Move over Donkey Kong – here comes Kodak the monkey!
A capuchin monkey rescued from captivity could emulate legendary Nintendo star Donkey Kong when he becomes immortalised in his own videogame, to be released on Facebook later this month.
Kodak’s Jungle Rumble has been designed to help raise awareness of the plight of primates such as the titular star, who was captured in the wild from French Guyana in 2003.
Kodak was sold to the pet trade in Greece but was later handed over to a rescue organisation and is now one of the happy residents – and star attractions – at the Monkey Sanctuary in Looe, Cornwall.
Kodak’s Jungle Rumble has been produced by four students from the University of Plymouth as part of a second-year Digital Art and Technology project, and saw them work closely with charity Wild Futures, who run the sanctuary.
Project lead Gavin Jones said: “We learned a great deal from our time spent at the sanctuary and from the outset it was clear that we needed to get across some powerful messages around conservation.
“At the same time, we wanted to create a game that was fun and playable. So we’ve come up with a classic platform game – like Donkey Kong – but using Kodak’s story at its heart.”
The team, which also includes programmers Rebecca Veater and Christian Cook and illustrator Paul Bird, spent time at the sanctuary and recorded the sound effects with the help of Kodak and some of his buddies.
Wild Futures’ patron and world-renowned conservationist, Ian Redmond OBE, offered his support to the project, saying:
“Kodak’s computer game is a brilliant way to engage young minds who are often more in tune with virtual worlds than the real one – individuals and schools should take advantage of such a powerful educational tool”
The game can be downloaded through Facebook, which is now a rapidly growing platform for videogame developers, and also through the Wild Futures website.
And gamers are set to be offered a sneak preview when demo pods are set up in Plymouth’s Drake Circus Shopping Centre on Saturday 24 July and at the Monkey Sanctuary on Sunday 25 July.
Hugo Derijke, Senior Lecturer in Digital Arts, said: “This project has provided some invaluable experiential learning for our students. They have had to take a brief from a customer and set about creating something that is both fun but also educational.
“Hopefully this experience will enable them to go on to secure placements and employment.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Please find attached a picture of Kodak. For screenshots or more information, please telephone Andrew Merrington in the University of Plymouth Press Office on 01752 588003, or Liz Tyson, Head of Communications for Wild Futures on 01503 262 532.
The game will be available to play at Drake Circus Shopping Centre, Plymouth, on Saturday 24 July, from 9.15am to 6.30pm. Prizes for the highest score will be available.
It will also be available at the Sanctuary on Sunday 25 July.
A demo of the game can be viewed at http://apps.facebook.com/kodaksjunglerumble/
About the University of Plymouth
Consistently ranked one of the top modern universities in the UK, Plymouth has a strong record of excellence, enterprise and innovation across its teaching and research activities and is distinguished by its long-term engagement with employers.
With around 30,000 students, including those studying at its partner FE colleges throughout the South West, the university is one of largest in the UK. With four government-funded Centres for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, the maximum awarded to any single institution, the university enjoys a high rate of graduate employment and has recently invested more than £110 million in state-of-the-art facilities to enhance the student experience.
Plymouth is ranked in the top 50 research universities in the UK*. The results of the Research Assessment Exercise 2008 showed the majority of areas submitted by the university included world-leading research, achieving the highest rating possible, scoring 4 stars. Overall, 80% of the research was judged as being of international repute.
As the enterprise university, the University of Plymouth delivers outstanding economic, social and cultural return for business, the professions, the public sector and its wider community.
For further information go to www.plymouth.ac.uk
*Research Fortnight league table
About Wild Futures
Wild Futures is a UK registered charity founded upon almost five decades of experience as a leader in the field of primate welfare and conservation, environmental education, and sustainable practice.
Wild Futures is committed to protecting primates and habitats worldwide.
About Kodak
Kodak was captured from the wild in French Guyana as a tiny baby, with a number of other baby capuchins. We do not know what happened to these other individuals, but Kodak was sold into the pet trade in Greece where he lived the first few years of his life, sadly with no other monkey company. Luckily his ‘owner’ realised that Kodak, like all monkeys, needed the company of monkeys of his own kind. He arranged for him start the next phase of his life with other capuchins, with the help of a rescue organisation in Holland.
As Kodak was living in Greece he had to spend 6 months in quarantine before arriving at The Monkey Sanctuary in June 2008. Although there has been some sadness and disruption in Kodak’s early life, here at the Sanctuary we are happy to be able to offer him a stable home with other Black-capped Capuchin Monkeys.
Kodak now lives in a social group of black-capped capuchins, spending most of his time with best friend, Joey. In recent weeks, three new arrivals have been introduced to the pair, and Kodak is taking on a mentoring and leadership role within his little troop.