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A cache of a quarter-million spreadsheets, emails, and other personal documents from Nintendo of America — obtained by the website WiiLeaks and made available to Bitmob and other organizations — offer an unprecedented look into the inner workings of a major console and software manufacturer.
Among the revelations:
- Executives at NOA engaged in lengthy and candid discussions in 2006 over the term "Wii" and its possible sophomoric connotations.
- Recent high-level memos express concern that a rumored merger between EA and Activision would reshape the gaming landscape.
- NOA secretly approached Sony and Microsoft to include God of War's Kratos and Halo's Master Chief in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
- Nintendo software is currently running internally on the iPhone as a contingency "should the 3DS fail to meet projections."
WiiLeaks is believed to have received the trove of information from a disgruntled QA tester — known only by the Friend Code 3875-9283-5739 — who downloaded the content to his Wii SD card.
The leaks have sent shudders through the publishing community, with some companies vowing to impose even stricter embargoes on pre-release information and require non-disclosure agreements signed in blood.
After the jump, find an excerpt from a memo concerning the possible EA/Activision merger. Certain names have been redacted to protect confidential sources.
Parody made possible by the actual release of sensitive government documents by the website WikiLeaks.