News Articles
Sunday26th Nov 2023
Poll Box Art Brawl - Donkey Kong
The OG
Welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Before we get cracking with this week's epic battle, let's take a look at how Contact went on with its own duel. It was incredibly close; possibly one of the closest brawls we've seen to date, but ultimately the design favoured by North America and Japan won the round with 51% of the vote...
Sunday29th Oct 2023
News Coleco's Failed Negotiations With Nintendo Apparently Resulted In The Birth Of The Famicom
"The rest is history"
Time Extension recently got the chance to speak to Coleco exec Bert Reiner about the history of the American toy and console maker. According to his account, there was a time when Nintendo almost ended up buying and marketing the 1982 video game system 'ColecoVision' for Japan but negotiations fell through. The former Coleco...
Tuesday11th Apr 2023
News Strong Museum Making The World's "Largest, Playable" Donkey Kong Cabinet
Nintendo of America is "providing input on the project"
The Strong National Museum of Play - best known for its "World Video Game Hall of Fame" - has announced it's creating the world's "largest playable" Donkey Arcade cabinet, standing "nearly 20-feet tall" and about "370% bigger" than the original. It will be part of The Strong's...
Sunday26th Feb 2023
News This Donkey Kong 'LEGO Ideas' Project Is Halfway To An Expert Review
If it reaches 10k LEGO will take a look
Mario Lego has become quite popular, but what other Nintendo IP could be adapted to the world of brick building? A Lego Ideas user known as 'By If You Build It' has submitted a Donkey Kong-themed set. Although the big ape kind of looks terrifying up close, the project itself has already got close to 5,000...
Wednesday1st Feb 2023
The DK drama continues
New evidence has been uncovered that suggests Billy Mitchell did indeed cheat to attain his record-breaking Donkey Kong scores — the ones which Twin Galaxies removed from its record boards because they were allegedly achieved via emulation rather than original arcade hardware, and for which Mitchell is suing the...
Friday20th Jan 2023
News Early Donkey Kong Design Document From Miyamoto Showcases 'Popeye' Origin
"I yam what I yam an' tha's all I yam"
If you've swotted up on your gaming history, then you'll perhaps already know that the original Donkey Kong from 1981 (lord almighty...) actually started life as a Popeye the Sailor Man project, featuring the main man himself alongside Olive Oyl and antagonist Bluto. As the tale goes, Nintendo had failed to...
Friday9th Sep 2022
Random Billy Mitchell Claims Doctor Won't See Him Due To Donkey Kong Cheating Accusations
According to court documents
By this point, if you've heard of Donkey Kong, then you've also probably heard of Billy Mitchell. The former 'King of Kong' held multiple world records in arcade games such as Pac-Man and the aforementioned, but many have since been called into question, with some accusing him of playing via Multiple Arcade Machine...
Monday20th Jun 2022
Random Retro Enthusiasts Accomplish World's First Donkey Kong 2P Kill Screen
"There's a kill screen comin' up!"
If you're familiar with the classic Donkey Kong arcade game, then you'll have undoubtedly heard of the kill screen. For those not in the know, the game essentially features a level known as the 'kill screen', whereby the in-game timer will be so low that's it's impossible to complete the stage as a result of a...
Wednesday7th Oct 2020
News Beyond Donkey Kong Digs Deep Into Nintendo's Often Overlooked Arcade Heritage
New book sheds light on a coin-op legacy
While Nintendo has long been a major force in the realms of domestic and portable video gaming, it's important to remember that the release that truly put the Japanese firm on the map was an arcade one: 1981's Donkey Kong. Shigeru Miyamoto's first masterpiece transformed Nintendo from a coin-op also-ran into...
Thursday24th Sep 2020
Random Well, Here's A Crazy New Theory About Mario's Origins
"Oh my gorshk!"
We all know that Mario began life as the protagonist of Donkey Kong, although he was referred to in the early days simply as "Jumpman" and it has been widely reported that he only gained his famous moniker when the resemblance between the character and the late Mario Segale – the landlord of Nintendo of America's Tukwila warehouse...
Tuesday30th Jun 2020
News King Of Kong's Stars Rack Up Personal Best Scores Within Days Of Each Other
"The basement dwellers can talk from their keyboards"
2007's King of Kong is one of the seminal video game documentaries. It charted the epic battle between legendary high-score holder and hot sauce-maker Billy Mitchell and the underdog Steve Wiebe. At the conclusion of the movie, Wiebe had made gaming history and the film has gone on to become a...
Thursday18th Jun 2020
News Billy Mitchell's Donkey Kong And Pac-Man Scores Are Reinstated By Guinness World Records
"I wanted to clear my name"
A few years ago, scorekeeping organisation Twin Galaxies stripped Billy Mitchell of his scores following accusations of cheating. It has now been revealed that those scores have been reinstated by Guinness World Records, which means Mitchell is once again officially recognised as the first person to register a 1 million...
Tuesday16th Jun 2020
News Robbie Lakeman Is Apparently The New Donkey Kong World Record Holder
A former King of Kong returns to top spot
Nintendo's arcade game Donkey Kong is nearly 40 years old and there's still a competitive scene for it. What's even more impressive, in fact, is that the top players continue to set new high scores. According to a recent tweet by the one and only Billy Mitchell, the former champ Robbie Lakeman has returned...
Monday1st Jun 2020
News After 10 Years Away, The Original "King Of Kong" Is Making A Comeback
"It seemed only fitting to get back into the swing of things"
Steve Wiebe became a star overnight thanks to the documentary film The King of Kong back in 2007, but for the past decade, he has been content to step aside and allow other players to take their shot at high-score glory. However, Wiebe – who is now recognised as the first person to...
Sunday15th Sep 2019
News Billy Mitchell Threatens To Take Legal Action Against High-Score Sanctioning Bodies
The King of Kong wants his crown back
The one and only Billy Mitchell – best known for claiming high-scores in arcade games like Donkey Kong and then being officially stripped of the records – is reportedly threatening to take legal action against the sanctioning bodies Twin Galaxies and Guinness World Records. Polygon reveals Mitchell's...
Saturday24th Nov 2018
News Billy Mitchell Live Streams 1,050,100 Point Donkey Kong Game
The Return of the King of Kong
After the apparent fall from grace, 'video game player of the century' Billy Mitchell has been live streaming arcade gameplay sessions of Donkey Kong on Twitch. His latest effort was different from the regular broadcasts. In Billy's own words: While that impressive high score is still not enough to claim the crown...
Thursday4th Oct 2018
News Disgraced King Of Kong Star Billy Mitchell Is Aiming To Reclaim His Donkey Kong Score
"Why? Cause I’m Billy Mitchell"
It's not been the best of times for Billy Mitchell, one of the most famous high score-chasers the gaming industry has ever known. Earlier this year, video game records organization Twin Galaxies stripped Mitchell of his high scores following
Thursday14th Jun 2018
News Arcade Archives: Donkey Kong Available Now On Switch eShop In North America And Japan
Sky Skipper drops in July
To start the third and final day of live Treehouse coverage, Nintendo announced HAMSTER would be expanding the Arcade Archives line on the Switch eShop, with the reveal of two additional titles. Both released in 1981, the first is the original Donkey Kong arcade game, and the second is the lesser known Sky Skipper...
Monday16th Apr 2018
News Billy Mitchell Breaks His Silence To Address Accusations Of Cheating
"Everything was done professionally, according to the rules"
It's fair to say that it's not been a great year for Billy Mitchell, the former "King of Kong". Earlier this year he was accused of cheating in order to claim his famous Donkey Kong high score, and last week Twin Galaxies responded and
Thursday12th Apr 2018
"We must repeat, the truth is the priority"
High score record-keeping site Twin Galaxies has removed all of Billy Mitchell's rankings from its database and banned him from competition following accusations of wrong-doing relating to the classic Nintendo title Donkey Kong. Earlier this year, Mitchell's scores were called into doubt by Donkey...
Thursday8th Feb 2018
News Billy Mitchell Reacts to Accusations of Fake Donkey Kong High Score
"I’ve never even played MAME"
Billy Mitchell is a famed name in the competitive gaming scene, both for the records that he set on arcade games and for the role that he played in the story behind The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Recently, Mitchell’s achievement with setting the Donkey Kong high score has been called into question, with...
Monday5th Feb 2018
News Billy Mitchell's Donkey Kong High Scores Come Under Doubt Amid Accusations Of Monkey Business
Meanwhile, Robbie Lakeman extends his world record score
Billy Mitchell is a video game icon who needs little introduction; he was one of the first players to gain mainstream recognition for his skill at arcade games, and more recently found fame in the documentary King of Kong, where he was positioned as the antagonist to Steve Wiebe's heroic...
Tuesday24th Oct 2017
Video A New Theory on How Pauline Got Her Name
And some notable similarities to Odyssey's style
With just days to go until Super Mario Odyssey hits the shelves, there’s a lot of excitement and buzz in the air. While most of the game will be kept under lock and key until 27 October, Nintendo has made a few things public. One of the bigger revelations made earlier this year, when Odyssey was...
Tuesday20th Jun 2017
News Even After 10 Years, Billy Mitchell Still Hasn't Seen King Of Kong
"On the souls of my children, I haven’t watched it"
It's hard to believe that The King of Kong is a decade old now. A seminal work in the history of video game movies, it presented a thrilling David and Goliath tale which focused on humble schoolteacher Steve Wiebe's dream of being the world high score holder for Nintendo's arcade smash Donkey...
Friday5th May 2017
And Halo: Combat Evolved, but this is Nintendo Life, so...
The World Video Game Hall of Fame has been up and running for three years now, which is organised and run by The Strong museum in Rochester, New York. Its third intake of games has now been confirmed, with two Nintendo-published titles making the cut among four inductees. There were 12...
Tuesday18th Apr 2017
News Donkey Kong, Pokémon Red and Green Nominated for the World Video Game Hall of Fame
Games that started history
Shigeru Miyamoto's arcade hit, Donkey Kong, has been nominated for the 2017 addition to the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Additionally, The Pokémon Company International released a statement on its website announcing that Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green, originally released in 1996 on the Nintendo Game Boy, have also...
Tuesday24th Nov 2015
News Donkey Kong Champ Billy Mitchell Loses Legal Battle Against Regular Show Parody
"GBF appears as a non-human creature, a giant floating head with no body"
Famed games player Billy Mitchell has lost his legal battle against his depiction in the Cartoon Network's The Regular Show. The character - known as GBF (Garrett Bobby Ferguson or Giant Bearded Face) - is a floating head with arms who is revealed to be an alien who cheats at...
Wednesday28th Oct 2015
Weirdness This 1983 Short Movie Combines Horror With Donkey Kong
Can you find the Treasure of the Haunted House?
Long-time readers of the site will be familiar with the work of Tyler Esposito - not only have we covered his excellent videos in the past, he's also contributed to Nintendo Life with an amusing look at one of the most bizarre NES games ever made. He also runs the excellent YouTube channel iretrogamer...
News Masayuki Uemura on How the NES Controller Came About
Thank God it didn't have a joystick
When you really get down to it, the NES controller is the granddaddy of all modern game controllers. Granted, they didn't have thumbsticks, triggers, or tilt controls back in the 80's, but it doesn't take a terribly observant eye to note the design principles that are still evident in today's controllers. This is...
Friday14th Aug 2015
Video Iron Maiden's New Music Video Pays Tribute To Donkey Kong, Of All Things
A heavy trip through gaming history
Legendary British heavy metal band Iron Maiden are preparing to release their first single in half a decade and have put together a video game-inspired music video to mark the occasion. Speed of Light's official video sees the band's iconic mascot Eddie getting sucked into an arcade machine which then forces him...
