Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong, A spin-off of the cult game Donkey Kong, “Dinky Kong”, will take its rightful place alongside new computer software programs in a collection of trans-Tasman digital heritage.

Researchers from Flinders University in Adelaide are documenting Australia and New Zealand’s digital heritage – from amateur-made computer games of the 80s to a contemporary software program that forensically sanitises computers.

The Australasian Heritage Software Database (AHSD) is the first publicly-compiled record of trans-Tasman software history, documenting programs created for a range of sectors including the arts, business, banking and defence.

The database contains more than 120 contributions from both professional and hobbyist software writers so far.

They include Dinky Kong, an amateur spinoff of the cult 1980s videogame Donkey Kong and a software device developed in New Zealand in 1984 to label, price and dispense medication in pharmacies.

Super Mario Bros Inventor

Super Mario Bros Inventor, Donkey Kong (DK) is a fictional gorilla appearing in the Donkey Kong and Mario video game franchises. A simple minded character of great size and strength, he has appeared both as a protagonist and antagonist. Donkey Kong first appeared in Nintendo’s popular 1981 video game of the same name.

Since then he has appeared in over 20 games in his own series, as well as in some games in the Mario series. DK debuted at the same time as Mario, and he still spars with Mario on occasion, appearing as playable characters in the Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. series, and is the primary antagonist in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games.

In 1981, Nintendo was pursuing a license to make a game based on the Popeye comic strip. When this fell through, Nintendo decided that it would take the opportunity to create new characters that could then be marketed and used in later games. Miyamoto came up with many characters and plot concepts, but he eventually settled on a gorilla/carpenter/girlfriend love triangle that mirrored the rivalry between Bluto and Popeye for Olive Oyl.

Bluto was replaced by an ape, which Miyamoto said was “nothing too evil or repulsive”, and the pet of the main character. Miyamoto has also named “Beauty and the Beast” and the 1933 film King Kong as influences for the character.

Miyamoto believed “donkey” meant “stupid” in English, and assumed the name Donkey Kong would convey the sense “stupid ape” to an American audience. When he suggested this name to Nintendo of America, he was laughed at, but the name stuck.