Over the past week, hundreds of files of leaked Nintendo code and documentation were released in an event many now dub the Nintendo Gigaleak. This massive leak includes cancelled projects, source code, development tools, prototypes, and much more. With the sheer volume of information that is now publicly available, the Gigaleak may in fact be the largest leak in video game history.
The leak primarily stems from two posts on 4Chan. Each posts contains gigabytes of information and data directly from Nintendo's internal channels. It's unclear how users were able to access these files (consider the massive Nintendo hack back in April) or who these individuals are. The Gigaleak contains primarily SNES-era titles and Nintendo 64 projects, but does feature a few newer games including Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. There are also several never-before-seen and unheard of titles that Nintendo never pursued.
The leak is primarily seen as a credible event. Given the sheer volume of data released, it's implausible that someone will have taken the time to fabricate this degree of information. With certain files, players have been able to reproduce and test the data on their own consoles, further providing the information to be accurate. Plus, the leak has garnered comments from developers that have a history with Nintendo. Q-Games chief Dylan Cuthbert, who worked on the SNES Star Fox titles, has confirmed upon several of the Star Fox related leaks. Having stated this, that does not eliminate the possibility of false content, but the majority of the Nintendo Gigaleak does contain legitimate information.
Mario History Surfaces Through Massive Nintendo Leak
The Mario franchise is perhaps the most prominent aspect of the Gigaleak. One of the most notable discoveries has been the unearthing of a Luigi model for Super Mario 64. This confirms a long-time fan theory that the game was originally supposed to support both of the Mario brothers. The leak has also revealed files for unused test rooms and beta-only enemy types. This isn't the only Nintendo 64 Mario title to be revealed, as a prototype of Super Mario Kart has also been found. The files include unused tracks, a drift-less build, a unique title theme, and an alpha version of what would later become Mario Kart 64. Interestingly enough, the prototype included original Super Mario Kart sprites as placeholder art before the 3D models were integrated. Super Mario World had a few leaks of its own in the form of sprites. The original Yoshi sprite was much more dinosaur-like than its current iteration, featuring a funny-looking protruding nose. Apparently Bowser also used to have legs in a few unused art assets while one Luigi model seemingly has him flipping off the player.
Sticking close to the Mario topic, a Yoshi's Island prototype was also released through the leak. The game, which has a prefix of "Super Mario Bros. 5", features a different map screen UI than was seen in the final release while also including placeholder music from Super Mario World. Apparently, the game contains two cut mini-games and a couple of unused testing levels. On the note of unused content, the Gigaleak has stirred up a lot of questions surrounding a game simply known as Super Donkey. The game is suspected to be an early prototype of Super Mario World 2 (a title which later became Yoshi's Island) and features similar game mechanics to Yoshi's Island. However, the main character is an unknown protagonist, who some are saying looks a lot like Stanley the Bugman from Donkey Kong 3.
Nintendo Leak Reveals Cut Pokémon & Legend of Zelda Content
Pokémon has also been a huge part of the Gigaleak. Early placeholder and beta sprite designs were unearthed for the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl series. While some of these sprites closely resemble their final iteration, other Pokémon aren't even recognizable (especially in the case of Arceus). The leak also unveiled a cancelled Pokémon MMO. The game, which was pitched as early as 2004, showed that the Chinese company iQue had been working on the Pokémon prototype for sometime. The game would have allowed for players to connect their Game Boy Advance to their PC. Players would be able to catch around 30 Pokémon total and access egg hatching, regional weather patterns, and battle tournaments once connected to a PC. The game was meant to include Pokémon Colosseum-style online trainer battles based on the unearthed code that was discovered.
There were a few notable leaks involving the Legend of Zelda franchise as well. Early map designs for Ocarina of Time were unearthed, alongside unused areas like an early prototype of Kokiri Forest. Several pre-rendered backgrounds have also surfaced which show off the Ocarina of Time's Temple of Time before it was fully completed. A few alpha enemies, including a "Baby Skeleton," have also been found. Many speculate that some of this leaked data may have been a part of the failed Ura Zelda expansion for the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive. The sprite sheets for a cancelled Zelda 3 side-scrolling title show what a post-Zelda 2 game for the SNES could have looked like. What's notable here is that in two variants of Link's sword, the blade of the weapon features rust and blood. While the rust is not surprising, given that Nintendo often opts to to be family friendly, the inclusion of blood is an odd choice.
What The Nintendo Gigaleak Revealed About The Original Star Fox
Also worth noting is the leak of Star Fox 2's original source code and a few unseen characters. Q-Games chief Dylan Cuthbert, who worked on Star Fox and Star Fox 2 for the SNES, has made several direct comments on these leaks which confirm their validity. In fact, one of the 2 CAD tools he made for Star Fox 2 has been circulating about, which he stated he hasn't seen in "almost 30 years". An unnamed user was also able to compile a working build from Star Fox 2's leaked source code which has turned out to be the age-old 1995 Winter CES demo of the game. The unveiled character sprites reveal an unknown female character who seemingly never made the cut in the final game. Who she is and what significance she held in the Star Fox games is not clear. High quality, uncompressed voice samples for Star Fox 64 were also uncovered during the leak. In a similar vein, more information came out regarding Dragonfly, the game that would later become the flight-simulator Pilotwings. While the title was known prior to the Gigaleak, the event has revealed unseen art assets and screenshots from the game.
Given the sheer volume of the Nintendo Gigaleak, there is likely more information that the community has yet to unearth. Many fans are enjoying this never-before-seen look into Nintendo's history and its nice to see the level of documentation that the company has maintained since its inception. Without Nintendo's careful cataloging, much of the aforementioned data would never have existed. For video game enthusiasts, this is definitely a rare and exciting opportunity to see how some of Nintendo's changed before their inception.
Unfortunately, this massive of a leak has posed concerns surrounding company privacy. Given that Nintendo has already faced a massive hack earlier this year, this leak isn't something to celebrate from the company's perspective. Paired with a console leak which revealed a slew of information about the Nintendo Wii's development process, there is a lot for Nintendo to be concerned about. At this time, it's unclear how the Gigaleak will be affecting the company going forward and what possible ripple effects it may have on the entirety of the video game industry.