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  • Essay / Analyzing Steampunk Elements in Various Video Games

    Since its emergence as a science fiction genre in the 1980s, steampunk has evolved into a subculture with developing fan communities everywhere in the world. Its distinctive features are based on Victorian fashion, recreating that fashion with modern tools and equipment, and solving modern problems with unrealistic steam-powered and bronze-clad machines. (Ferguson 66). Although the elements that created steampunk were primarily fashion-based, Rebecca Onion expanded on this idea by claiming most steampunk works based on aesthetics and a relationship of visuality between retro-Victorian style and contemporary technology ( Onion 138). This relationship between style and technology has helped create a unique bond for today's popular entertainment and has become intriguing to generations of the modern era. As the most popular means of entertainment, video games were the most suitable choice to meet public demands and steampunk games began to be released by game developers. Kids in the modern era showed interest almost immediately and steampunk-themed video games became one of the most loved genres among video game enthusiasts. Game developers started working on steampunk games as early as 1985. The game called The Eidolon was released in December 1985 by Lucasfilm Games. As a prototype, it did not provide the fully created steampunk world that players know today. But this paved the way for further development of the industry. The game began with the player's discovery of the Eidolon, a piece of Victorian-era machinery, in an abandoned laboratory. While the player was investigating, he accidentally teleported to another dimension due to a machine malfunction. The energy emitted by the Eidolon awakened the creature...... middle of paper ......C Reviews." Metacritic.com, 2014. Web. January 6, 2014. .Official Xbox Magazine. "Review : Bioshock. " Oxm.co.uk, 2007. Web. January 6, 2014. .Olafson, Peter. “The Angry Red Planet.” Computer Gaming World 1991: Print. Onion, Rebecca. “Reclaiming the Machine: An Introductory Look at Everyday Steampunk Practical." Neo-Victorian Studies, 1. 1 (2014): 138-163. Web.http://www.d.umn.edu/~csigler/PDF%20files/NVS%201-1%20R-Onion. pdf.Rpgnet. “Review of Space 1889.” .Williams, Gregg. “Atari Playfield »..