The infamous Nintendo “gigaleak” isn’t a constant presence. Instead, it finds its way onto the internet in chunks, often bringing plenty of insight into the company’s past that has hitherto remained sealed behind closed doors. For preservationists, however, it’s something of a boon to see so much video game history brought to the forefront.
Once again the leak has sprung, and most of the new information comes from the folks over at Forest of Illusion, and we’ll spotlight the best bits.
For starters there’s the most visually striking part of the bunch – Green Wii Remotes.
Early Wii-Mote designs. pic.twitter.com/GYAb9dLqdS
— Forest of Illusion (@forestillusion) July 20, 2021
Ignoring the coloration, some, like the one on the left, look quite similar to the final product. Others, however, seem to take notes from the MP3 players and iPod designs that were all the rage in the mid-2000’s.
Sticking with the Wii, the other major leak highlights an early version of the Wii Virtual Console menu. Seemingly shown at E3, it is a much more basic design, where the console and box-art are front and place.
Photo of the Wii Virtual Console from E3 2006. pic.twitter.com/sZRxGqgKu2
— Forest of Illusion (@forestillusion) July 20, 2021
Another big leak comes from the Pokémon series, which has been pretty prone in the past. This time around it’s a Diamond & Pearl prototype, and even now folks are finding prototype Pokémon names – we almost got Ploopil!
BETA SINNOH STARTER NAMES.
EXCELLENT. BRAVO. MUAHH pic.twitter.com/FnrKn21Sn2
— Lewtwo (@Lewchube) July 20, 2021
Similarly, a Pokémon Emerald ROM and an early version of Let’s GO Eevee have also been found though huge revelations have yet to be made as of this writing.
Finally, there’s an iQue GameCube listing. iQue was Nintendo’s branding in China for a while, and supposedly this unreleased model was set to feature CD and DVD support – something the GameCube itself lacked.
Some more info on the cancelled iQue GC. They wanted the system to be capable DVD/CD playback, as well as not be able to play regular GameCube discs. pic.twitter.com/cmJ66XLd4k
— Forest of Illusion (@forestillusion) July 20, 2021
We’re sure to see more Gigaleak content in the coming months, it’s just a matter of when…
Written by Tom Brown
Whether it’s an exciting new entry in a series long established or a weird experiment meant only for the dedicated, Tom is eager to report on it. Rest assured, if Nintendo ever announces Elite Beat Agents 2, he’ll be there.
