No need to fuss over modchip requirements. GameCube Backup Launcher's fine without it and it just got a version update. This one adds support for Freeloader and Action Replay, and as some improvements on speed performance among other things.

Download: GameCube Backup Launcher v0.2

Heigh ho, Wiibrewers! Welcome to the very first edition of the Wiibrew Weekend Warrior. This is where we talk about the best and latest homebrew the community has to offer. To start off the Weekend Warrior with a bang, we have the skinny on the Wii Brew SD Installer for those who are new to Wii homebrew, and we also have news on WiiRD and GeckoSD, invaluable debugging tools for devs! That, and much, much more after the link!

Team Twiizer's Twilight Hack may have finally found a workaround for Nintendo's Wii System Menu v3.3's security updates, but it's a different story for Datel's Freeloader. It seems that the product page has been removed from Codejunkies.com. More in the full article.

It looks like the 3.3 Wii Menu update has done more than disable the Twilight Princess hack. It seems the update has also taken care of Datel's Wii Freeloader, rendering it useless if you update your Wii. More confirmation after the jump!

Ever wanted to play that import title before the localized version made its way into your region's video game retail outlets? Then USB Gecko creator Nuke has just the app for you, and it's absolutely free. Presenting the first version of Gecko Region Free, Nuke's own application that lets you play games outside of your region. Awesome? Very! All the details you want in the full article.

Download: Gecko Region Free v1

Wondering just how Datel got their recently released Wii Freeloader disc to work in light of the past problems its GameCube version experienced? The company sent a press wire explaining how Freeloader works, which you can view over in the full article.

Though Nintendo probably won't be happy, we know there's a pretty fair share of Wii owners out there that will appreciate this development. Remember all the rumors around the Wii Freeloader disc that someone oft let loose on the Internet? Some may have thought it a cruel joke - getting Wii gamers' hopes up and disappearing just like that. But it appears Datel kept their promise - however slow but steady - and finally got the Wii Freeloader for Wii games out in 2008.

For the guys who haven't picked up on the news yet, Nintendo updated the Wii console's firmware a few days ago. And while the update added plenty of new features to the console, it was also discovered that it locked out Datel's Freeloader discs, which gave players a chance to play Gamecube games coded outside their region.

In case you're wondering what Nintendo intends to do about this, the word is that they've decided to keep mum on the matter. The company also stated to Eurogamer that since Datel's Freeloader disc was a third-party product (hence it wasn't one of theirs), they could do nothing about the reported lockout.

That's the info we've got for the moment, although we imagine the guys the PAL regions may want to start looking for other workarounds to get their choice imports working. Consider this a reminder that for all the cozying up that Nintendo shows to the fans, its first priority will always be to protects its own interests.

The Wii firmware update was a pretty spiffy thing, what with the added features and all. Over at Kotaku, Luke Plunkett is reporting some side-effects to getting the upgrade, as Datel's Freeloader software doesn't seem to work with the new firmware.

According to Plunkett's article, instead of picking up the disc swapping message that you're supposed to get with the Freeloader software, you instead get a disc read error message that asks you to restart your Wii.

This development is rather disconcerting to gamers who import their games, though unless someone can figure out how to make it work again, you're going to have to make do without Freeloader for a little while.

Wii fans hoping to play import games, you have a reason to rejoice: Italian online store You Too has Datel's Wii Freeloaders in stock, purportedly for a June 30 release date. Datel's Freeloader lets consoles ignore region locks, which essentially lets you play any game regardless of its region.

Wii being region-locked has always been a source of disappointment for many a Wii fan who prefers quirky games in his library - many Japanese games are known to be too strange to be published locally in North America.