GoKawiilIn July 1981, at the height of Pac-Man fever, Nintendo released its third stand up arcade game. This game, Donkey Kong, took over as the most popular arcade game in the world, but it had a lasting repercussions. It irreversibly changed the course of the home console market, and whether you know it or not, you are still feeling those effects today. Donkey Kong played a direct role in Nintendo toppling Atari.
Nintendo needed Donkey Kong to be a hit
Donkey Kong launched in Japan on July 9, 1981. Nintendo had been in business nearly 100 years as a maker of traditional games. They entered the electronic game market in the 1970s. The first game, Sheriff, came out in 1979 and their second, Radar Scope, came out in 1980. Radar Scope did well in Japan but not in the rest of the world, leaving Nintendo with a surplus supply of arcade cabinets.
Financially, Nintendo needed its third game to do better. At the very least, they needed something that would be a big enough hit to clear that supply of arcade cabinets. Shigeru Miyamoto drew inspiration from the American cartoon Popeye, the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast and the 1930s American movie King Kong when creating Donkey Kong.
Unable to license the rights to Popeye, Miyamoto put a deranged escaped pet gorilla in the role of the villain Bluto and a character simply named Jumpman in the role of Popeye. Jumpman retroactively became Mario after Donkey Kong became successful and Nintendo wanted to expand use of the character.
When asked about the character who became Mario, Miyamoto said he wanted a hero with a strong sense of justice who wasn’t handsome.
Donkey Kong’s immediate effect for Nintendo
To say Donkey Kong was a hit is a massive understatement. It became the highest grossing arcade game of 1981 and 1982.
Donkey Kong launched to the Mario franchise for Nintendo, and Donkey Kong also returned as a recurring character over the years, although the focus shifted after the two immediate sequels from Donkey Kong to Mario.
It put Nintendo on the map as a major producer of arcade titles. Not long after, Nintendo was able to license the rights to Popeye, which resulted in them making essentially the platform game they would have made in the first place. The Popeye arcade game was a hit in its own right, but paled in the shadow of Donkey Kong.
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