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Donkey Kong was created when Shigeru Miyamoto was assigned by Nintendo to convert Radar Scope, a game that had been released to test audiences with poor results, into a game that would appeal more to Americans. The result was a major breakthrough for Nintendo and for the videogame industry. Sales of the machine were brisk, with the game becoming one of the best-selling arcade machines of the early 1980s. The gameplay itself was a large improvement over other games of its time, and with the growing base of arcades to sell to, it was able to gain huge distribution. In 1981 Falcon created a legitimate clone of Donkey Kong known as Crazy Kong for distribution in non-US markets.
In Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd., MCA Universal sued Nintendo over copyright violations, claiming that Donkey Kong was a copy of King Kong. Nintendo's lawyer, Howard Lincoln, who would go on to become a Senior Vice President of the company, discovered that Universal didn't own the copyright to King Kong either, and was able to not only win the lawsuit (as well as several court appeals), but get Universal to pay the legal costs. Ironically, it was MCA Universal that previously won a lawsuit declaring King Kong was in the public domain. The case was an enormous victory for Nintendo, which was still a newcomer to the U.S. market. The case established Nintendo as a major player in the industry and arguably gave the company the confidence that it could compete with the giants of American media. The case was selected as #20 on GameSpy's list of the 25 Dumbest Moments in Gaming.
Because of the huge success of Donkey Kong, Nintendo of America was able to grow and release many more games in succeeding years, and had the resources necessary to release the Nintendo Entertainment System in the United States. The series has inspired the phrase "It's on like Donkey Kong", which has been used in various film, TV and other pop culture throughout the years. Nintendo officially trademarked the phrase on November 10, 2010, to coincide with the release of Donkey Kong Country Returns.
The success of the Donkey Kong series has resulted in Guinness World Records awarding the series with 7 world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. The records include: "First Use of Visual Storytelling in a Video Game" for the rudimentary cut scenes featured in the original Donkey Kong arcade game, "Most Collectible Items in a Platform Game" for Donkey Kong 64, and "Most Successful Video Game Documentary" for the 2007 film, "The King Of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters".
 Sequels and remakes
Donkey Kong spawned two sequels, neither of which were as popular as the original arcade hit. In Donkey Kong Junior Donkey Kong was kidnapped by Mario and players had to control his son Donkey Kong Jr. to rescue him. In Donkey Kong 3 Donkey Kong broke into a greenhouse and got chased out by Stanley the Bugman, who carried a spray can to protect his greenhouse from Donkey Kong's insects.
A music-based game titled Donkey Kong no Ongaku Asobi was originally planned to be released, but was eventually cancelled. Another title called Return of Donkey Kong was planned as a sequel, but was cancelled as well. This title had little information available, but it was confirmed that players would be able to control Donkey Kong as well as Mario.
Throughout the 1980s, eight Donkey Kong games were released for the Game & Watch platform, and in 1994 an LCD-based game was released for the Nelsonic Game Watch line. Coleco licensed Nintendo's Donkey Kong as the official pack-in cartridge for all ColecoVision consoles, and this version of the game was well received as a near-perfect arcade port, helping to boost the console's popularity. By Christmas of 1982, Coleco had sold more than 500,000 units, in part on the strength of its bundled game.
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Donkey Kong, 1981
In 1994, Nintendo produced a sequel for the Game Boy, simply called Donkey Kong. Some of its levels were based upon the Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Junior arcade games, and the enemies from the two games also returned. Donkey Kong's, Donkey Kong Junior's and Pauline's character designs were updated for this game. This was the first game to feature Donkey Kong wearing the monogrammed necktie, which has become a trademark.
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Related Links and sources
wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_Kong
gamespy.com/dumbestmoments
donkeykong.gamebub.com
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Donkey Kong and Super Mario are registered trademarks of Nintendo, registered in Japan, the U.S.A. and other countries. This website is in no way endorsed by Nintendo. All trademarks mentioned on these pages belong to their respective owners (if they still exist). donkeykongmuseum.com is not responsible for links outsite this website.
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