Datel are uncertain about the future of the Freeloader and whether they will be able to offer an updated product any time soon.

Datel answered the prayers of thousands of gamers earlier this year when they released the Freeloader for the Wii, a product which cancels out the region lock on the console and allows users to play NTSC titles from America and Japan. Early copies of Super Smash Bros. Brawl whilst Europe remained without a release date and an extra-bloody version of No More Heroes were among the more popular imports when the product was released back in March.

Unfortunately for those users, Nintendo rendered the Freeloader obsolete with a new firmware update earlier this year, and Datel have kept schtum on the situation ever since. N-Europe reader ThePigMarcher emailed Datel to find out what was going on with the product, and received a response that wasn't very reassuring...

"Thank you for your recent enquiry unfortunately at this early stage we are not sure when, if ever, we will be able to release a new version of Freeloader that will run on consoles that have been updated with the v3.3 firmware. No refund is or exchange is available (outside of the terms and conditions of the returns policy offered by your point of purchase) since the Freeloader continues to be fully compatible with Wii firmware 3.2 and below."

For importers who want to keep up to date with their Wii updates and continue to import games, it looks like the most solid option would be to actually import a Wii from America or Japan.

Thanks to ThePigMarcher for the heads-up!