Donkey Konga - The Drums, The Majesty

Thanks to Nintendojo for revealing new details regarding the previously rumored, Namco/Nintendo co-produced GameCube-exclusive rhythm game, Donkey Konga. The site has pictures of the "new Congo Drum peripheral dubbed as 'Barrel Konga Drums'" which will be shipping with the game, and the 4-player, 32 music-track title may include the Super Mario Bros theme alongside "Latin beats, pop music, dance, classical, Anime and children's tunes." Adding to the fun, "the drums will include a microphone that's designed to pick up the sound of claps thus making the game require you to clap as well as bang on the drums", but Nintendojo reckon a U.S. release to be "highly unlikely" since "it caters too perfectly towards the Japanese audience" weaned on games like Taiko No Tatsujin.

Comments

Now...

[NanoGator]

..if they'd just make a spanking game like that. They could call it Spanky Kong.

US Release ENTIRELY possible

[Blackwulf]

Let me first say that I am a big, biased fan of rhythm games that don't use your legs. Even though my favorite game, Beatmania IIDX, will NEVER see a stateside release because of it's insane difficulty and learning curve (in fact, the home versions aren't all that popular in Japan either) a game like Donkey Konga could so easily be released AND successful in the US. Here's why.

Nintendo.

I DO own Taiko no-Tatsujin, and I recently ran it at Anime Weekend Atlanta this past weekend...And it was a HUGE BIG SUCCESS with everyone there. And they weren't just Anime fans that are used to the Japanese culture. It's just a FUN game to play. EVERYONE asked me how they could get it for themselves...Unfortunately it's not seeing a stateside release anytime soon...

...Or is it?

Namco also ran the home version of Taiko no-Tatsujin at the G-Phoria awards (Yes, I know the awards sucked on TV, but there is a point here) to "gauge interest" of the American audience towards a game like it. And it was a hit there as well.

THEN I hear about Donkey Konga not long after G-Phoria.

But, nobody would buy a game based on traditional Japanese Taiko drumming. HOWEVER, they WOULD buy a game base on bongo drumming if it had the right marketing power behind it.

Enter Donkey Kong and Nintendo. If ANY COMPANY can get an innovative game to sell here in the US, it's Nintendo. Hopefully, they WILL release Donkey Konga in the US and let it open the doors for other rhythm games to enter the market so I don't have to always import the suckers.

If you have any musical ability at all and have never played a good rhythm game like Taiko no-Tatsujin, Beatmania IIDX, or even the US released Guitaroo-Man, you're missing out. You don't NEED to have musical ability to enjoy it or be good at it. I hope Donkey Konga gives the exposure the genre needs...Realize that the rhythm game genre pretty much stands next to the fighting game genre in Japanese arcades and that's why there's still arcades on every block in Tokyo.

Maybe Now we can play games online

[ePIsOdEOnline]

TCP/IP over bongo drums

just a thought.

I wanna move

[Omega037]

I wanna move to Japan. They get all the coolest stuff; Anime, Ninjas, Godzilla...

Re:Just a thought...

[daeley]

Kongo Bongo would be. ;)