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===Conception=== Though they had purchased the workstations to produce games for the Nintendo 64, Rare discovered it was possible to use them with the [[16-bit]] SNES.<ref name="IGN: GCDevProfile" /> Rare tested the SGI technology with ''[[Battletoads Arcade]]'' (1994) and began developing a boxing game, ''Brute Force'', using [[PowerAnimator]].<ref name="DF Retro" /><ref name="NLife: MakingOf" /> Around this time, Nintendo was embroiled in a [[console war]] with [[Sega]], whose [[Mega Drive]] competed with the SNES.<ref name="NLife: MakingOf" /> Nintendo wanted a game to compete with Sega's ''[[Disney's Aladdin (Sega Genesis video game)|Aladdin]]'' (1993), which featured graphics by [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Disney]] animators,<ref name="DF Retro" /><ref name="RG: MakingOf" /> when Nintendo of America's chairman [[Howard Lincoln]] learned of Rare's SGI experiments during a trip to Europe.<ref name="IGN: GCDevProfile" /> Nintendo sent several representatives, including the chief technology officer [[Genyo Takeda]]; they asked the Stampers if they could demonstrate ''Brute Force'' on the SNES hardware. Within two days, the Stampers developed a working build,<ref name="JXV: BTS">{{cite web |title=Les coulisses de Donkey Kong Country : Des gorilles et des hommes |trans-title=Behind the scenes of Donkey Kong Country: Gorillas and Men |url=https://www.jeuxvideo.com/news/651885/les-coulisses-de-donkey-kong-country-des-gorilles-et-des-hommes.htm |website=[[Jeuxvideo]] |access-date=February 2, 2025 |language=French |date=May 7, 2017}}</ref> impressing Nintendo.<ref name="NLife: MakingOf" /> Tim Stamper—inspired by ''[[Mortal Kombat (1992 video game)|Mortal Kombat]]''{{'s}} (1992) use of digitised footage in place of hand-drawn art—suggested developing a platform game that used [[Pre-rendering|pre-rendered]] graphics.{{sfn|Undercover Lover|1994|p=54}}<ref name="Bloomberg: History" /> Nintendo granted the Stampers permission to use the ''Donkey Kong'' [[intellectual property]].<ref name="Bloomberg: History">{{Cite news|last=Waugh|first=Eric-Jon Rossel|date=30 August 2006|title=A short history of Rare|work=[[Bloomberg Businessweek]]|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2006-08-30/a-short-history-of-rarebusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice|url-status=live|access-date=17 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015142432/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2006-08-30/a-short-history-of-rarebusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice|archive-date=15 October 2016}}</ref> The franchise had been largely dormant since the unsuccessful ''[[Donkey Kong 3]]'' (1983),<ref name="1Up: 10">{{Cite web|last=Parish|first=Jeremy|title=10 interesting things about Donkey Kong|url=http://www.1up.com/features/10-interesting-donkey-kong|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623015927/http://www.1up.com/features/10-interesting-donkey-kong|archive-date=23 June 2012|access-date=19 May 2020|website=[[1Up.com]]}}</ref><ref name="USG: Bluff">{{Cite web|last=Parish|first=Jeremy|date=21 November 2019|title=Donkey Kong Country turns 25: Gaming's biggest bluff|url=https://www.usgamer.net/articles/reconsidering-donkey-kong-country-gamings-empty-handed-bluff|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120031051/https://www.usgamer.net/articles/reconsidering-donkey-kong-country-gamings-empty-handed-bluff|archive-date=20 November 2020|access-date=19 May 2020|website=[[USGamer]]}}</ref> so Nintendo figured that licensing it posed minimal risk.<ref name="Bloomberg: History" /> Some sources indicate that the Stampers obtained the licence after Nintendo offered them their catalogue of characters and they chose Donkey Kong.<ref name="IGN: History" /><ref name="NLife: MakingOf" /> Conversely, the lead designer [[Gregg Mayles]] and his brother [[Steve Mayles|Steve]] recalled that it was Nintendo that requested a ''Donkey Kong'' game.<ref name="RG: MakingOf">{{cite web|last=Hunt|first=Stuart|title="Yes, we did go to the zoo and observe the gorillas": The making of ''Donkey Kong Country''|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/the-making-of-donkey-kong-country/|website=[[GamesRadar+]]|access-date=11 June 2022|date=22 June 2021|archive-date=11 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611165430/https://www.gamesradar.com/the-making-of-donkey-kong-country/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="JXV: BTS" /> ''Donkey Kong''{{'s}} creator, [[Shigeru Miyamoto]], said that Rare approached Nintendo and offered to handle ''Donkey Kong'' since other developers were preoccupied with franchises such as ''[[Mario (franchise)|Mario]]'' and ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]''.<ref name="MiyamotoNOM" /> Rare assembled a team of 12, the largest in their history at that point, and development began in mid-1993.<ref name="RG: MakingOf"/><ref name="JXV: BTS" /> Nintendo was sceptical of Rare's approach to graphics,<ref name="RG: MakingOf" /> concerned it would make the game unplayable.<ref name="Kotaku: Worried" /> Early in development, Mayles and other developers presented a demo to Nintendo staff in Japan. One in attendance, the [[Game Boy]] creator [[Gunpei Yokoi]], felt the game "looked too 3D", but Mayles said Miyamoto was supportive and gave Rare his approval.<ref name="RG: MakingOf" /> Nintendo codenamed the project "Country" (based on Rare's location in [[Twycross]]), leading to the title ''Donkey Kong Country''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Reynolds |first1=Ollie |title=Random: Ex-Rare Dev Explains The Origin Of Donkey Kong Country's Name |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2023/04/random-ex-rare-dev-explains-the-origin-of-donkey-kong-countrys-name |website=[[Nintendo Life]] |access-date=22 February 2025 |date=5 April 2023}}</ref> Other titles considered included ''Rumble in the Jungle'', ''Monkey Mayhem'', and ''Donkey Kong and the Golden Bananas''.<ref name="JXV: BTS" /> ''Donkey Kong Country'' was the first ''Donkey Kong'' game that was neither directed nor produced by Miyamoto,<ref name="DS: RetroCorner" /> who was working on ''[[Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island]]'' (1995).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sao|first=Akinori|date=2017|title=''Super Mario World'' & ''Yoshi's Island'' developer interview|url=https://www.nintendo.com/super-nes-classic/interview-super-mario-world|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609090516/https://www.nintendo.com/super-nes-classic/interview-super-mario-world/|archive-date=9 June 2021|access-date=6 June 2020|website=[[Super NES Classic Edition]]|publisher=[[Nintendo]]}}</ref> Miyamoto was still involved with the project and Rare said he provided crucial input.<ref name="Rare: DKC">{{cite web|title=Rarewhere: Donkey Kong Country|publisher=[[Rare (company)|Rare]]|url=http://rare.co.uk/recent/games/dkc/|access-date=5 June 2020|archive-date=29 May 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980529161639/http://rare.co.uk/recent/games/dkc/}}</ref> Nintendo is usually highly protective of their intellectual properties, but was relatively uninvolved with ''Donkey Kong Country'', leaving most of the work to Rare.<ref name="NLife: MakingOf" /><ref name="RG: MakingOf"/> Programmer Brendan Gunn noted that the Stampers worked to shield the team from outside influence.<ref name="NLife: MakingOf" /> Rare spent 18 months developing ''Donkey Kong Country'' from an initial concept to a finished game,<ref name="NLife: MakingOf" /> and according to product manager [[Dan Owsen]], 20 people worked on it in total.{{sfn|Undercover Lover|1994|p=54}} It cost an estimated {{US$}}1 million to produce,{{sfn|Palumbo|Kalb|1996|p=92}} and Rare said that it had the most [[Man-hour|man hours]] ever invested in a video game at the time, 22 years.<ref name="Rare: DKC" /> The team worked 12–16-hours every day of the week.<ref name="Poly: Remaking" /> Gunn said that the team was under significant pressure from the Stampers and to finish the game in time for [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]] due to Nintendo's competition with Sega.<ref name="NLife: MakingOf" />
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