Source codes, development documentations… it could be bad if such data gets into unauthorised hands.

Both the ResetEra forums and Reddit talk about how 4chan saw a leak bigger than 2 TERABYTES. Nowadays, if a game requires 100 GB space, it’s a lot. Now, an SSD or HDD with 2 TB could allow you to put 18-19 games of this size, just to explain how big this leak is…

Amongst the leaked data, we can find the source code for the Nintendo 64, the GameCube, and the Wii (which would not only allow them to be bootlegged, but they could also help the PC users to improve these consoles’ respective emulation), diagrams and datasheets for every system component, documents describing feature planning and implementation, the complete Wii operating system SDK (software development kit), planning documentation for implementation of the Wii from 2004-2006, and Spaceworld ’99 demos (this was Nintendo’s event at the time) for upcoming N64 titles of that era.

The leaks could also contain internal documentation related to GameCube, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 64 (as well as its 64DD add-on, which didn’t even launch in the West), Wii and the China-only iQue, explaining how the systems work, and how the development processes go for these platforms. There are also test software for the N64, including the Mirror House Cornflakes demo, which you can see on a video below.

The leaks happened due to a server hack related to BroadOn. Nintendo has contracted this company to develop Wii hardware and software. The leaks might have helped to create a fully functional PC port of Super Mario 64, which got reverse engineered, and since, C&D-d by Nintendo’s lawyers.

They might also C&D anyone having this data, as this would be their way to release Virtual Console games for these platforms on the Nintendo Switch, which is selling nicely (we wrote about the sales figures in their financial report, although their official release slate for the current fiscal year is weak at the moment).

Source: VGC

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