The fact is, as DK creator Shigeru Miyamoto explained in an interview with Nintendo Online Magazine, 'donkey' came from looking up manuke (Japanese for 'stupid') in an English dictionary. One popular urban legend, thoroughly covered on, is that the game was supposed to be called 'Monkey Kong,' but because of a translation error or miscommunication, 'Monkey' became 'Donkey' in America. The story behind the 'Donkey' in Donkey Kong is an interesting one, mainly because of all the rumors surrounding it. created and began manufacturing an audio-video game called Donkey Kong and first published the game in Japan on July 9, 1981.' It should be noted that this date is also listed as Donkey Kong's 'date of publication' in the game's U.S. judgment states, 'Prior to July of 1981, Nintendo Co., Ltd. Ironically, for the exact Japanese release date, we have to turn to the United States District Court. Brawl website narrows it down to July 1981. Unfortunately, they give the Donkey Kong arcade game a vague release date of 1981. Unlike most game companies, Nintendo's Japanese website contains exact release dates for many of the older games they have published, sometimes going as far back as the Family Computer (the Japanese version of the NES).

James knew the exact day in August, but apparently that information was something no one at NOA decided to document.

market in July 1981, longtime NOA employee Don James provided a date of August 1981 for 1UP.com's Year of the Monkey feature. Nintendo of America doesn't seem to know exactly when the first Donkey Kong arcade machine was installed in The Spot Tavern near Seattle, Washington.

In honor of DK's 30th anniversary, we'll try to clear up some of the confusion. However, like many gamers, you may be wondering, 'When was Donkey Kong released, exactly?' Or, 'Where does Donkey Kong's name come from?' Or, 'Who else worked on the game?'ĭespite being arguably Nintendo's most pivotal game release, some of Donkey Kong's early history is clouded in conflicting information, forgotten facts, and urban legends. If you're a Nintendo fan, or a fan of video games in general, you most likely know the story of how Shigeru Miyamoto created the hit arcade game Donkey Kong.

Download 1981 donkey kong