Oakland non-profit Gameheads designs suits for Marvel videogame

OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — Kids out of Oakland got paid to design the suits for Marvel’s new videogame for PlayStation. They were given the chance to work on “Spiderman 2” through a non-profit that’s been helping underserved and underrepresented communities get into the tech sector through gaming.

“My first game? Probably something on the Atari 2600,” said Damon Packwood, creator and executive director of Gameheads. “I think the earliest game I can remember playing was Kombat probably at a friend’s house. I remember it being the most amazing thing I’d ever seen.”

Packwood grew up in San Francisco and in the early 2000s, realized the need to bring communities of color into the gaming industry. So, he founded Gameheads a decade ago.

The non-profit teaches hundreds of kids and young adults from underserved communities every year from here to as far as Hawaii, skills needed — like coding and design — to break into the business.

“You do that in such a way that’s fun,” Packwood said. “You tell a student, ‘Hey, we’re going to teach you the learning pyramid’. They are not going to be excited. But if you say we’re going to teach you how to make a video game or like an interactive film or a film with visual effects, they’re going to get excited and then you kind of sneak in the lessons.”

This year, Packwood is celebrating another major success.

Six of his students partnered with Insomniac and PlayStation to come up with stickers and the latest suit pack called “Fly n’ Fresh” for two characters in the new “Spiderman 2” game Peter Parker and Miles Morales.

The designs by Marisa Diaz were selected for the suits inspired by 90s fashion. It’s on sale in the game through April 5 for $4.99 with 100% of the purchase of those suits, up to $1 million, will be donated to Gameheads.

“We got to work! We worked with their team for about six to eight months or so coming up with concepts. We finally settled on an idea, which was a beautiful idea,” Packwood said. “The student that created it was an Afro-Latina student from Oakland who was inspired by her dad.”

Packwood said more than 35% of his current class is working in the industry right now and so many more have gone on to have a career in gaming.

They select students determined most in need of support and provide wrap around services like hardware and even mental health help as part of the program.

There are a few spots open, and applications are being accepted.

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