What is being reported as a massive data breach from a Nintendo-adjacent company has brought an unprecedented amount of hard data to public eyes. This information runs the gamut from early design work on games like Pokemon, to just about everything you could possibly want to know about the Wii console. We won’t point towards the information itself, due to the ethics of sharing stolen information, but as far as the event itself, this could be one of the biggest leaks in the medium’s history.
The leaks originated on 4chan, likely due to the relative anonymity allowed by that platform. A post on ResetEra from user Atheerios provides a more digestible (and work safe) breakdown of what the leaks include, so for the purposes of this article we’re considering that the source. The leaks have taken place over a number of days, starting with early, non-final Pokemon designs from as far back as the original Game Boy titles.
The leaks have only gotten more intense, including footage of N64 technical demos, Pokemon debug software, prototype images, and more. But the most significant part of the leak seems to be a complete breakdown of the Nintendo Wii. This includes things like OS source code, documentation and APIs for features, GameCube and iQue documentation, the list goes on. For folks interested in the nuts and bolts of game consoles and/or preservation efforts will probably be digging through this stuff for a long time.
The source of the information is apparently a data breach from BroadOn, a company Nintendo worked with on developing the Wii itself.
