> Now would be the time for Nintendo to seriously consider open sourcing some of this stuff
Unfortunately, Nintendo has never done anything like this. Maybe some reputable organization like a computing museum could ask them to place this information in escrow in the Internet Archive, so that it can be released "properly" after copyrights expire and trade secrets have long become irrelevant. But there's no way they're going to do more than that.
I know what you mean and agree that companies using open source should contribute back to it.
But I also think that the contribution to society from Nintendo's products should also be valued. Just because we pay for those games, doesn't mean our lives aren't better than they would be if the company didn't exist and we spent the money on something else.
They also contribute by increasing the market competition for games. They make other games and games companies better. They encourage innovation in ways that other companies wouldn't think about or wouldn't prioritize otherwise.
I'm totally ok with companies utilizing open source to make my life better in this way. Contributing back code for others to use is also an important activity.
Just so you know where I'm coming from, I personally would not pay for those games because they're closed-source, and I would not buy from any of their market competitors either for the same reason. Admittedly I'm not much of a gamer, my idea of a fun weekend is spending it on github. So the innovation doesn't really benefit me.
Unfortunately, Nintendo has never done anything like this. Maybe some reputable organization like a computing museum could ask them to place this information in escrow in the Internet Archive, so that it can be released "properly" after copyrights expire and trade secrets have long become irrelevant. But there's no way they're going to do more than that.