We may have gotten a look at the Nintendo Switch thanks to someone who got their hands on the console early, but apparently, the circumstances surrounding the early release were not exactly legal. While most could figure that out from the very beginning — and by the posts that followed the initial reveal on NeoGAF — Nintendo officially addressed the leak and confirmed that the consoles in question were stolen. The company released an official statement to IGN on the theft:
Earlier this week, individuals claimed to prematurely purchase a small number of Nintendo Switch systems from an unspecified retailer. Nintendo has determined these units were stolen in an isolated incident by employees of a U.S. distributor, with one system being illegally resold. The individuals involved have been identified, terminated from their place of employment and are under investigation by local law enforcement authorities on criminal charges.
This still doesn’t explain why Nintendo hasn’t released the details contained in the leak themselves. People are desperate for details on the console and what it can actually do ahead of its release on March 3rd. The hype seems to be there, so why hold back? As Kotaku points out, we don’t even know if the console will feature the Virtual Console. It’s an odd decision for a console that still seems interesting and a step forward from the Wii U.