features dystopian worlds that are awesome - Ghost in the Shell, The Matrix, Judge Dredd and a bunch of others.

But Dystopian fiction also contains some of the books I hate more than any other - perhaps because I just didn't enjoy reading them whatsoever (which is possibly the point of them) and they go highly acclaimed to boot. These would include Brave New World, Atlas Shrugged, A Clockwork Orange, The Time Machine, and more recently, The Hunger Games. Some of these have even become societal faux pas to not like, but screw that.

So when asked about Dystopian Fiction, considering that my greatest dislikes include some of the most seminal works in the genre, I will more often than not say I hate it.

Cyberpunk, on the other hand, is the opposite.

Fair enough, it just struck me as odd that you could really like one but not the other. I understand that they are different topics, but a lot of Cyberpunk is heavily tied to dystopian themes (with Blade Runner being perhaps the best example), so most people are either a fan of neither or a fan of both.

@shinboy630: I would love to one day sit down and compare reasons for liking, for example, The Matrix but hating A Clockwork Orange. I think it has to do with the values of the characters, or their actions... or something.

On that note, Blade Runner is actually the movie which elicited the most torn reactions from me that I have ever seen - I've only seen the director's cut though (not sure which one, haha - but it's one of them which features no inner voice). Half of me absolutely loved it, half of me absolutely hated it. In the end, I just can't watch it again.

So there you go, a side effect of my stance on Dystopian vs Cyberpunk. I wonder if I'm in the minority on the subject.

i find cyberpunk more entertaining to read... so, that.

Steam, just seems like a real cool setting to me

cyberpunk. its dark, its gritty, its got tons of cool possibilities.

steampunk is kinda cool, but i think the setting gets old quickly.

Cyberpunk. Only because Steampunk has been done to death.

cyberpunk things that are in the rpg of the same name are dumb enough to be awesome including chainsaw arms and a tattoo that is a changing kill counter

@pr1mus: OP, your name is beautiful and I approve

I probably would go with cyberpunk, except...

Both are pretty lame but as far as games go I'd rather see a game in the steampunk world, and there just isn't enough of those.

Steam but they are both awesome.