‘Windies Direct’ is a Nintendo-style showcase for Caribbean game makers

polygon.com:

Glen Henry’s been making games in Jamaica for 10 years, but he stills gets one question again and again: Wait, there’s a Jamaican games industry? He’s faced the question so many times that he’s got the answer down pat. There’s no “formal” industry, he said, but there is a community of people making games independently — both as full-time or part-time projects, or as hobbies. Henry, founder of Spritewrench Studios, has worked for years to bring this community together as the Jamaica Game Developer Society (JGDS), “a coalition of projects and people in support of Jamaica’s video game communities,” according to the group.

“It’s a grassroots group of friends, nerds, who want to learn more about the business and craft of video games,” Henry said in an interview with Polygon. Starting as a handful of friends, the internet-connected and in-person community has grown to more than 300 members from Jamaica, Trinidad, Cayman Islands, and beyond. To showcase this group of talented, creative developers, Henry and JGDS dreamed up what they’re calling “Windies Direct” — a play on Nintendo’s indie-focused Directs, but for the West Indies.

“I want people to be impressed,” Henry said. “I want them to be shocked. I want them to be inspired. That’s what the Windies Direct is, feeding back into that community effort. This is what other people are doing. Now what are you going to do?”

The first annual Windies Direct debuted Monday at 11 a.m. EDT and showcased a number of games from the Caribbean and its diaspora. The group has been collecting submissions for months, spotlighting the diverse creations from a breadth of developers.

Graham Reid, who’s making arcade space shooter Super Space Club, pointed to the wider impact an initiative like