Datel’s Freeloader disc for the Nintendo Wii arrived last month as a miracle for many a player who, they hoped, would help allow them to play region-locked games on their console. It seemed to have been working without a hitch so far, but now it seems that the solution does play nice with the Japanese version of Mario Kart Wii, throwing the future of the device into question.

GoNintendo reports that import specialist retailer Play-Asia is sending out automated messages to those players who have pre-ordered a copy of Mario Kart Wii. Here’s the most crucial part:

This is an important e-mail update regarding your pending preorder Mario Kart Wii (w/ Wii Handle) (Nintendoâ„¢ Wii Japan, NTSC J)

We received the first small delivery today for testing and unfortunately we have to inform you, that the game is not compatible with the Datel Freeloader (US and PAL Version).

There were always fears that Nintendo would act swiftly to block players from importing games from other regions to play on their Wiis. Whether this is just a one-off blip or the beginning of the end for Freeloader (until Datel overcome the blockage, probably) remains to be seen.