Just how much did Miyamoto have to do with Donkey Kong's ...

[robometal cowboy]

Just how much did Miyamoto have to do with Donkey Kong's creation?
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As far as any of us know, Shigeru Miyamoto was one of the driving forces behind the creation of Donkey Kong. That's how Nintendo history goes and that's the information we've been fed for countless years. What if all that talk wasn't the full story?

Some interesting information has popped up concerning the development of Donkey Kong. It seems that Ikegami CO. was involved with the creation of the game in a big way. Ikegami went so far as to sue Nintendo for Donkey Kong Jr., as it used the source code that Ikegami CO. claimed to create back for Donkey Kong.

Believe it or not, Nintendo actually settled with Ikegami CO. over the issue. Since that happened, it seems that all information has been swept under the rug. Has Miyamoto been unwillingly entered into revisionist history?

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[HylianHeroLOZ]

It wouldnt surprise me to be honest

[The Stickman]

HE'S A FRAUUUUD!

[LegendofSantiago]

Is this confirmed information? If so how did miyamoto manage to design the original Mario bris?

[gtt]

I've always assumed that miyamoto doesn't know how to code anything and that part of the game was done by someone else. and I thought everyone knew that ikegami did all the programing for the game. they put in an advertisement in the source.

[Hadrian]

I always thought that Miyamoto just did the level/game design, characters etc and that code was someone else. None of this is news to me anyway.

[NorthbyNorthWest]

This is not new information.

Miyamoto designed the game. As in, he came up with the characters, decided what the gameplay would be like and so on. It was programmed by an outside company. All early Nintendo games were.

After the lawsuit Nintendo started programming everything in house. Miyamoto has never been involved in the programming side of things. He was hired as an artist/designer and that's what he's always been.

[Oregano]

Nintendo designed the game but did not program it AFAIK. It's basically similar to how Dragon Quest is made; Armor Project design the game but various studios(Heartbeat, Artepiazza, TOSE, Level 5) do the actual programming work.

[Fuego6]

Who gives a **** about the code. Miyamoto is an artist and designer. If this is just about the engine it's not really a big deal.

[kinnikumantaro]

Miyamoto should ALWAYS be inserted into gaming history.

10 years from now, kids should think that Miyamoto was behind Halo, GTA, Madden, the internet... all of it.

Cause MIYAMOTO IS AWESOME!!!!!

(that's all caps folks, that's saying something)

[disgruntledman]

Who gives a **** about the code. Miyamoto is an artist and designer. If this is just about the engine it's not really a big deal.

I give a **** about the code. The developer is just as important as the artist and deserves to be appreciated just as much. Without a solid developer your left with a broken mess, maybe a beautiful mess but a faulty one.

[opcode]

Miyamoto designed the game, Ikegami wrote the code. It is well documented.

[Devil_Rising]

He drew the conceptual art for the game, IE "designed" it. That's that. He's never been a programmer or anything else. He's an idea guy, and an artist. He puts his ideas down on paper in art form. That's how designing works.

[scikoolaid]

@NorthbyNorthWest This

[slothy]

Well after Donkey Kong, Miyamoto has proven himself 20 times over that he is gifted at concepts and design and perhaps one of the most valuable figures in gaming history. He could need help hooking up a Nintendo console for all I care, so this is pretty irrelevant.

[Mike_Intellivision]

I've always assumed that miyamoto doesn't know how to code anything and that part of the game was done by someone else. and I thought everyone knew that ikegami did all the programing for the game. they put in an advertisement in the source.

QFT.

Essentially I wonder if this was a NeoGAFer who just ran across info from a quarter century ago.

This was a battle over code not concept.

Mike from Morgantown

[browngamer4]

This changes everything!!! Oh wait..

[Jirachi]

Of course he didn't write the code he didn't even finish college(at least not at that time maybe he did later) coding things even back then took college level education. He is as other have said the idea guy.

[gtt]

Of course he didn't write the code he didn't even finish college(at least not at that time maybe he did later) coding things even back then took college level education. He is as other have said the idea guy.

pft, no it doesn't.

[gojiguy]

Miyamoto designed the game, Nintendo didn't have the resources to code the game, Ikegami did. Because of the terms of their agreement, Ikegami holds partial ownership of the original code for Donkey Kong and MANY other Nintendo arcade games.

simple as that.

It's also the reason that Nintendo has never, ever ONCE re-released Donkey Kong or ANY of their arcade games in their entirety (the DK64 version ends after 4 measly screens).

[Devil_Rising]

> Dumb person figures out that Miyamoto didn't program a game he designed (citing fricken Wikipedia as a source)
> RMC posts it as news

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