Earlier this week, Nintendo released DSi and Wii firmware updates that are said to block the use of piracy-enabling flash carts and software modification on the consoles.

Nintendo's Web site only says that the DSi Menu Ver. 1.4.1U update "provides behind-the-scenes improvements to system performance."

However, online forums have reported that the new update breaks many popular brands of DSi flash carts, such as the Acekard 2i, M3i Zero, Supercard DSTwo, DSTTi and iPlayer. There are some flash carts that still reportedly work even with the update, including the popular Hyper R4i.

The Wii firmware's latest version, Wii Menu 4.3U, warns users that "if your Wii console includes unauthorized modifications this update may detect and remove unauthorized content causing immediate or delayed inoperability of your console."

The new update builds on the Wii Menu 4.3 which was released lat June. The upgrade also deleted user modifications "because unauthorized channels or firmware may impair game play or the Wii console," the company said through its Web site.

Users can refuse the update on their consoles. However, future Nintendo game releases may require up-to-date firmware to run properly.