Glaring omission
Bioshock.
That is all.
Big Blue wants to show off its ability to chew on Facebook pages and Twitter feeds to predict the next big mainstream fashion: steampunk. So now you know what your kids will want for presents this year: don't be surprised if they want to suddenly build dirigibles instead of rockets and ask for a steam-powered, gear-driven …
Yep, definitely The Chaos Engine from the Bitmap Brothers (of the age that bought you Sensible Software, Team 17, some of Codemaster's best efforts, Psygnosis ditto, Delphine, Bullfrog...)
William Gibson is also an influence on Steampunk, as is some Japanese anime such as Steamboy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamboy
Did...did you just hipster steampunk?
Steampunk was already hipstered. It was hipstered before it was cool.
Slightly more seriously, I think IBM's sentiment analysis needs its Markov models re-trained. Steampunk went "mainstream", at least in the US, years ago. It's shown up in mainstream TV shows (as an object of mild derision, like Renaissance Faires and the like), and as a quick browse of Regretsy's "This is not steampunk" category demonstrates, people are using the label to peddle all sorts of crap.
It'll probably be recycled into "retro" before 2020.
the day I'm ahead of the trend is the day the world blows up. I've been a fan of steampunk for god knows how long. Also dieselpunk.
Although I do look forward to finally being able to buy some steampunk items without going "Bugger off, I'm not paying £80 for THAT!" (in reference to a 'replica' lever which had no function whatsoever)
"buy some steampunk items without going "Bugger off, I'm not paying £80 for THAT!""
Great: I can buy some mass-produced plastic shite as owned by four thousand other people, instead of grossly undervaluing the efforts of someone developing, designing and making something by hand!
Damn all those hobbyists: They should totally work for the same amount as someone in a sweatshop. /sarcasm.
Is it just me, or has it been going around in a climactic battle spiral for the past couple of weeks and slowly not getting anywhere in particular? It's as if it's run out of steam, or perhaps the Foglios are stoking the boiler ready for something special...... ?
Agreed, but some people do get it aesthetically right and functional, like this telescope, which I think you might appreciate.
I'm afraid I'm going to have to come right out and say it - I thought The Difference Engine was a bit shit.
I know I should have loved it, and the techy bits were interesting, but the rest of it felt like there was a good story in there somewhere, it just couldn't find its way out. Instead it was buried by tedious characters and sub-par writing.
I feel bad admitting it as everyone tells me it was brilliant, but no, it was just... a bit shit. Can anyone recommend any steampunk books which actually do live up to the hype? Boneshaker is already on my 'to read' list.
Anti-Ice is not particularly hot compared to Difference Engine, really. The plot device of "frozen stuff that becomes antimatter when thawed" is a bit contrived. It sure helps to heat boilers though.
YMMV.
There's nothing punk about it (and nothing steam either, really*) . The so called Steampunks spend all their time cos-playing aristos and posh adventurers.
* Just one steampunk item of clothing that does something rather than having all those cogs randomly stuck on it, is that too much to ask? Maybe a clockwork fascinator?
Some of the most interesting and intelligent people I know are fellow steampunks. There is a world of difference between sticking cogs on something and what steampunk actually is.
For example, this:
http://www.crabfu.com/steamtoys/r2s2/
Until you manage to produce something equally awesome, I think that maybe you are not in a position to trivialise other people's hobbies.
I believe the saying is, "haters gonna hate."