What The Nintendo Gigaleak Is (& Why Its A Problem)

What The Nintendo Gigaleak Is (& Why It’s A Problem)

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The Nintendo Gigaleak dumped a massive number of files online consisting of design philosophies and source codes. Here’s why that’s problematic.

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What The Nintendo Gigaleak Is (& Why Its A Problem)

Nintendo recently had a massive stockpile of information leaked on the internet, commonly known as the Nintendo Gigaleak. Two huge sets of files leaked on 4Chan provided source codes, development philosophies, and unreleased material from Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 games. These sets released source codes of some of the most impactful games in history, like Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and a canceled Pokémon MMO for the PC and Game Boy Advance.

The methods used to obtain the files are still unknown, however, it doesn’t seem like any Nintendo employees would risk their career to leak these old files. The leaks don’t appear fake either, as the sheer amount of content and remarking resemblance to actual titles would be nearly impossible to emulate. Considering Nintendo admitted up to 160,000 Nintendo accounts were accessed by hackers earlier this year, there’s cause for concern about Nintendo’s cybersecurity infrastructure.

The Gigaleak comes just months after a huge Pokemon Gold & Silver source code leaked, revealing a number of unused and changed Pokemon models. Some of the most riveting reveals from the Gigaleak include asset files of Luigi in Super Mario 64 along with an early prototype of Yoshi’s Island for the Super Nintendo. Having access to the source code of several classic Nintendo titles means that independent developers can mod the ROMs of original titles to include these older assets like Luigi in Super Mario 64.

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Why The Gigaleak Is Bad For Nintendo

Developers spend years working on source codes for games. It’s a lengthy process that involves hours upon hours of dedication, reworking, and sometimes starting from scratch. With the release of so many source codes online, some developers like Dylan Cuthbert (who worked on a few Star Fox titles) felt the leak was intrusive considering how private that content is. In addition to the source code, several early models, emails, and personal information may have been leaked onto the internet with the compilation.

It’s private stuff so it feels intrusive, source code is hours and hours, years and years, of personal work, long hours, sweat and tears.

What’s also worrisome is Nintendo’s lack of cybersecurity. This leak may be the biggest dump of potentially illegally obtained information in gaming history. Additionally, there have been several leaks over the past year, along with Nintendo’s ongoing issues with hackers. This data breach means Nintendo could be potentially vulnerable to more attacks in the future, which could compromise players’ account information. In a worst-case scenario, someone might find their games inaccessible due to a hack, or even worse have their personal information stolen.

Having a full source code of older titles gives independent developers and modders an endless supply of content to toy with. The Nintendo Gigaleak means custom ROMs and games can now be made using those files, but using that specific code could put a lot of these modders in legal trouble with Nintendo. While gamers would love to see some extra Super Mario 64 content, it might not be worth having their favorite modder sent to jail over.

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Link Source : https://screenrant.com/nintendo-gigaleak-snes-n64-mario-zelda-leaks-hack/

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