Spanish police arrest man over Nintendo gamer hack Published duration 14 February 2011

image caption Details of 4,000 Nintendo users were stolen, according to Spanish Police

Police in Spain have arrested a man who allegedly stole details on thousands of Nintendo users and tried to blackmail the company.

The unnamed individual obtained data on 4,000 gamers, according to Spain's Interior Ministry.

It is claimed he threatened to contact the country's data protection agency, accusing the firm of negligence.

When Nintendo did not respond, he began leaking some of the information online, said police.

The man was arrested in the southern province of Malaga.

Authorities say he had been planning to release the full contents of the user database onto the internet.

It is unclear if the alleged theft was from Nintendo's own computer system or that of a third party.