Reggie Fils-Aime Admits He Hated Donkey Konga and Thought It Would Hurt the Donkey Kong Brand - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 07 May 2022 / 2,593 Views

The former President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aimé in an interview with G4TV's Xplay said he hated 2004's Donkey Konga and thought it was going to hurt the brand.

"I have to tell you, as an executive, I hated Donkey Konga," he said via VideoGamesChronicle. "I fought with our parent company… I thought it was going to hurt the Donkey Kong brand. Personally, I didn’t find it a lot of fun to play. I pushed back hard."

He added, "But you know what? We launched it, the first game actually sold reasonably well. But boy, I was not a fan."

The original Donkey Konga ended up shipping 1.18 million units worldwide on a console that ended up selling 21.7 million units worldwide.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

9 Comments

SquidLord (on 07 May 2022)

well he was WRONG

UnderwaterFunktown (on 07 May 2022)

Can't speak for Donkey Konga, but I had a ton of fun with Jungle Beat back in the day so the bungos were definitely good for something imo.

Pajderman (on 09 May 2022)

I played the first Donkey Konga almost every day after school for a year. It was my favorite music game until Elite beat agents a few years later.
Donkey Konga released about a year before Guitar Hero, something I tell anyone who came over to play it saying it was a worse copy. Even if I like Guitar Hero as well, the simpler control of Donkey Konga is preferred for me even if the music is better in most Guitar Hero games.