An Aussie bloke has agreed to pay Nintendo $1.5 million in damages after illegally copying and uploading one of its new games to the internet ahead of its release.

James Burt, 24, of Sinnamon Park in Queensland will pay Nintendo $1.5 million after an out-of-court settlement was struck to compensate the company for the loss of sales revenue. Burt made New Super Mario Bros for the Wii gaming console available for illegal download a week ahead of its official Australian release in November last year.

Burt will have to pay Nintendo's legal bill of $100,000. Quite where Burt will get $1.5 million from is not clear. His leaking of the game meant that it was seen in Australia before anywhere else. This is unusual as Australia usually has to wait months for games and hardware.

Nintendo claimed that the early release spoilt it for the rest of the country which was why the bill was so high.