| curl-6 said: I mean, you could argue with every innovation in history that "if they didn't do it, someone else would have", but that doesn't take away from them actually doing it. |
Yeah, someone would have made a jump-based platformer eventually but would it have had an impact on the industry like Donkey Kong made? And you could argue that Nintendo, like everyone else, has been inspired by others' ideas too, particularly by Namco's:
Space Invaders inspired game:
Galaxian - Namco, 1979 / Radar Scope - Nintendo, 1980
Mascot in a game:
Pac-Man - Namco, 1980 / Donkey Kong - Nintendo, 1981
Mascot in a 2D side-scroller:
Pac-Land - Namco, 1984 / Super Mario Bros - Nintendo, 1985
Obstacle based fighting game:
The Outfoxies - Namco, 1995 / Super Smash Bros - Nintendo, 1999
With Donkey Kong though, I don't see an inspired idea in a game before 1981 that was built upon from a gameplay standpoint. Nintendo also beat Namco to the mascot kart racer but they found mutual ground eventually. 
