Modern Vintage Gamer just released a video [0] discussing this leak in greater detail along with its expected implications.<p>Anyone who's curious can find the download links by backtracking through all the Pokemon Prototype General threads under the Pokemon board on 4chan.<p>One of the leaks that caught my attention was the source for Pokemon Blue, partially because of nostalgia and partially out of curiosity to see what an old game's codebase even looks like. The first thing that stood out to me was the project's flat folder structure, full of hundreds of files; I guess I was expecting things to be a bit more structured. The source is more readable and approachable than I expected, although I've only poked around in some of the more obvious places and definitions. I'd recommend watching The Ultimate Game Boy Talk [1] before trying to dive into any code.<p>[0] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8G7eq0GlQs" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8G7eq0GlQs</a><p>[1] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyzD8pNlpwI" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyzD8pNlpwI</a>
To be clear, this doesn't just contain the source code of the software. It also contains the Verilog for the N64 GPU and other important hardware component, which is hugely important. From what I gather, it also contains full version history from their VCS.<p>While it is very interesting, it's worth noting that anybody hoping to use this for anything "serious" risks getting the Nintendo lawyers on their ass. Emulators won't touch this, neither will console clones. This leak is both a blessing and a curse.
I like drawing metaphors from Tamiya. Tamiya is a Japanese scale modelling and remote-controlled vehicle company with a loooong history of making quality products that the industry just eats up. Like Nintendo, Tamiya has always been in the back row when it comes to technological innovation, but lead the pack when it came to functionality, reliability, and quality. Just like Nintendo, there are Tamiya fan clubs where people are enthusiastic about products from this one company. The rest of the industry doesn't exist to them. I'm trying to illustrate how Tamiya is to the R/C world what Nintendo is to console games.<p>That said, vintage Tamiya products new in original packaging from the 70s and 80s can sell for thousands and thousands of dollars. Simple plastic and aluminum parts that were consumable in the 80s were selling for hundreds of dollars in the late 2000s. The market was a rough place. I have about a dozen antique Tamiya models, so I was one of those people engaged in bidding wars for 1/4" long tie-rod ends. A brand new Tamiya in the 80s was probably about $100 for a rolling kit. Now people are paying that for individual parts. Nobody was having fun with their models anymore. Everyone was just dusting them off and spending money keeping them pretty.<p>Tamiya had to get the kids playing with their models again. They had to take this exclusive, elitist market they created by accident 30 years ago and start making money off of it again.<p>So Tamiya re-released nearly <i>ALL</i> of their vintage kits. Brand new, with original design, documentation, decals, and packaging. This was in addition to their new models and high-tech racing vehicles which were still being released on a regular schedule at the same time. Initially all the collectors (myself included) were livid, because for a while it meant my $1,100 Bruiser 3-speed was only worth $500. That didn't happen either. For a time the prices dipped significantly, but collectors still demanded vintage parts to repair their vintage models. The prices soon stabilized. Now that market is healthy and stable, vintage vehicles can be repaired cheaply if desired, and collectors can still spend thousands on NIB models.<p>If Nintendo embraced their market they could possibly reap the same benefits. The enthusiasm for their products is there. Tamiya has shown it is possible to separate collector demand from commodity demand and still have those ecosystems thrive side-by-side. I think Nintendo could pull that off as well.
Is this bad? Am I misunderstanding?<p>What financial damage does this do when Nintendo no longer manufacturers this console or actively developers for it and hasn't for years, or a decade in the N64/GameCube's case?
From an archiving perspective, this is incredible. I don't trust corporations, even those as wonderful as Nintendo, to do proper archiving of their systems and release it even 100 years on.
One of the most interesting parts of this is the story behind Nintendo's use of friend codes rather than Gamertags.<p>There was a presentation [0] leaked that outlined that usernames "weren't simple enough". It's a great look into Nintendo's Wi-Fi Strategy<p>[0] <a href="https://www.docdroid.net/Qr3JNsl/wi-fi-concept-pdf#page=11" rel="nofollow">https://www.docdroid.net/Qr3JNsl/wi-fi-concept-pdf#page=11</a>
God I would love to see Mario 64 re-released with a full ray-tracing engine for an Nvidia RTX. The PC port is already there, perhaps with the help of information stolen in this leak.
> The PC emulation community could also theoretically use the data to improve their software so that it imitates the original systems perfectly. However, since the leaked documentation has been illegally obtained this would put them in murky territory.<p>I'd love to hear opinions about this whole thing from folks who work on emulators.
It would be amazing to see the Gameboy/N64 emulator hacker community expand, and NEW games begin to be developed based on these docs. Maybe Nintendo could double-down on this and turn it into good publicity
Did have to remember the linux law case of a few lines of code nearly got the case. Very hard checking about anyone copy a few lines. Not a good development short term. Good for historical analysis.
Nintendo "suffering" a leak is one (very pro-corporation) take on this. Probably not the one most people would have on hearing about this though.