Nintendo is already struggling to operate normally and the last thing they need is hearing about new trouble. And based on the recent news, the company may need to do some investigating to figure out how some of their source codes have leaked online.
Though the codes may be irrelevant since it entails a couple of technically obsolete consoles. But then again, some programmers have made a living reviving old games on emulators. And if they get their hands on them, life would become a lot easier. But of course, Nintendo is unlikely to make it easy for them. Should they take advantage of the leaked source codes, the legal department of the Nintendo is likely to take action immediately.
The source codes are tied up to the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo 64. About 3 GB of files made its way to 4Chan and it has yet to be determined how they got there in the first place. The worst part is that most feel that these source codes are only a portion of a much bigger cache. Among the information found include source codes to the Wii as well as hardware test demos for the 1996 Nintendo 64. There were even some internal documents for the 2001 GameCube.
“The biggest and craziest thing in this leak is the datasheets, block diagram and Verilog files for every component,” Atheerios, a ResetEra forum user said. “Verilog is a hardware description language; it is used to describe circuits via code, so with this, we can learn how every single piece of the Wii was made.”
Nintendo has yet to issue an official statement behind the leaked documents. Based on what they are going through right now, that may take time. The company is already struggling to brush up their game development phase, a reason why the planned Nintendo June Direct presentation holds some uncertainty. With quarantines in place, the work-from-home setup has not entirely helped keep Nintendo's operations afloat.
Based on the rising cases of COVID-19, it may take some time before Nintendo finally normalizes its operations. The leaks may be irrelevant in a sense but are still illegal. The person/s behind it remain at large and there is a chance they may never be discovered. Either way, it means Nintendo needs to ramp up its security measures to make sure that other important codes or documents on their end do not come out in the open like the most recent one.
