Heroes can now save Pauline from the grip of Donkey Kong by playing a giant version of the original 1981 game at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.
The game is playable in a nearly 20-foot-tall arcade cabinet that Shane Rhinewald, the museum’s senior public relations manager, called “big enough for Kong himself”. The museum presents the installation as the largest playable in the world donkey kong arcade game.
The game has been recreated on a large scale with input from Nintendo America, as part of a 90,000 square foot expansion of the museum known for its highly interactive exhibits focused on exploring the game.
“Given donkey kongwith its immense size and enormous impact on the history of arcade games, it lends itself perfectly to this whimsical format,” Rhinewald told Artnet News. “It was fun to watch the kids and adults stand under the towering game and smile at its uniqueness.”
THE donkey kong The arcade cabinet is seen suspended between the first and second floors. Photo courtesy of the Strong National Museum of Play.
To play the game, visitors stand below the screen and use a full-sized joystick placed on a pedestal on a recreated cabinet. The arcade cabinet was suspended in the middle of the platform between the first and second floors, apparently so that the joysticks could be reached by human arms.
While the arcade cabinet retains the original gameplay, in which main character Jumpman is tasked with rescuing a damsel in distress, Rhinewald conceded “some added intensity”, especially since the game’s flying barrels now appear life-size.
“The giant donkey kong runs off an original motherboard, just scaled up 370%,” Rhinewald said. “The museum’s digital curator and arcade technician used a series of adapters and scalers to ensure the game itself plays exactly like the original.”
The 90,000 square foot extension of the Strong National Museum of Play seen from the outside. Photo courtesy of the Strong National Museum of Play.
Rhinewald said the idea for the giant video game came early in the museum’s expansion process. “The team agreed donkey kong to get the oversized treatment because it’s one of the most iconic and recognizable arcade games,” he said.
The expansion of The Strong, which opened on June 30, includes a new World Video Game Hall of Fame, as well as a 24,000 square foot exhibit called “ESL Digital Worlds: High Score” dedicated to the history and art of electronic games, from mainframe computers to today’s modern consoles.
The new World Video Game Hall of Fame at the Strong National Museum of Play. Photo courtesy of the Strong National Museum of Play
Other additions include a 17,000 square foot exhibit called “Hasbro Game Place” that features larger-than-life landscapes inspired by classic board games, from an 18-foot fire-breathing dragon from Dungeons & Dragons to Candy Land’s Forest of Candy Canes. Other game creators are represented in the “Game Time! ” of the museum. exhibition on the history of board games and puzzles.
“The Strong’s expansion emphasizes the importance of electronic games to how we all learn and play, but the museum is about much more than electronic games,” Rhinewald said. “He explores all facets and all types of play.”
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