Beyond Donkey Kong

Before the enormously successful NES console changed the video game landscape in the 1980s, Nintendo became famous for producing legendary arcade machines like Donkey Kong and Mario Bros.
Drawing on original interviews, news reports and other documents, this book traces Nintendo’s rise from a small business that made playing cards to the top name in the arcade industry. Twenty-eight game titles are examined in-depth, along with the people and events that defined the company for more than four decades.

Ken Horowitz is a professor of English and has written about Sega and video games for over a decade for his website, Sega-16, as well as for numerous other websites and magazines. He lives in Puerto Rico.

Ken Horowitz
Foreword by Damien McFerran
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 273
Bibliographic Info: 92 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2020
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8420-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4176-8
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Foreword by Damien McFerran 1
Preface 3
1. The Future Is (Not) in the Cards 5
2. Video Killed the Electromechanical Star 22
3. Small Start, Big Country 37
4. Gaming’s ­800-Pound Gorilla 46
5. The One That (Almost) Got Away 57
6. Kong vs. Kong … vs. Kong 69
7. Getting the Barrel Rolling 85
8. Nintendo “VS.” the World 115
9. One Last Dedicated Hurrah 143
10. Mario Powers Up 147
11. Land of the Setting Sun (for ­Coin-Ops) 158
12. Keeping the Quarters Flowing 164
13. Where Have You Gone, Super Mario? 177
14. Merging ­Coin-Ops & Consoles 180
15. From Rivals to Licensees 207
16. A Legacy Brimming with Star Power 227
Chapter Notes 235
Works Cited 251
Index 263