Former NOA Boss Says Donkey Konga Is the “Best Worst Game”
Donkey Konga has just been called the “best worst game” by the former head of Nintendo of America. Apparently, Reggie Fils-Aime had some potential issues about the game that hugely concerned him.
Namco’s Taiko no Tatsujin team launched Donkey Konga alongside a special DK Bongos controller. The bundle also featured music from the Mario and Zelda series. It seems to be an interesting package, but Fils-Aime did not waste time to express his dislike of the rhythm action spinoff.
“I have to tell you as an executive, I hated Donkey Konga,” he revealed. “I thought it was going to hurt the Donkey Kong brand.”
Apparently, Fils-Aime “fought” with their parent company about Donkey Konga. “Personally, I did not find it a lot of fun to play,” he said. “I pushed back hard.”
The game’s success in the market pleasantly surprised him. “We launched it, the first game actually sold reasonably well,” he added. “But boy, I was not a fan.”
This is not the first time for the former Nintendo of America exec to criticize the company’s previous products. He revealed that the US office was “forced” to launch Game Boy Micro back in 2005. According to him, they had to do this because of a lack of alignment between different sectors of the business. He knew before then that Nintendo Japan already had plans to launch the device tot he market.
“The concept of Game Boy Micro was a nonstarter,” he added. “Not only where the control buttons difficult for any reasonably sized adult to manipulate, but also the screen was tiny.”
“The hardware was exceptionally small,” he continued. “This ran counter to current consumer electronics trends of making screens larger.”
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