In a bid to combat piracy, the latest Nintendo DSi firmware update, v1.4 blocks flash cards so that users can't play games that have been downloaded illegally.

Companies that sell the DSi flash cards, such as NDS-Gear, have been sending out warning messages to people who have bought the card. Sent to us by an anonymous reader, NDS-Gear sent out the following email:

Nintendo has released their new firmware which blocks DSi cards from working. This problem affects every DSi worldwide (except for America, where the Nintendo updates have not been released yet but will soon be).

The Nintendo update occurs when you try to do a manual update on the DSi or if you try to enter the DSi shop through WiFi. Please DO NOT do any of the above if you still want to use your DSi cards. It is also a good idea to disable the Wi-Fi settings on your DSi. If your DSi is prompting you to update its firmware, please DO NOT accept the update request.

The flash card manufacturers are already working on the problem though if users have rendered their cards useless and believe that they'll have a solution shortly. The email continues...

Currently all DSi cards will not work if your Nintendo DSi is updated to the new 1.14 firmware. The DSi card manufacturers are now working to fix the problem. If you have updated your Nintendo DSi and are looking for a DSi card, it is wise to just wait for a few weeks until the DSi card manufacturers fix the problem.

Currently, we believe that many DSi cards will simply never work again on an updated DSi, due to the way they are manufactured. However, there is a lot of hope for some of the cards - in particular, our very own EZFlash Vi and Acekard 2i cards. We are hoping (but cannot guarantee as it is out of our control) that they will release an update to fix their cards in the near future.

The firmware update also adds a new application for Facebook that allows users to take pictures on their DSi camera and upload them to the community website.