Early Prototype Wiimote, Wii Startup Disc Code Info, & Nintendo Office Floor Plan Leak

Update: This article has been updated as of July 31, 2020 8:04 AM – new information has been brought to our attention. We had originally speculated certain people that we believed to be a part of the original 4chan leaks, but it has been revealed to us that they are in fact not the original leaker(s). Furthermore, the information in this article is not related to the two previous “gigaleaks” that took place on 4chan – this is entirely separate information. Please read this entire article through til the end for more info on this.

The leaks just do not stop coming. With the sheer amount of Nintendo source code, games, and information being leaked online over the past few days, we decided to do some sleuthing to see if we could track down the original leaker(s) who set this whole Nintendo leak extravaganza in motion. What we found appears to be much greater than that – while searching for the originator of the previous leaks, we inadvertently stumbled upon fresh info as it was unfolding.

We found a group of users who had just recently posted photos of what appear to be an early prototype Wiimote, along with info on a Wii startup disc code, and much more. In this article, we will explain exactly how we stumbled upon all of this info and what other leaks appear to be coming in the future.

As previously mentioned, we originally started out in search of finding the source who first leaked these files onto 4chan. Since 4chan is primarily intended to be “anonymous”, that made this a fairly difficult task. We had originally speculated that all of the leaks might in some way be connected with Ryan Hernandez, aka RyanRocks462 – the guy who was arrested and pleaded guilty to federal crimes related to his computer hacking scheme. We since have been notified that this is incorrect, RyanRocks was not behind the recent 4chan leaks – more on this later.

Through our sleuthing, we found a Github account which appeared to be tied to an infamous leaker who who since was arrested. We combed through this Github account’s repositories and its followers. At the time, nothing exactly jumped out at us, but it was this list of followers that later helped us piece things together just a bit more.

We later took to Twitter to do some more research and see if we could narrow down our search. We were able to track down a user who had recently tweeted about the previous 4chan leaks. They had mentioned another user who appeared to be digging through the code and was posting screenshots of their findings. We followed the Tweet trail and after looking through these tweets, we stumbled upon one that they had made regarding the leaks. In the replies of their “L is real” tweet, they gave us a clue of where to search next.

After a quick google search, we found the website that had been mentioned. From there, we located the associated Discord server. After joining, we were able to quickly gather information using Discord search. Edit: We have since been notified that the information listed in this Discord server was not leaked directly by this community, but instead was just compiled to keep record of events as they happen – similar to many of the gaming news sites are doing.

We will not be sharing links to any of the files mentioned in this article for obvious reasons.

We found an entire Google doc which has effectively cataloged every single bit of information found so far in the first rounds of leaks from July 24 – 25, 2020. This doc is updated often and is quite thorough. At the bottom of the doc, there is what appears to be an…interesting Argonaut Games (the company who made Croc) internal email from 1994. The email is pretty explicit, with the first line reading “Wow, some justification for distributing porn around the office.” The email then goes on to list some very intense stuff – it appears to be a pretty angry email exchange.

The doc also has a link to a Pastebin which contains code for a tool to decode internal Nintendo emails – this is pretty heavy stuff.

One of the most interesting pieces of info that we uncovered was this chain of messages that ranged from May 2, 2020 – July 9, 2020. Messages were sent regarding the “leak” back in May, and then on July 9th (over 2 weeks before the leak was released to the public on 4chan), a user posted about the Pokemon Generation 1-4 leaks, The iQue and Wii leaks, 3DS leaks, etc. They even claimed “we didn’t start the fire”. We also have been notified further that thiestatement “we didn’t start the fire” is word for word accurate – this group did NOT initiate the leaks, but instead got wind of the news that was incoming to the public.

You can even see a post about what is believed to be the naughty video that was found in the leaked files.

We then found photos of what appear to be prototype Wii remotes, a strange early Wii system console, the Wii startup Disc code, and the following:

Also, it appears that even more dirty videos have been found – this time allegedly being linked to Nintendo employees.

Additionally, it appears that a floor plan of a Nintendo office has been found and 2 separate versions of the Wii startup disc are known to exist.

Along with the information and files that have already been leaked, from what we can tell, it seems like there is quite a bit more on the way.

Since publishing this article, we have been reached out to by prominent members within the Nintendo hacking community with info regarding the hack. The following is their statement:

A quick google search of “Zammis Clark” will return multiple articles on a hack from 2017.

The Verge stated the following about Zammis:

“The Microsoft intrusion ended when Clark uploaded malware onto Microsoft’s network, and he was subsequently arrested in June, 2017. Clark was then bailed without any restrictions on his computer use, and went on to hack into Nintendo’s internal network in March last year. Clark gained access through Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and used similar software to hack into Nintendo’s highly confidential game development servers. These servers store development code for unreleased games, and Clark was able to steal 2,365 usernames and passwords until Nintendo eventually discovered the breach in May 2018. Nintendo estimates the cost of damages between £700,000 ($913,000) and £1.4 million ($1.8 million), and Microsoft previously provided the court with a vague estimate of around $2 million in damages.”

From what we have been told so far, the internal Nintendo files stolen are rumored to be over 2.5TB in size. With that being said, one thing seems clear – the leaks aren’t over yet.

The community continues to sift through files, uncovering hidden secrets about Nintendo and its properties that we never knew existed. While some members of the community may be running the fine line of legality, others simply are passionate about their research and uncovering pieces of Nintendo history – their dedication and ingenuity are quite impressive. Who knows what further information will surface in the coming days?

We will continue to update this article live as more information becomes available.

We do not recommend downloading any of the leaked files. Openly reading about them, researching, and discussing them are one thing, but downloading them and having them on your machine are another. Furthermore, you have no idea if the people who are reuploading these leaked files have added viruses or malware – in general, it’s best to just not do it.