What is your relation to Donkey Kong?

I'm the one who created Donkey Kong for the arcade. That was my very first title, wasn't it? I was then directly involved with him all the way up until 1994's Donkey Kong for Game Boy.

Are there any secrets or stories you can share related to the birth of Donkey Kong?

Back then we were trying to make a game based on Popeye. So, that being the case, it was decided that we were going to have a big, hulking character (Brutus) and a small character (Popeye). Eventually, the plan changed, and it was decided we would proceed with making the game without using the Popeye concept... And with that, as our small hero we cast Mario, and as our hulking villain we created Donkey Kong. That's the way the arcade Donkey Kong was made.

Yeah, I designed Donkey Kong with the idea that I wanted to make him a dumb character. We then set it up so that, rather than being Mario's arch enemy, he would be a pet gorilla of Mario's who had escaped.

What was the reasoning behind Donkey Kong's name?

I had always been under the impression that Kong meant gorilla. So I wanted to name him "something-something" Kong. And so, because I wanted to make a dumb character, I went and looked that word up in an English dictionary. When I did that, I found that the word "donkey" had that meaning in addition to that of the animal. And so with that, I gave him the name Donkey Kong, but when we brought him to America, it was said over and over that "That's a weird name... Donkey doesn't mean dumb." But I was just like, "Well, whatever," and left the name that way. (laughs) Even after all that, Donkey Kong is still loved all over America, right? I think that when something is called "weird," there's a strong negative connotation to it, but on the other hand, by leaving it that way I think it definitely sticks in people's minds better.

Please tell us any memories related to titles in the series, or secrets and stories related to development.

In the game Donkey Kong Jr., we did a complete one-eighty from the first title and made Mario the villain. It's the story about Donkey Kong being taken by humans, and his son going to rescue him. In this game, we put in some demo screens that indicated Donkey Kong had been taken from some island in the South, and it seems that those images continue to have an influence on the world of Donkey Kong even now. Donkey Kong Jr. was an action game where you could enjoy climbing up and down vines. If you used two hands to climb up two vines, you could climb up faster, but by using only one hand and one vine you could go down faster! Only in a game that logical-Miyamoto would come up with! (laughs)

Changing gears here, there was a boxing game called Punch-Out!!. I was actually the one who did the graphics for that game. I secretly snuck Donkey Kong into the audience in that game. (laughs) I think I might have even done that in Super Punch-Out!! as well.1 By the way, I think that Punch-Out!! was the first game to use that flash effect that comes when the audience flashes their cameras.

Of the series that you have had a hand in, what is the one you most recommend?

Hmm, well, given that it doesn't seem to be widely known, I think I'll take the chance to plug the Game Boy version of Donkey Kong that was released in June of 1994. That is a pretty enjoyable game. It's a puzzle-action game. And then... I have a lot of strong memories of my first title, the arcade Donkey Kong. That's because it was the game we brought to America when Nintendo was first trying to create a market there. Even though the American side first said the game "wouldn't work at all," we put the game down and sure enough at the end of the first day there was money in it... and the second day.... It was thanks to this game becoming a hit that I was able to rely only on creating games. (laughs)

So you're saying before Donkey Kong, you did jobs other than game design?

Yes, I designed labels for mah-jongg, stencils for Japanese playing cards, the Block Breaker machine,2 the illustration on the arcade Space Firebird cabinet, the design for the Sheriff arcade cabinet... Yeah, I had a hand in every aspect of design.

Are you no longer directly involved in the Donkey Kong series?

In 1994, the president of a company called Rare came to us and said, "You are busy with a lot of franchises like Mario and Zelda, you can't have the time to work on Donkey Kong anymore, can you? Let us handle it." I then replied that they could do it if they could create something of high quality, and they came back with this awesome CG... And so I gave them the OK. Rare's first title was Donkey Kong Country and I think that had quite an impact. The dynamic movement is what is so good about it. It also feels like Rare breathed new life into the Donkeys with their CG. I think that not only could we safely trust them with the franchise, but we were blessed with having them do it because they are the kind of group with the technology that they even had all their dev tools done and ready before development began. Yeah, those guys researched Nintendo games, and then made a "Nintendo-like game" for us. For instance, it felt kind of like an homage to us that right at the beginning of the game you could find a secret by going backwards instead of forwards. (laughs)

So from that point on you haven't been involved in the series at all?

Well, for instance, during the development of Donkey Kong Country I gave different directions for character design. At that time, I ordered them to give Donkey Kong eyebrows, but because that was something that was difficult to show in CG, I was pacified by making the area around his eyes black. And then, I had indicated that I wanted his hair to stand up straight more, but that was also difficult, so we made it all one piece. In the end, I felt like the "dumb" feeling wasn't apparent enough, so I was the one to decide to give him a necktie.

Lately, it seems Rare listens to me, but doesn't implement any of my ideas anymore! For instance, I'm a big fan of the hand-slapping-the-ground action and I wrote a letter indicating I wanted that mapped to a button so the user could pull it off anytime, but they wouldn't do it. (laughs)

And with that, please give us your final words.

Alright. I think that after becoming CG, Donkey Kong has become really cool, but I also feel like he's become a bit kiddie-like as well. I would love to see both him and Mario become a bit cooler in the future.