[tbaher]

Usually when a company decides something is free, they announce it. (The actual company does, like what happened with Tribes?)
Now for nintendo to announce that (which it didnt) means that they have a hidden reason for doing so. Never out of the goodness of their heart will they just say "here, instead of me making 1 cent every 10 years out of this, you can have it for free" Corporations actually like to keep patents and copyright stuff lying around forever cause they might just get some money out of it (sometimes by infringement lawsuits even)