A vast collection of documents detailing the 1983 legal battle between Universal and Nintendo over the Donkey Kong franchise has been released by YouTuber Gaming Historian. The archive includes evidence, witness testimonies, and deposition transcripts from the landmark case.
Nintendo faced a lawsuit from Universal, the owners of King Kong, who claimed the ape in Nintendo's arcade game was an infringement on their intellectual property. Nintendo's defense centered on the argument that Donkey Kong was not derived from King Kong, but rather from a licensed adaptation of Popeye the Sailor Man. The company presented original design documents for the Donkey Kong game and early brainstorming lists for the Super Mario Bros. franchise during the proceedings.
Miyamoto's Deposition
Among the newly released documents is the deposition of legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto frequently deferred to Gunpei Yokoi, the father of the Game Boy, as the authority on specific design decisions and timelines. Miyamoto maintained that he did not consider the similarity to King Kong until the lawsuit itself, and when asked about alternative names for Donkey Kong, he stated "The names which were in my mind."
The document dump offers a granular view of the legal proceedings, including exchanges with John Kirby, the lawyer who inspired the character Kirby, and humorous, at times, legal arguments such as "You can't have a pronoun for a gorilla."
Gaming Historian, known for meticulously researched documentaries on retro gaming, released the archive as a parting gift to fans, having recently announced a hiatus from video production due to burnout. The full document trove is now available for public perusal.