99: The Story of Donkey Kong (Part 1)

99: The Story of Donkey Kong (Part 1)

From An Old Timey Podcast by An Old Timey Podcast

April 15, 2026 · 1h 18m · Episode 99

About this episode

This episode discusses the troubled history of Nintendo in 1980 and the creation of Donkey Kong following the failure of Radar Scope.

Nintendo was in trouble. It was 1980, and they’d just poured a ton of money into an arcade game they’d hoped would be a hit. They called it Radar Scope. It was a massive flop. In a panic, the company rushed to create a new game that they hoped would make good use out of all their unsold Radar Scope arcade cabinets. That game – Donkey Kong – took the world by storm. Nintendo basked in the success of their new game. They had no idea that a massive lawsuit was headed their way. Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Norm pulled from: Audureau, William. The History of Mario . Pix’n Love, 2014. Internet Archive. “Universal v. Nintendo Court Documents.” 2026. https://archive.org/details/universal-v-nintendo-court-documents . Sheff, David. Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children . Random House, Inc., 1993. Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts! Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast . At the $5 level, you’ll…

People in this episode

Host: Norm

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Nintendo, Pix’n Love, Random House, Inc.

Products: Radar Scope, Donkey Kong

Books & works: The History of Mario, Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children

Places: Internet Archive

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