Steampunk, no contest. Much more potential for fantasy, whereas we could already be said to be living in a cyberpunk world, leading to more realism and less escapism.

edinflames:
Aesthetically Steampunk has a great deal of appeal, but many of the ideas predominant in decent Cyberpunk novels may yet happen. Beyond aesthetics, Steampunk is nothing more than idle fantasy.

I heartily recommend you all read William Gibson's Neuromancer. Basically every idea the Wachowski brothers had was ripped crudely from this novel (that, and from bastardising some of the concepts developed by the eminent French philosopher/critic Jean Baudrillard in his book Simulacra and Simulation), first published in 1984. The society portrayed in this book may yet come in to being and it is the most interesting speculative novel of the future I have ever read. In fact, Gibson is the author credited for single-handedly pioneering Cyberpunk and it is his ideas, set out in Neuromancer that set the tone for the sci-fi sub-genre.

:edit: Cyberpunk only has 2 votes? wtf...

To be fair, the Wachowskis also outright ripped off a lot of the ideas, concepts and plotlines of the original Ghost in the Shell manga and movie.

I still can't decide which genre I like better. Cyberpunk seems to have a lot better literature and film exploring what can be done within the genre, but Steampunk has a visual appeal and unique concept that seems like it has a lot of potential.

If only somebody could create the "Se7en" or Ghost in the Shell of Steampunk, then I feel I could make a fair comparison. Sure, Sky Captain was great fun (it felt like Raiders all over again, yet still somehow fresh and enjoyable), but it was also pretty light and fluffy fair. Yeah, Sky Gunner was a good game, but it was basically just Star Fox 64 with a fresh coat of paint. I loved Steamboy, but apparently it received a lot of hate for not being Akira 2.0, and it still wasn't very deep (strangely, the French dubbing for that movie matched both the lip synching and the characters' personalities the best. I still have no idea why).

This feels a bit like comparing a game genre that's been done to death, like 2D platformers, to a genre that's just being discovered, like First-Person Platformers or Shadow of the Colossus-style boss rush puzzle platformers.

Interestingly enough, one of the first pieces of fiction I ever actually finished (it was for my SF Lit class) was a cyberpunk story. I thought it had potential, but it's now in dire need of some serious editing and rewriting.

I like Steampunk more. 1 question, what does fallout count as?

I find this pole impossible to vote in, both sides are completely awesome.

Technically Skycaptain and Crimson Skies are Diesel Punk (a subgenre of Steampunk with a WW2/1930's focus, still follows the Future Tech with outdated means mandate though).

Steampunk is a personal obsession for me. I love it, nearly to death.

Here are some more Steampunk works of note...

Books
The Difference Engine by Willaim Gibson and Bruce Stirling
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve (has Post Apocalyptic Elements as well)
The Bas'Lag Series by China Meiville
Fitzpatrick's War by Theodore Judson
The Age of Unreason Quartet by Gregory Keyes

Comics
The League of Extraodrinary Gentlemen
Steampunk
Red Star

Armitage Shanks:

Larenxis:
I just finished a William Gibson book with his signature as a bookmark (he was in my favourite cafe and a 7-11, but I only said hi once) so I had to vote cyberpunk. Although, I was pretty disappointed in Neuromancer; I find his newer work more descriptive and poetic.

Wait, you met William Gibson? Now that is freaking awesome. I wish he hung out in cafes round my area, especially because I'm using his works as my influence for my 4 Unit English major work.

Oh and by newer works do you mean Spook Country?

He looks really old; probably as a result of cigarettes. And I'm referring to Pattern Recognition and Spook Country, yeah.

Steampunk. Click the spoiler tag to see why.

Liverandbacon:
Steampunk. Click the spoiler tag to see why.

Spoiler: Click to View

I was wondering how long it would be before that image popped up, it was the first thing I thought of when I read the first post. meh at least it's helped me make my decision.

I voted steampunk but I love cyberpunk too. And biopunk (biological machines) is pretty cool too, though underused.

Read any of William Gibson's novels, most of them are great, and it's all (mostly) cyberpunk, and he is widely credited as the creator of the genre.

Fun Fact: Steam requires water!

Nice thread, OP.

I will have to go with Cyberpunk as my favorite. There's wiki lists for both sets of media if anyone wants to look.

First thing that popped into my mind was the Sex Pistols.