The CIA has released a slew of files obtained from former Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, revealing that the terrorist had a collection of emulated video games stored on his hard drive.
The files were taken from his personal computer, retrieved by the CIA during the raid on his compound in 2011. Six years later and the files have now been released, revealing an insight into how he spent his time while on the run from the US army in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks.
The video games found stored on his hard drive included Nintendo DS games such as New Super Mario Bros, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Metroid Prime Hunters and Yoshi’s Island DS, while he was also found to have downloaded a Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars ROM. He had also downloaded the old RTS Army Men 2 and the puzzle game Zuma.
It also transpires that Bin Laden was an anime fan, with his hard drive also storing various Naruto, Bleach and Dragon Ball games, the complete Devil May Cry anime series and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Yes, it appears that along with being a terrorist, Osama bin Laden was also a weeb.
Also: Final Fantasy XV Director Talks DLC, Final Fantasy’s Future, the Nintendo Switch and More
As you’d imagine would be the case with a terrorist, Osama bin Laden had no qualms about pirating his video games, with all of the titles found on his hard drive having been illegally downloaded from torrent sites. He had also downloaded a number of console emulators, such as GBA emulation software, allowing him to play his games without having to own the consoles.
Alongside his love of video games and anime, Bin Laden also had an eclectic film taste, with him having also downloaded the animated movie Batman: Gotham Knight, Antz, the Resident Evil movie and — perhaps unsurprisingly — the documentary Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?
Bin Laden was killed at the end of a 10-year search by a team of US Navy SEALs, with them uncovering him in his secret compound in Abbottabad, near the Pakistani capital Islamabad, on May 2nd, 2011.
