Polygamer - A Podcast of Equality & Diversity in Gaming & Video Games
  • About
  • Episodes
  • Guests
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

Polygamer #03: Shawn Allen of NuChallenger

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Ken Gagne
Shawn Alexander Allen

Shawn Allen of NuChallenger is developing Treachery in Beatdown City, a Bad Dudes-style beat-em-up with turn-based tactical elements and a diverse cast of characters. Do games that stray from the typical “grizzled white male” protagonist risk their commercial viability? What concerns did Allen have before deciding to feature black and female heroes? Ultimately, all games provide social commentary, and Allen’s is one that reflects his New York City.

In this interview, he discusses why he left Rockstar Games, what he learned from Treachery in Beatdown City’s two Kickstarter campaigns, why minorities are underrepresented in the indie development scene despite increased access to tools and crowdfunding, his experience attending GaymerX, and how GDC and PAX East 2015 being the same weekend is bad news for anyone attending even one of the shows.

This interview is available as video on YouTube and as audio in Apple Podcasts.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

  • Treachery in Beatdown City from NuChallenger
  • Shawn Alexander Allen on Twitter
  • Beat Down City on Twitter
  • Treachery in Beatdown City’s first Kickstarter
  • Treachery in Beatdown City’s second, successful Kickstarter
  • Shantae: Half-Genie Hero on Kickstarter
  • "From Poverty to PlayStation…One Game Dev’s Climb Toward Success"
  • Breach TD tower defense game out of Puerto Rico
  • Kotaku’s report on Shawn Alexander at GaymerX
  • Vimeo talk: How Urban Black and Latino Cultures Can Be the Next Frontier for Indie Games

Polygamer explores issues of equality and diversity in the gaming industry. New episodes air every other Wednesday on YouTube and in Apple Podcasts.

https://media.blubrry.com/polygamer/www.polygamer.net/wp-content/uploads/podcast/pg03-shawn_allen.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:18:04 — 41.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS | More

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

Posted in Podcast | Tags: Beatdown City, GDC, indie, indie game, Kickstarter, NuChallenger, PAX, Rockstar, Shawn Alexander Allen, Shawn Allen, Treachery in Beatdown City |
« Polygamer #02: Keisha Howard of the Sugar Gamers
Polygamer #04: Sheri Graner Ray on Gender-Inclusive Game Design »

Subscribe

Get our free email newsletter for updates on equality, diversity, podcasts, and more!
Send voicemailSend voicemail

Leave us a message, and we'll answer it on a future episode!

My Tweets

My Tweets

Recent Posts

  • Polygamer #128: Reflecting on Eight Years
  • Polygamer #127: Helene Utterback on polyamory
  • Polygamer #126: Aenne Schumann of Arcade Spirits
  • Polygamer #125: Game to Grow
  • Polygamer #124: Cyndi Wiley, Iowa State University’s Digital Accessibility Lead

Other podcasts

  • Character Reveal
  • Checkpoint
  • Ethics and Video Games
  • Feminist Frequency Radio
  • Spawn On Me
  • The Weekly Cooldown

Archived podcasts

  • +7 Intelligence
  • Diversi
  • Engage!
  • Fresh Out of Tokens
  • Gayme On
  • Girl on Guy
  • Less Than or Equal
  • Not Just a Game
  • Nuchallenger
  • Take This

CyberChimps WordPress Themes

Creative Commons License Polygamer by Gamebits is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Based on a work at https://www.polygamer.net/. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://www.polygamer.net/about/.