Friday, October 4, 2013

Steampunk Video Games

We were introduced to four Steampunk video games in class:

  • Final Fantasy VI.
  • Bioshock.
  • Bioshock Infinite.
  • Dishonored.
Thank you to Aaron, Tyler, and Jacob for the preparation they did to share these games with us.

All you need to do for this post is the following:
  • Pick one of the four games we observed and make an argument for whether or not it really is Steampunk. Back up your argument with specific examples.
  • Comment on at least one other person's post and raise specific examples that either further substantiate their point or contradict their point.

21 comments:

  1. So i have played and beat all of the Bioshocks a couple times and the only one i think is Steam Punk, is Bioshock Infinite. I dont find Bioshock one in any way Steam Punk because its not steam and gears and tesla coils and stuff, its just a broken down city with electric robots and stuff. But Bioshock Infinite, is an alternate world and an alternate history. its a floating city running off steam and its made with gears and the weapons are very vintage and geared up and i just love that game a alot. The machines that are through out the game, are steam powered and they look steam punk man made.

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  2. so Bioshock infinite is super steam punk especially if you play through the rest of the game i mean there are robotic horses and giant robotic birds and there is interdenominational travel. so this is one of my favorite games ever made its amassing and just in the brief portion that we watched it was super steampunky there was zeppelins and a city in the sky and crazy religious people. everyone should play this game.

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  3. I agree. I don't think that Bioshock one is very steam-punk. I mean, yes, it has some almost steam-punk aspects, like the weird goggle guy at the beginning's arm, but really it's just a horror.

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  4. Bioshock infinite seemed to fit the steam punk genre very well from what I saw.
    Same era, alternate history, Fun gadgets, Brass color palette.
    AIR SHIPS!!!

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  5. I'm not the biggest gamer so my synopsis isn't going to be as good as everyone else but with Bioshock it's time period and everything in it represent Diesel Punk mixed in with Steam Punk.
    Dishonor raises the same issue but with this is mixed in with fantasy.

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    Replies
    1. But it wasnt hugely steam/diesel punk any thing

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    2. Just the fact that they use oil and diesel that's all I think is Diesel Punk, plus the for the some reason the bleached out coloring seems to add onto the dark colors.

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  6. Bioshock really isn't steampunk. Diesel punk maybe, but not steampunk. It takes place in the 1940'sish so it definitely does not take place during the Victorian Era. That main thing alone is what slashes out the possibility of Bioshock being steampunk.

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  7. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cOmYILbVVvg/Tg_2AhJtmhI/AAAAAAAAH7c/kD9U6mNzrwM/s1600/steampunk-monocle.jpg
    I think all the gears and the color make it look really steampunky

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  8. I'll jump into the Bioshock argument, and I'd say that both of them fit into deiselpunk really well.
    Especially the alternate history with the propaganda and the dirty world war feel.
    It was straight up diesel, and not steam at all.

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  9. I thought Dishonored was a really interesting and cool steampunk game.
    Their weapons were needlessly engineered and cool; it contained some anachronistic characteristics with their clothing and the weapons and the modern factories. It's dark but not exactly diesel.
    It was also super intense.

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  10. bioshock is a deiselpunk not steampunk and also i dont like it. dishonored is a great game. FF6 was fun. but my favorite steampunk game is Amnesia

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  11. I do kind of have to agree with Sydnie. I know at first glance bioshock seems steampunk, however when you actually play it, it is very diesel, it's dirty and engineering. A lot of your weapons are not steampunk. There's a lot of electric powered weapons. I think the only character that you could argue being somewhat steampunk would have to be Big Daddy.

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  12. i think the bio shock infinite is steam punk for the reasons of the time period and and gears and colors and The way everything is so surreal. But i remember something being said in class that Bio shock 1 is Atom punk?

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    1. Actually, Bioshock couldn't be atompunk because it isn't nuclear powered (thermal energy at parts but not nuclear) however due to plasmids you could argue that it's biopunk

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    2. According to wikipedia, you don't necessarily have to have nuclear power for a story to be considered atompunk: "Atompunk relates to the pre-digital period of 1945-1965, including mid-century Modernism, the Atomic Age and Space Age, Communism and concern about it exaggerated as paranoia in the USA along with Neo-Soviet styling, underground cinema, Googie architecture, the Sputnik programme, superhero fiction, the rise of the US military/industrial powers and the fall-out of Chernobyl. Its aesthetic tends toward Populuxe and Raygun Gothic, which describe a retro-futuristic vision of the world.[16]"

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atompunk

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    3. Tony Madrid - i think bio shock was more diesel punk based on what little of the inventions we saw.

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  13. Thinking about I agree that Bioshock is more of a dieselpunk game rather than a steampunk game, but Bioshock Infinite is definatly a steampunk game especially later in the game. I won't say any spoilers but the most steampunk like enemies in the game would be the Handymen and the founding fathers.

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  14. I think bio shock is more diesel punk then steam even though its not that super dirty kinda color it still has diesel punk inventions.

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