New Nintendo Gigaleak Files Show Wiimote Prototypes and More

A new round of Nintendo Gigaleak files have popped up online, revealing several Wiimote prototypes, Mii concept art, and some as-yet unconfirmed info about older Pokemon games.


Published: July 20, 2021 3:51 PM /

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New Nintendo Gigaleak files Wiimote Mii Pokemon Let's Go Eevee cover

New Nintendo Gigaleak files have been uncovered and show some pretty interesting stuff including early Wiimote prototypes and Mii concept art, both of which are very different from the final product.

Roughly one year ago, the Nintendo Gigaleak made waves on the Internet by unleashing a ton of behind the scenes information from the Japanese video game software and hardware developer. The first batch of leaks included source code for classic games and development repositories.

Subsequent leaks included other bits of Nintendo history such as a lost Animal Crossing villager and a somewhat different design for Mario from Super Mario World. A new round of leaks has just popped up online, showing us some more interesting stuff about the GameCube and Wii eras among other things.

New Nintendo Gigaleak files Wiimote Prototypes
Left: a Nintendo Wiimote. Right: five Wiimote prototypes. (Prototype Wiimote Image Credit: Forest of Illusion on Twitter.)

New Nintendo Gigaleak Files Reveal a Way Weirder Wiimote

One of the bigger reveals in the new Nintendo Gigaleak files is a set of five prototype Wiimote images shown in this Twitter thread from Forest of Illusion, a group that's dedicated to preserving Nintendo's history. These prototypes are somewhat more complex than the final product as you can see in the image above.

Two of the four prototypes had additional L and R buttons placed on either side of the A button (which is shown as the B button in the prototype images). Some of the stranger designs had arrow buttons placed around the A button.

Nintendo Mii Concept Shows a Very Different Design

Also revealed in the new Nintendo Gigaleak files was some Mii concept art that shows quite a few different customization options that we never got — check out what game developer and preservationist TV posted to Twitter:

New Nintendo Gigaleak files Mii Concepts
Various concepts for Miis. (Image Credit: TV on Twitter.)

These Mii Concept images show that players would have had the option to color-code their gloves and shoes, possibly as a way to highlight different players or teams in a game.

That's not the only new thing shown in this concept art, though — a Mario-style plumber outfit and brown shows are also shown in the "Type 4" concept; neither of these options were developed for the public by the time the Mii feature made its debut.

New Nintendo Gigaleak files Pokemon Let's Go! Eevee slice

What Else Was in the New Nintendo Gigaleak Files?

The Wiimote prototypes and Mii concepts are the big things we can show for the moment, but that's not all that was revealed in the new NIntendo Gigaleak files.

China almost got a version of a GameCube as a follow up to the iQue Player; a draft document for a version of the console to be produced by iQue required the ability to play DVDs and CDs while leaving out the ability to play existing Nintendo GameCube discs. While the iQue Player was based on Nintendo 64 technology, this second Chinese gaming console would have been based on the GameCube,

ROMs and files related to Pokemon XY and Pokemon Let's Go! Eevee were also featured in the leak. Unfortunately, nothing of substance on the Pokemon front has been discovered just yet.

Our final interesting point is the "teru-sama_mail_2006.7z" file mentioned by Forest of Illusion on Twitter. This ResetEra post speculates that it may be referring to Pokemon staffer Teruki Murakawa. That same user also says that there is speculation surrounding a PC build of a Pokemon game.

That's all we have for now. More details about these new Nintendo Gigaleak files are likely to be revealed in the coming days as people explore their contents.

What do you think of the prototype Wiimote designs shown in the new Nintendo Gigaleak files? Would you have wanted the ability to color your Mii's hands and feet? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


A photograph of TechRaptor Senior Writer Robert N. Adams.
| Senior Writer

One of my earliest memories is playing Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I've had a controller in my hand since I was 4 and I… More about Robert N