New Wii drives, designated 'D2E', have apparently been sighted in the wild. What does this mean for people using modded versions of the Nintendo Wii console, specifically those who are using the Wasabi modchip? Not a thing, says the Wasabi team. More in the full article.

We hear that all is not well in South Korea for Nintendo, who's next generation console is taking bad rap from the hardcore elite in the country. The negative gossip all revolves around the fact that the localized Wii consoles are only accepting localized copies of Nintendo games, and from the looks of it, Nintendo isn't getting corresponding versions of the most demanded titles into the market fast enough. The result: Wii sales have been sluggish at late. More details follow at the full story.

Gaming piracy is a serious problem that seems impossible to eradicate. But is there hope for game developers? According to Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, there is, thanks to the TPM encryption chips that are being built into some of the latest motherboards. More in the full article.

Playing Japanese Virtual Console games on your North American Wii? Judging by a video posted in YouTube, it's not going to be a problem anytime soon. Watch as this demo reveals how a U.S. Wii seamlessly loads a Japanese VC game, seemingly without any problems. The video in the full article.

The ELSPA anti-piracy unit was hard at work once again as it found two more illegal video game traders at the Bradford Computer Fair. Over £100,000 in goods were seized by the joint operation conducted between the West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service (WYTSS) and West Yorkshire Police. This amount comes in the form of some 12,000 copied software and over 150 devices used for modding console systems More details regarding this in our full article.

The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) and some of its partners recently conducted a raid which yielded illegally copied Nintendo DS games stored on discs. Meanwhile, ELSPA's crime unit head, John Hillier, wants to remind gamers (whatever console you may own) the detestable effects of piracy on the whole industry. For more on this raid, head on over to the full article for more information.

Nintendo wants to send a message that you can't always get away with hacking and pirating. In a recent raid, authorities in the UK cracked down on a website and traced the source of the modchips that it sells. Two people were arrested and some 2,000 chips were seized to be destroyed later. Details after the jump.

(Editor's Note: And a wham, bam, thank you, ma'am! It's time for another recap in QuickPeek 38!)

While some of us hate numbers, it's still interesting to see them all lined up there looking pretty. From piratical statistics, calendar dates, new version release numbers, price tags, survey results on "bedroom pasttimes", error codes, and, oh yes, blobs doing arithmetic.

Score another one for the Anti-Piracy Unit from ELSPA, as it seems that they've caught another pirating outfit and nipped it at the bud. Sure, it was in plain sight for quite a while, but it's definitely a victory. Not only were all the goods and illegal copying equipment was confiscated, but the penalties lodged against the culprits should make any future attempts at the crime a very risky business. More details at the full article.

When part of the homebrew community, getting into trouble with the company behind the platform you're developing for is always a concern. The team that pioneered homebrew on the Wii, Team Twiizer, is set on not stepping outside of the legal boundaries. In a recent interview, they remarked that they will not be making an ISO loader for the Wii. More details in the full article.

Thanks to Max for the tip!