iQue Player
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The iQue Player is a game console which was released by iQue in 2003 and partially developed by BroadOn. It was built from the ground up to circumvent China's ban on home video game consoles by being presented as an educational device and integrating the controller and console into an all-in-one unit. It uses an ASIC which replicates the CPU and RCP of the Nintendo 64 while adding new features such as USB support and a 64MB NAND flash memory chip.
Similarities with the Wii
BroadOn (which was named RouteFree at the start of the iQue Player project)'s first known venture with Nintendo was the design and implementation of the iQue Player's hardware and software. As part of this, they created the fundamental DRM and digital distribution system which would later be carried on to the Wii and future Nintendo platforms. Many aspects of the Wii's system architecture are directly based on concepts which were originally created for the iQue Player, such as the boot sequence, filesystem, and the IOP-OS kernel.
Hacking
In 2018, the iQue Player was hacked by a small team of hackers after an SDK and plaintext games for the device were leaked in April 2018 by Zammis Clark (as part of his data breach) through the scene release group SUXXORS.[1]
Plans to release in other regions
In 2004, some news outlets reported that Nintendo had plans to release the iQue Player in South America[2]. However, this seemingly never manifested as no South American iQue Player units have been found nor is there any announcement of their release.
