A 20-foot-tall Donkey Kong arcade cabinet will be playable this summer at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. The original Donkey Kong was one of the biggest players in the golden age of arcade games and is one of Nintendo's earliest successes in gaming.The Strong National Museum of Play was founded in 1968 and is dedicated to the act of play. Unlike other institutions like the National Videogame Museum, the Strong Museum is dedicated to all aspects of play, including toys, books, board games, and video games. The museum has a strong history of presenting items related to gaming, such as the canceled PC port demo of Super Mario Bros. 3, which was developed by id Software.The Strong Museum has announced that as part of an upcoming expansion, it will be creating the world's largest Donkey Kong arcade cabinet. The cabinet was developed with input from Nintendo of America, will be fully playable, and opens on June 30, along with the rest of the planned expansion. This expansion will also include an extension to the museum's World Video Game Hall of Fame which includes other arcade games such as Pong, Pac-Man, and Centipede. Similar to the interactive museum included in Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, these additions to the museum's collection will allow future gamers to see and experience these games for themselves.
The original Donkey Kong was released in 1981 and was the debut of the characters Mario and Donkey Kong who have been key Nintendo mascots since. Both Mario and Donkey Kong became their own respective franchises, and both characters have continued to make appearances together in Mario spin-offs like the Mario Kart series. Donkey Kong is even featured as one of the primary characters in The Super Mario Bros. Movie which featured the infamous DK Rap from Donkey Kong 64.
Game preservation has been a hot topic in gaming as of late and is typically mentioned in regard to ensuring games remain playable. However, the efforts of institutions like The Strong Museum help to ensure the preservation of things such as video game manuals, boxes, promotional materials, and arcade cabinets. These museums also help facilitate experiences that were not previously possible such as the Named Cassette Museum in Japan which seeks to reunite gamers with their lost game cartridges. While there will likely always be a way to play the original Donkey Kong, The Strong Museum will soon be home to one of the most unique ways to experience this arcade classic.
Source: The Strong Museum of Play