Donkey Kong's Age: A Mystery Deliciously Unsolved, Says Nintendo
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Nintendo's being secretive about Donkey Kong's age in the new *Bananza* game, claiming it's to encourage fan theories, which honestly sounds like a perfectly chaotic and brilliant plan. Is it genius marketing, or just an excuse? Who knows, but I’m loving it.
Alright, folks, grab your bananas and tin-foil hats, because Nintendo's playing coy with Donkey Kong's age in the upcoming *Donkey Kong Bananza* for the Switch 2. And frankly, I reckon they're right to. According to Eurogamer, Nintendo's reasoning? They reckon leaving DK's age ambiguous is "good fodder for player theories".
Now, usually, when a company says something like that, my internal alarm bells start ringing. It's often code for "we haven't figured it out yet and don't want to admit it." But in this case? I'm strangely on board. Director Kazuya Takahashi and producer Kenta Motokura (fresh off *Super Mario Odyssey*, no less) are deliberately stirring the pot, and I'm here for the chaos.
They've already confirmed that Pauline is 13 in the game, which, let's be honest, raises even *more* questions. (Seriously, 13? What's going on there, Nintendo?) When asked why *that* particular detail was shared, the dev team clammed up tighter than a vault full of rupees.
"I think that's something that we want players to, in the course of enjoying the game, start to puzzle out, think for themselves," they teased, suggesting Pauline's age might be plot-relevant. Plot? In a Donkey Kong game? Colour me intrigued!
Takahashi mentioned Pauline acting "in some cases as a bit of a narrator," bridging the gap between newcomers and long-time fans. A clever move, giving returning players a familiar face, and new players a friendly introduction to the ape-tastic world. It’s a narrative ape-hanger. I’m sorry.
Motokura chimed in, adding the team is "always thinking about the setting of not just the world but also each character itself and how that's going to impact player enjoyment in the end." See, that sounds like genuine passion for world-building, not just marketing fluff. Fair dinkum.
The question of where *Bananza* fits in the established timeline is also up in the air. We've got Pauline popping up as mayor in *Super Mario Odyssey*, helmed by the same team. Is *Bananza* a prequel, then? Nintendo's keeping schtum, but Takahashi did drop this tantalizing tidbit: "Certainly because a lot of team members also worked on Super Mario Odyssey, there are some similarities in terms of how they think about the setting of the characters for both games, but it's something we really can't explain all of for now because we need to leave something for people to consider as they're playing the game."
So, what does all this mean? Is Nintendo just having a laugh? Probably. But they're also creating a bit of mystery and intrigue around a game that, let's face it, could easily have been a straightforward platformer. By encouraging speculation, they're turning the players into active participants in the world-building process. And that, my friends, is how you build a community.
*Donkey Kong Bananza* hits the Switch 2 later this month, on July 17th. Early impressions are positive. Eurogamer’s Alex said his time with the game simply "flew by." Time flies when you’re having ape-solutely amazing fun, eh?
Tags: Nintendo, Donkey Kong, Gaming News, Switch 2, Player Theories
Original article: Eurogamer