The Strong National Museum of Play in New York unveiled an absolutely massive Donkey Kong arcade cabinet that's nearly 20 feet tall. Donkey Kong is co-starring in the biggest movie in the world right now, so it is only fitting that he also gets an equally gargantuan arcade cabinet.
The museum indicated in a tweet that Nintendo actually helped out with the massive cabinet, which makes sense as the company is protective of its IPs. Donkey Kong, after all, was the first appearance of a certain Italian plumber, even if he went by the names Jumpman and Mr. Video back then.
The impressively large arcade cabinet will be available for actual play by museum visitors once it is fully installed on June 30. As you can see in the design, there is a control interface at a normal height so you don’t have to climb a ladder to reach the joystick and buttons.
As part of our June 30 expansion, The Strong will create the world’s largest, playable Donkey Kong arcade game. The game will stand nearly 20-feet tall and will be available for guests to play! Thank you @NintendoAmerica for providing input on the project.#DonkeyKong #Arcade pic.twitter.com/xQhsRVvCib
— The Strong Museum (@museumofplay) April 10, 2023
This could be the tallest arcade cabinet in the world, but there has been no formal proclamation to that end. In any event, it is certainly bigger than the 16-foot high NBA Jam cabinet that overlooked CES 2020 and the similarly-sized Tetris cabinet that holds the current Guinness world record.
The Strong National Museum of Play is dedicated to gaming in all of its many forms and is home to the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Every year, the museum inducts new games into this hall of fame, with 2022 getting stone-cold classics like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Dance Dance Revolution.