Jamaica is a country famous for its reggae music, Bob Marley, Usain Bolt and coffee. But other than that, little is known. Although it is an island country located in Central America, it is often misunderstood that it is Africa. Although some cultural features are distinct, little is known about the country itself. This is not just a story limited to Korea.
To this end, Jamaican artists strive to convey their country in various ways. The famous dancehall culture has attracted thousands of artists to Jamaica, many of whom tell their own stories in their own way.
‘Street Boy’, introduced by Game Mecca some time ago, is also a game made by two brothers who want to tell more stories about Jamaica and convey a message. They said they started creating Street Boys to improve the reality of Jamaica and for a better future for children. How did the blue sea and clear tropical scenery create an impressive street look? Game Mecca met Akim Penny Cook, CEO of Willow Tree Studios, the developer, and shared various stories about the games with Jamaica.
The story of Arlinton, a normal boy from Jamaica.
Street Boy, pursuing a third-person open world adventure, revolves around a 14-year-old boy, Arlinton, who loses his parents in an accident. Set in a small fictional community in Portland, Jamaica, the main content is to raise money by doing various odd jobs to pay the next semester’s taxes. However, it does not focus on the story of a single boy, but rather describes the Jamaican culture, landscape, local community and reality.
The story of the game centers on the reality of the Jamaican children represented by Arlinton. A world where honesty is sometimes a danger in conditions of poor security. These are the children who work hard in their own way to continue their studies and live in between. In fact, if you look at Arlinton’s life and daily life in the game, he builds and decorates a cart that can pick up antiques and junk, runs around town, chats with his friends, and sometimes meets a gang leader who uses these children. to do bad things.
This is fiction, but it is fiction that reflects reality. In fact, the developer has put Jamaica’s culture and daily life as it is in all elements that appear in the game. The environment was built using the developer’s experiences, memories and memories as a reference and designs such as industrial products that actually exist in Jamaica were reflected to bring out a sense of reality. This is the developer’s strategy to deliver the Jamaica look and feel at the same time. Drinks, sweets, cans and fruits that are familiar to Jamaicans are common elements in our daily life, so it’s even more exciting.
We have not set up a device that only gives realism to the elements of the game. “Jamaica Patwa”, a unique English Creole language used in Jamaica, was introduced to bring the local atmosphere to the voice. Akim said: “If I can afford the development costs, I would like to support various languages, such as Korean, Portuguese, Japanese and Indonesian, as well as English.
Since the creation of Jamaica’s first cultural game
Street Boy is a world created by two Jamaican brothers, Akim Pennycook and Tyrek Pennycook. In Jamaica, which is close to a dry land for game development, it is struggling to release a game by communicating and conversing with developers from various countries.
The third world boy survival story may seem sterile at first glance, but the overall vibe of the game is brilliant. Arlinton, running on a cart and running with a water pistol, is just like a normal kid. This is the intention of the developer. This is because we wanted to emphasize the power of positivity and the importance of education through games so that children from the poorest classes in Jamaica, who grow up in a cycle of violence and become numb to it, can choose a different direction.
Akim has developed since 2017 by mobilizing all possible means, including work as a core job and development for Street Boy, and by hiring outsourced staff for a short time whenever necessary. Currently, about 70% of the demo version for the game introduction has been completed. However, he said he was in the process of taking a break from initial investment financing due to the practical capital problem.
Akim’s dream is to open a real game studio. His goal is to open a full-fledged video game development studio, starting with Street Boy, and help young people unleash their creativity by creating meaningful games. And this goal is the driving force behind his development.
“Jamaica has had a huge impact on the world, particularly in music and sport,” Akim said. “With Street Boy, we hope we can do the same in the gaming industry. Our goal is to influence and help young people at risk through our technology and creations,” Akim said. Thank you for taking the time to listen to our story “, he concluded the interview.
Hopefully, the story that the two Jamaican brothers want to tell can be completed in good shape and reach many people and have a positive impact. Also, I hope that the brothers’ brave challenges will establish the game development industry in Jamaica and help more young Jamaicans dream of becoming game developers.
