Donkey Kong Game & Watch by Nintendo

Inspiration for the Nintendo DS and the D-Pad

Nintendo’s most famous (if not the first) arcade game needs very little introduction, but the origin of the Donkey Kong Game & Watch is less well known. Gunpei Yokoi, the Japanese creator of the Game & Watch series, as well as the Gameboy, got his inspiration whilst riding a commuter train, and watching a fellow passenger playing with an LCD calculator.

What if the same technology for displaying the digits on the calculator could be used to display video game graphics?

Nintendo have proved over the years that existing technology, used in a novel way, can create all new products and markets – just look at the wii, not the best graphics, or the most polygons, but by incorporating accelerometers into the handset, created a whole new gaming market. By creating a large LCD display, filling it with character sprites, and simulating movement by turning the sprites on and off in sequence, the Game & Watch was born.

Early games were simple affairs, games like Fire! which tasked you with catching falling victims from a burning building, using simple left and right controls and a single LCD screen. Later games became more elaborate, with the now famous Nintendo “D-Pad” being used for controlling characters, and a novel double screen model which allowed play to carry across a larger area.

Exporting Donkey Kong from Arcade to Handheld

The most popular of these twin screen games was Donkey Kong, an incredibly faithful (given the limited graphics capability) conversion of the arcade game, and the first appearance of Mario. Looking like a small orange Nintendo DS, the game flipped open on a hinge to access the screens and controls (D pad and jump).

By colouring the rear of the screen to create the girders of the building, and also the ladders, the LCD screen itself could be used to display mario running, jumping over barrels, and even using a hammer. There was also a Kong graphic waiting at the top for you – albeit with a different mechanism for defeating him, involving jumping on a crane and pulling out pins to destroy the platform Kong is stood on.

At the time I remember playing a friend’s version of Donkey Kong, and not being able to afford one myself, being very jealous of his ability to carry this fantastic game around with him.

Donkey Kong Game & Watch Values

About 10 years ago, I was browsing ebay and found one of these games for sale, and a week later it was in my hands, looking like it was made yesterday. Due to robust construction and use of watch batteries, these games are incredibly durable, and many early examples are still in working order.

When looking for a game the condition will have a big impact on price with prices ranging from:

• Non-working, untested or damaged for around £30
• Working but with cosmetic issues for around £50
• Good cosmetic condition for around £75
• Mint with box starting from around £100

Common Problems when buying

When purchasing a Donkey Kong Game & Watch there are a number of common issues to look out for which will affect the price, although not all issues will affect gameplay.

• The metal faceplates can become scratched over time and can’t be polished out.
• Battery cover is missing, although you can however buy original (expensive) or 3D printed (cheap but not generally a great colour match).
• The plastic latch that holds the two halves of the game together when not in use can break off, and can’t be easily repaired
• The hinges can also break, as can the ribbon cable between the 2 halves of the game, impacting the display
• The LCD screen can fade, so the characters are difficult to see – this can be fixed by replacing the screen polarizer but this is a fiddly job requiring you to dismantle the game
• The LCD screen has a leak, showing as a puddle on the display. This is unrepairable, and you would need to replace the screen completely.

Game & Watch Collecting

There are many avid collectors on a mission to collect the 59 different versions of Game & Watch that were sold through the 80’s and early 90’s. I just wanted to get my hands on the one game I couldn’t have all those years ago. This has now been joined by other classic handheld games from Grandstand, CGL, Bandai and Tomy in my collection. Despite the fact that Donkey Kong is an amazing piece of design, it’s the gameplay I return to the most.

See my history of Donkey Kong here!