Last weekend, there was news doing the rounds about a "massive" Nintendo leak revealing all about the Wii generation. It was believed to be a game-changer – with a user on ResetEra explaining how the information contained within the leak could be potentially used to "learn how every single piece of the Wii" was made, thanks to the alleged discovery of source code, design files and much more.
Since then, a member of the "Team Twiizers" Wii hacking group, known as Hector Martin (who also happens to be an IT consultant) has looked into the apparent leak and found it to be "complete nonsense" – explaining to PCMag how the files supply no actual source code to reproduce Nintendo's seventh generation video game console.
Most of the documents discovered are believed to confirm information that was "already" known, or provide "interesting technical tidbits" that come with no practical consequence. Martin goes on to state how someone out there might find something, and might even possibly fix emulator bugs, but whatever is discovered is likely to be incredibly minor – given the timing of this leak.
Most of the docs at this point are confirming things we already knew, or providing interesting technical tidbits, which are fun, but of no practical consequence[.] They contain documentation, source code for some parts of the system software (just a small portion), architecture diagrams and engineering docs like that. I’m sure someone is going to learn something interesting from this, maybe even fix some emulator bugs, but it’s all going to be very, very minor at this stage in the game[.]
Martin has continued to tweet and answer questions about the leak over on Twitter. And Nintendo continues to remain silent about it. You can read more about the supposed findings in our previous story.
[source pcmag.com, via nintendowire.com]
Comments 46
Yeah, but we’re all sitting at home twiddling our thumbs so anything we haven’t paid attention to on the Internet is the greatest revelation ever at the moment.
The title "Wii Hacker Dismisses Recent Nintendo Leak As "Complete Nonsense" is extremely misleading. He isn't dismissing the leak itself as nonsense, he clearly accepts it is a real leak... but rather he's saying the claims about it being some incredible game changer are nonsense.
are you telling me I won't be able to play Swiitch games on my Wii anytime soon?
@Branovices I agree, it made me think the leak was fake, before reading the article of course.
Given that the Wii was already "hacked" and modded so much at this point, these leaked docs doesn't really matter at all that much TBH, unless like he said if you're into the emu stuff then it might. I also did some personal homebrew projects myself back in the late days of the Wii. Other than that there's really no "game changer" here.
@Branovices Yeah much as I love this site the titles are often sensationalised, lazy or just incorrect.
NL - I also think you could put a bit more thought into the titles, great though your content generally is.
This could easily have been edited as something like 'Wii Hacker dismisses the significance of recent 'major Nintendo leak'
The best thing about the leak is that we now know the meaning behind the M in MIOS, the code that starts GC games on Wii and also fixes up incompatible games; most notably The Wind Waker.
It stands for mini...
I don't buy this. Modern Vintage Gamer did a pretty big video on it and from what he said, you have basically the keys to the castle.
But he also explained how people like those who made the Dolphin emulator cannot even look at it because what makes emulators like that legal is because they are created by reverse engineering the code. It becomes illegal if you just steal original code written by someone else.
I'm no programmer, but I've watched MVG for a while now, and though I don't always agree with him, I do think he knows his stuff. So I'm gonna trust him over this guy.
That title was really misleading, lol
I suppose the Wii was cracked wide open a long time ago so there isn't really anything super revelatory about this leak. But hopefully it can be used to perfect some of the already great emulators on the Wii. I still love the Wii - It was a really amazing console. I can still hear the sound of the Wii Shop Channel music playing in my head sometimes, lol
Since when did rumors start to be called leaks? Leak implies that the information is largely factual. But people nowadays seem to call any rumor a leak.
I already hacked my Wii years ago and it can do everything you need it to. Dvd player, Wii and Gamecube back ups. I found the GBA emulator on it to be kind of trash when I tried years back but it may be better now. I still use it to play Gamecube games and Mario world hacks on the SNES emulator, but that's the only time I turn it on as I play my wii titles on my 100% legit Wii U. So, really, what would this have done? Perhaps allow China to make super, super cheap knock off units?
@roboshort Given that the reason the leaks are ‘nonsense’ is because it’s actually information that’s already known, then yes, it’s a leak. It would be a rumour if the information wasn’t known to be true, which it is.
@Heavyarms55 someone replies to this guys' tweets and mentions MVG for not checking his facts first, and MVG has responded too. They also call out Nintendo Life for the same thing...
@Heavyarms55 https://wiibrew.org/wiki/Team_Twiizers
Required reading for you. If you refuse to, I'll put it bluntly this way:
Anyone on Team Twiizers is a expert on the Wii and it's hacking scene at this point, so they are far more knowledgeable and their words carry far more weight than some Youtuber who you think "knows his stuff" just because you're familiar with them.
@Heavyarms55
MVG admitted he made his video based on heresy, and never actually looked at the documents himself. Weak, considering he himself is a pretty accomplished modder.
Well duh, the Wii has been hacked to death at this point for years now, wasn't expecting much of anything new from the homebrew scene with this leak given how well everything from the homebrew scene already runs on the Wii. At best, maybe we could hope for some minor improvements to Wii64 Rice or WiiSXr.
@brunojenso I agree, NL has gone down the hill in that regard.
@Branovices yeah they're tryna get them clicks
@Zyph yeah and the dolphin emulator runs about 99% compared to original hardware so I dont think there will be any improvements in emulation. At least noticeable improvements
ah well, I was excited, guess I still am cause there is more mystery
@nessisonett Maybe the article was poorly written or I am reading it wrong but what you wrote only seems to be part of it. And if something is already known, it is also not a leak.
@Heavyarms55 the guy you see is wrong. The secrets of the Wii were opened long ago. Even emulation on PC on a very high level exists since 2011/2012. So maybeeee with this “leak” of a 14 year old console, the emulation of the N64 in the console can work better with certain games, but everything else has been uncovered really.
Is like I said, when this “leak” appeared. Every single secret of the Wii has already been uncovered. But, the title of Nintendo’s most vulnerable console goes to the Wii U. That one is even easier to crack than the Wii.
It is interesting mainly because it confirms things that were already figured out and give us a better insight into decisions Nintendo made. But the truth is that the Wii has been gone officially since 2013 and honestly was replaced with a console that does everything it did and more. The only thing the Wii has is the advantage of is that there is millions more in the wild so the prices should be better long term.
I am more interested in when we get to the point that someone is able to use something like Dolphin to built a compatible system that includes all the benefits of Dolphin while having the compatibility and extras of a modded console.
Just holding out for improved N64 emulation. F Zero X for example runs mostly fine, but there is some pop-in and textures not loading.
@RickD They’re talking about the Wii, not the Xbox Series X...
We've adjusted the headline here slightly for the sake of clarity - to highlight that the importance of the information obtained is doubted, rather than the existence of the leak itself.
The missing piece here is the lack of Nintendo action/litigation, They may choose to do something later on but if this was damaging or affected business in an immediate manner then they would have jumped on it. Either they are still reviewing it or they choose to let it be for now. So based on this it is likely not significant.
@KillerBOB he is an "xbox" "hacker", wasn't active on the wii
"fix emulator bugs" I know right away Dolphin team has said they have avoided looking at the leak data because only if Nintendo caught them doing it, could Nintendo successfully threaten legal action against them.
Ok, so the Wii stuff is minor. How about the N64 leaks, can we still expect something major to come out of that? What about the 2TB of data the guys received?
The ironic thing is that the Dolphin emulator is already spectacular; way better than you could realistically expect (even PS2 emulation can bring a modest-spec computer to its knees; this thing is doing Wii and Wii U like a boss!)
So it really isn't that game-changing, I can see that.
Now an N64 source code leak, that would really plug some holes. Actually a SNES leak might be even better, since we all know that BSNES guy will never sleep until his dream of a cycle-accurate emulator is realised...
gets Breath of the Wild running on new 3DS due to extra info from the leak, there you go Hacker, bon appetite .
@arty77
Primarily Xbox, but also Nintendo stuff
https://www.retrorgb.com/devilutionx-diablo-ported-to-the-nintendo-switch-courtesy-of-modern-vintage-gamer.html
@KillerBOB back then he made xbox, then xbox360 stuff. since xbox one hasn't been hacked, he switched recently, as it seems
@RickD You know it's called duct tape, right?
In other words. Said hacker says "Too little, too late" and is actually only annoyed that this appears after their team put too much effort into reverse engineering things before hand.
@RickD -A- brand is Duck Brand. Duck Brand Duct Tape. Their product is still called duct tape. And there's nothing apocryphal about it.
@KillerBOB When did he admit that. Talk about hearsay, sorry, I'm not just gonna take your word on that.
@Heavyarms55
https://twitter.com/ModernVintageG/status/1258208713137152000
I think this is the tweet that KillerBOB was reffering to.
@Kman5 Yuck! Twitter...
But if this is the case, alright then. He should really put out a follow up video. Frakking hate social media.
I do appreciate you sharing the message though, instead of just claiming something and never backing it up. Thank you.
@Heavyarms55
Didn't have to back it up because it was true.
Kind of like if I said "water was wet". Just trust me 🤡
@RickD I'm not sure where you read that, but most of it is false or unsubstantiated. It was most certainly not made of cotton duck fabric. The story
is that soldiers believed it LOOKED like cotton duck fabric, thus explaining a possible reason behind calling it duck tape (that and its water resistance). And yet that's not the tape that's commercially available anywhere anymore. The stuff sold virtually everywhere is a variation on it designed to connect heating and air conditioning ducts, sold in a silver (not green) color.
It's definitely called duct tape.
@KillerBOB And you're officially on the "do not trust list" forever now. Have a nice day.
@Heavyarms55
You are an Otaku, trust me!
After all this year now we get Wii leak. I say eh... The Switch is the new Kid in town. You can't play Switch games on Wii anyway that is so pass-on news....
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