Donkey Kong Almost Missed Out on Pixels

Donkey Kong nearly didn't make the cut for upcoming Hollywood flick, Pixels.

The gaming-themed film features an array of classic arcade characters - including the likes of Centipede and the ghost-gobbling Pac-Man. Interestingly, the first draft of the Pixels script didn't include Nintendo's barrel throwing mascot, Donkey Kong.

Director Chris Columbus was keen to see Donkey Kong included, so "after months and months of meeting with the board of Nintendo they agreed that we were going to treat Donkey Kong with respect and the proper gameplay, which was very important, and bringing Donkey Kong into the film was a slam-dunk for us."

Pixels will feature:

• Atari (Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede and Missile Command)
• Konami (Frogger)
• Bandai Namco (PAC-MAN, Galaga, and Dig Dug)
• Nintendo (Donkey Kong)
• Columbia (Q*bert)
• Taito (Space Invaders)
• Warner Bros. (Joust, Defender, Robotron and Wizard of Wor)