Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 15 hours ago
Donkey Kong wasn't supposed to exist. It almost starred someone else, it was built by a complete beginner, and it only got made because Nintendo was about to go under. This is the full story of the Donkey Kong arcade game — 10 things you need to know about how a barrel-throwing gorilla became one of the most important games ever made.
We're covering the Radar Scope disaster that birthed it, the Popeye game it was supposed to be, Shigeru Miyamoto's very first project, where Mario actually came from, the lawsuit Nintendo somehow won against a Hollywood studio, and the genuinely ridiculous amount of money this franchise has pulled in.
This is the first episode of a new series — 10 Things You Need to Know — where we dig into the arcade games, retro classics, and nostalgia that shaped all of us. If you love arcade history, retro gaming, and the business stories behind the games, you're in the right place.
👉 What should the next "10 Things" episode cover? Drop it in the comments — the most requested one gets made.
👍 Like and subscribe if you want more retro arcade deep dives.
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📌 Disclaimers
All music and video used are the property of their respective owners.
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976: allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational, or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
CHAPTERS
00:00 The game that shouldn't exist
01:24 #1 — Born from a disaster
02:40 #2 — It was supposed to be Popeye
03:46 #3 — Miyamoto's first game
04:50 #4 — Where Mario came from
06:22 #5 — The iconic red cabinet
07:38 #6 — The first game with a story
08:44 #7 — It invented the platformer
09:36 #8 — Nintendo vs. Hollywood
11:14 #9 — The year-one numbers
12:18 #10 — The $10 billion empire
13:45 What's next
Donkey Kong wasn't supposed to exist. It almost starred someone else, it was built by a complete beginner, and it only got made because Nintendo was about to go under. This is the full story of the Donkey Kong arcade game — 10 things you need to know about how a barrel-throwing gorilla became one of the most important games ever made.
We're covering the Radar Scope disaster that birthed it, the Popeye game it was supposed to be, Shigeru Miyamoto's very first project, where Mario actually came from, the lawsuit Nintendo somehow won against a Hollywood studio, and the genuinely ridiculous amount of money this franchise has pulled in.
This is the first episode of a new series — 10 Things You Need to Know — where we dig into the arcade games, retro classics, and nostalgia that shaped all of us. If you love arcade history, retro gaming, and the business stories behind the games, you're in the right place.
👉 What should the next "10 Things" episode cover? Drop it in the comments — the most requested one gets made.
👍 Like and subscribe if you want more retro arcade deep dives.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
✅ Support the channel / become a member
Become a member to get access to exclusive perks: members-only livestreams, early videos, and behind-the-scenes updates:
youtube.com/channel/UC7E0dGyMoi1K2dutiifLo5Q/join
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
💼 Business / product reviews
If you’d like me to review your product(s) or for any business inquiry, email:
jameshateseverything2020@gmail.com
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔗 Follow me / more content
Instagram: instagram.com/jameshateseverything
X (Twitter): https://x.com/HatesJames32769
Facebook: facebook.com/JamesHatesEverything
Threads: threads.com/@jameshateseverything
Live & VOD Gameplay Channel: youtube.com/@JHE_Plays
Everything AI related: youtube.com/@James-On-AI
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📌 Disclaimers
All music and video used are the property of their respective owners.
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976: allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational, or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
CHAPTERS
00:00 The game that shouldn't exist
01:24 #1 — Born from a disaster
02:40 #2 — It was supposed to be Popeye
03:46 #3 — Miyamoto's first game
04:50 #4 — Where Mario came from
06:22 #5 — The iconic red cabinet
07:38 #6 — The first game with a story
08:44 #7 — It invented the platformer
09:36 #8 — Nintendo vs. Hollywood
11:14 #9 — The year-one numbers
12:18 #10 — The $10 billion empire
13:45 What's next
