99: The Story of Donkey Kong (Part 1)

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 get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.