2015 Schedule
Interactive: March 13–17  •  Film: March 13–21  •  Music: March 17–22

Building Better Beat 'Em Ups

Sunday, March 15
12:30PM - 1:30PM

Long Center
AT&T Education Room
701 W Riverside Dr

Iap43781

While working on Treachery in Beatdown City, a new game in the beat 'em up game genre with a focus on diversity in play styles and culture, we at Nuchallenger needed to analyze and get to the roots of what makes the genre tick. Surprise: It’s very complicated. Beneath the exterior of multiple heroes punching, kicking, and throwing their enemies to beat some big bad boss in the end are complex and nuanced enemy interactions that vary from game to game. Beyond that, the genre has also been a paradigm shifter in games in terms of cultural interpretation, influence and racial/gender diversity. Using a mix of video, images and music from both games and greater pop culture this talk will examine a history of game design and cultural influences of the beat 'em up genre in order to create better games overall.

Hashtags

#sxsw #AllenGames

Presenters

Shawn Allen

Game Designer

nuchallenger

Shawn Alexander Allen is a game designer, artist and writer from New York City. Shawn is currently working on Treachery in Beatdown City, a retro styled tactical beat ‘em up that subverts game genr...

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Details

Access
Free and open to the public. ***Admission subject to venue capacity and age restrictions.
Type
Solo / Dual / Panel
Theme
Gaming
Level
Intermediate

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