Mexican talent knows no boundaries, and the work of Mexican developer Funky Can Creative is proof of this, having managed to gain a foothold in the Japanese market with the PopSlinger video game series, winning Japanese hearts.
Jose Luis Abreu, director of Funky Can Creative, told Mexican Press Agency (MxPA) about his experience developing video games and the success of the game, which has left a Mexican mark in the land of the rising sun.
A veteran of the industry, José Luis’s ambitions to become a video game developer led him to Japan, where he began developing what would become PopSlinger, a musical shooter.
It’s obvious, at first glance, that his stay in the Asian country influenced the young entrepreneur’s themes and interests, and he himself admits it when he tells us that PopSlinger is a game franchise “inspired by magical girl anime from the 90s.” It’s because of this sensitivity that, even today, Japan remains among the top nations worldwide to have purchased and downloaded its game.
Popslingers also managed to impress the famous Japanese magazine Famitsu, who interviewed him.
“It was a crazy thing for me; it was very gratifying and very cool. Imagine the press giving me that kind of coverage,” he told the Mexican Press Agency.
The first game was well received in 2022, in part due to its excellent soundtrack, created with the help of Skule Toyama, a Mexican producer who also participated in the music for the second game and which can be heard on Spotify.
Skule’s music is a blend of electronic and pop with an ’80s nostalgia bordering on funk that complements the world of PopSlinger.
In Mexico, Sailor Moon and Sakura Cardcaptor captured the imagination of thousands of children and teens who watched these shows on broadcast television, and that’s exactly the nostalgia PopSlinger seeks to evoke: a pink dream with an electronic beat lost in the digital transition before the internet devoured our world.
Latin American dubbing is always the best.
Mexican dubbing work has always been recognized and celebrated throughout Latin America. Part of the nostalgia of remembering the years when we sat in front of the television watching Saint Seiya was the iconic voices in your language.
For the second game in the series, PopSlinger Vol. 2 – Loveless, the Funky Can Creative team managed to dub their game into Spanish with the help of a Mexican studio called Primera Llamada.
“When we launched the dubbing project with the second (game)… the Mexican audience skyrocketed to second place (of sales),” shares José Luis.
And it’s no wonder: the process of voicing an entire game is expensive and difficult, but after playing PopSlinger Vol. 2 – Loveless, it’s clear that Primera Llamada’s dubbing work complements the experience in an irreplaceable way.
This move is worthy of praise; not only has Funky Can Creative been able to complete a second game, but they also managed to have it dubbed into Spanish. The video game market in Mexico is relatively small, and independent developers have limited resources, meaning that when choosing the languages into which Mexican video games will be translated, English is the most important, and there are often no resources left to do so in Spanish.
This success story is one of many Mexicans who are breaking paradigms in the technology industry around the world. However, it is essential to promote the consumption of products made in Mexico.
You can find PopSlinger Vol. 2 – Loveless on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and also on Steam.
Related: Mexico Plans to Boost the Creation of National Video Games
Mexican Press Agency is part of ALMA, which is dedicated to news and information about Mexico and Mexicans in the United States and is a fiscally sponsored project of Social Focus, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Redwood City, California.
