July 9, 1981
I missed this one last week, so I’m dropping it this week. Why? Because THIS was huge part of my childhood. On July 9, 1981, a Japanese playing card company entered the world of video gaming with Donkey Kong. The story goes that the company wanted to license a game based on the Popeye and Bluto characters but couldn’t get the licensing to do so. Not wanting to walk away from an opportunity, they created Donkey Kong, a game meant to mirror the Popeye/Bluto rivalry with the introduction of the hero Mario and the ever-angry gorilla Donkey Kong. The game made Nintendo a dominant player in the gaming world and gave Gen X many, many hours of fun!
