Topic: Gamerpunk

is Lightning Seed a gamerpunk novel? is Ready Player One a gamerpunk novel?
There are websites, blogs, images, all labelled as Gamerpunk.
Is Gamerpunk a legitimate genre? Or it just a name for people into gaming?
I've been talking about and trying to get my head around this ever since it was suggested that my second novel, 'Lightning Seed' is a gamerpunk novel - because it has the look and feel of a game as it's read. I'd be interested to know what other gamers think.

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I have never heard of it myself, but people are creating new genres as we speak, so it could very well be one.

Hmm, not entirely sure I hold with that as a term. Terms like cyberpunk and steampunk describe cultures centered mostly around a specific aesthetic or set of ideas. Gaming by it's very nature covers a vast array of genres, styles, settings etc, so I don't see how "Gamerpunk" could be a thing, at least not in terms of describing a person or group of people, it's just way too non-specific. Even if used to describe a certain type of setting and feel, rather than people, it doesn't work due to the non-specific nature of the term. With games covering all genres, you could then argue that 2 novels, the first set inside the world of a football game and the second in a sci-fi MMO world, were both "Gamerpunk", even though the styles and settings are totally different, just because they both relate to games.

I don't know man, I don't like it personally. Novels set in game worlds are fine, nothing wrong with that. But they still should fall under their own individual genres, effectively using the fact something is a game to identify it's genre just doesn't really make sense to me.

Steve, I agree about the aesthetic/set of ideas. But gaming - well most games, also have an aesthetic and sets of ideas: All games are basically a quest. There is progression through difficulties, acquisition of additional resources, abilities or assistance, increasingly difficult challenges and opponents to face, overcome or conquer. Lightning Seed follows a similar narrative structure.
The notion of gamerpunk referring to a particular type of person comes from doing a simple google search for the term and finding that people were referring to themselves, or what they were interested in or creating, as such. Usually, with the other *punk genres, the literary or artistic style was recognised first (perhaps not emerged in that format first, I don't know) Only after did the style expand out into or manifest in the real world as a cultural phenomenon.
Perhaps what we are seeing here is a paradigm shift in the emergence of a new genre; one where the order of emergence or evolution of a genre has taken a different path to fruition. The games followed by avid gamers self referencing themselves at the same time as authors like me reworking the classic literary 'quest' into something congruent with the trend of gaming.

Fair enough, I can certainly see your point. I guess it's true that there are generally static elements of games regardless of genre. Perhaps I was too harsh at first. Looking at it again today, I suppose it's not uncommon for genres to become "umbrella" genres, with lots of subgenres falling beneath those. After all, not all sci-fi features aliens, and not all fantasy features wizards/dragons etc.

While there is an argument for it as a genre, I'm still not entirely sure I agree with it as a term to describe a culture / group of people. Specifically because the "punk" element of the name in things like "cyberpunk" and "steampunk" is there because of the links with punk culture, in that they are counter-cultures with a strong leaning towards a certain style who use fashion and the way they dress to show off that affiliation. While there are consistent elements of gaming that could lend themselves well to a style of writing, there is no consistent visual style that could then become the hallmark of that culture, so that side of things just doesn't seem to fit the usual ".....-punk" usage to me. It seems that the people labelling themselves as gamerpunks, really, are just gamers or fans of gamerpunk fiction.

At the end of the day, I guess it doesn't really matter what I think. When it comes down to it, people can call themselves whatever they want! But yeah, that's kinda how it seems to me. Gamers already have a culture, gamers. And unless "gamerpunks" are going to do something to actually differentiate from that, then really they're just gamers who for some reason aren't comfortable with identifying as that.

Meh, either way, it's the literary element here that really actually interests me that bit more, as I'm sure it does you being an author. Mainly, I'm currently wondering (assuming we accept gamerpunk as a legitimate genre) how books such as "reamde" by Neal Stephenson are classified. Sections of it take place within a game world, but the majority of the book (that I've read so far anyway, I'm approx half way through) takes place in the real world.

I'm inclined to agree with you about the difference between a small group of individuals operating under the label 'gamerpunk' not being the same as a recognised sub-culture that can be found at conventions and comic-cons with a broader social media presence. It would be interesting though to keep an eye on the label; it may well gain traction over time, or it might just fizzle out. (edit: Damn, How could I forget E3 and all those game-cons. D'oh!)
Focussing on the literary genre angle, in my mind gamerpunk is recognised by its adherence to a gaming narrative and plot elements. Other books, like 'Ready Player One' 'readme' and even movies like 'war games' and 'Tron' are more referential or derivative. The same would go for movies from games, though they do have similar narratives but are still basically 'quests'
Steampunk, cyberpunk and its off-shoot nanopunk portray particular 'worlds' through which the normal story conventions are played out. I may be wrong but I feel gaming (a $100+ billion dollar industry) like rock and roll and introduction of mass culture, electric guitars and radio (and mass production of clothing, music etc) - has kick-started another revolution in providing a different way to interact with the conventional narratives in social culture. Moving us as passive consumers of books, comics and movies into becoming active participants in a story - provided with the console technology and means of communication, identification and participation with a mass of others.

If you write books or short stories I would buy it either digitally or paperback. My favourite books are Wool, 1984 and the running man.

My novels, 'Nanopunk' and 'Lightning Seed' are available digitally in all formats. Paperback versions are available through Amazon.

I've got Wool queued up to get started on after I finish Reamde, really looking forward to it as I've heard some great things about it!

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