Whoa. That was fast:

So the first Wii mod chip was announced, and is purportedly on its way to resellers. While several reputable sites are listed as confirming its authenticity, I have be skeptical of the official YouTube video:

There's a tape in the VCR. So.....

Regardless, it's going to be a different game this time around. While the Dreamcast was split wide open courtesy of M$oft WinCE, and the PS, PS2 and Xbox were all successfully modded, none of them bore the same invaluable security device as the current "Next Gen" consoles:

The internet. My Wii connects to the net nightly, gets mail, checks for firmware upgrades, etc. Given what happened with the PSP once Sony caught on to homebrew apps running on their portable, I think that it's safe to say the modding community may have a more difficult challenge this time around. Similar to what Xbox modders faced when trying to play Halo 2 on Xbox Live, any next-gen console has the capability to download mod-checkers, execute them, and report back to the mothership, if the firmware is so coded. Provided Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft know what weakness the mod chips exploit, there should be a way to detect them and block their functionality, if not bricking a console altogether. Like the Dino Crisis startup scan on the PSOne, but constantly evolving.

In a way, it might end up being similar to viruses vs. anti-virus software. The irony being that the roles will be reversed - the gamer who mods their console is going to be fighting the software, not the virus!