What color cabinet for a Donkey Kong 3

[JamBurglar]

I think DK3 in red or light blue or orange would look good. You can tell the artwork was designed to look good with all those colors since it was conversion only. I have to admit I like red the best though.

My opinion on DK, on the other hand, is that it looks way better in red and that the artwork was obvioulsy designed with a red cabinet in mind. I think the reason people get caught up on the blue DK is because that's what they're used to seeing. If you look at the artwork for DK though, I don't see how you get light blue out of that. There's not even any light blue in the artwork, only dark blue. My running hypothosis is that Nintendo started using the light blue Popeye cabs for DK in order to fill the insane demand for DK (there was definatley a period Nintendo was producing DK in both red and blue). So it was like "We need more DK's but there's no red cabs around. Grab those blue ones we made for Popeye and ship those bitches!" (imagine Japanese dudes running around in circles and saying this in Japanese.) Then Nintendo started producing both games in light blue to make production easier. They could fill fluctuating damand more eaisly because both cabs were the same color. This is just a hypothosis not fact (except the Japanese guys running around like crazy, that part is 100% true).

 

[Spyridon]

My opinion on DK, on the other hand, is that it looks way better in red and that the artwork was obvioulsy designed with a red cabinet in mind. I think the reason people get caught up on the blue DK is because that's what they're used to seeing. If you look at the artwork for DK though, I don't see how you get light blue out of that. There's not even any light blue in the artwork, only dark blue. My running hypothosis is that Nintendo started using the light blue Popeye cabs for DK in order to fill the insane demand for DK (there was definatley a period Nintendo was producing DK in both red and blue). So it was like "We need more DK's but there's no red cabs around. Grab those blue ones we made for Popeye and ship those bitches!" (imagine Japanese dudes running around in circles and saying this in Japanese.) Then Nintendo started producing both games in light blue to make production easier. They could fill fluctuating damand more eaisly because both cabs were the same color. This is just a hypothosis not fact (except the Japanese guys running around like crazy, that part is 100% true).

The original flyer for DK in 1981 shows a blue cab.

 

[JamBurglar]

The original flyer for DK in 1981 shows a blue cab.

Good point, although we don't know whether the flyer predated game's release or came about after the release. So, it's hard to tell whether the flyer represents the original concept for the cab or whether it represents what they expected to be selling at the time the flyer was produced. In the flyer they're already calling Jumpman "Mario". If you read that Ultimate History of Video Games book it talks about how the name "Mario" was an afterthought that came about after DK was already in arcades. So that seems to lead to the conclusion that the flyer was produced sometime after the artwork was conceptualized and the game was released.

That book also goes into how DK's inception was pretty ghetto. It talks about Miyamoto creating DK specifically because they needed a rush replacement game to put in the (red) radar scope cabs. They went on to build red DK cabs directly from the factory and you don't start seeing the blue cabs until about TKG-3UP 1500 or so.

 

[JamBurglar]

Here's something nerdy. Check out Japan's flyer. http://arcadeflyers.com/index.php?page=flyer&db=videodb&id=6132&image=2
It's dated 9-30-81. Looks like the light blue.

According to Wikipedia the game went on Sale in July of 1981.

What does all of this mean? I have no clue.

 

[Stuffmonger]

The original flyer

So, when did Mario change from carpentry to plumbing?