In keeping up with the times, Nintendo Europe has published a public service announcement informing its faithful readers about the dangers of modification microchips, known on the street as mod chips. Mothers, lock up your daughters, this could get serious.

As explained by the article, mod chips can require you to dismantle and reassemble your Nintendo hardware, "circumvent" the embedded security, cause cancer* and can get you arrested for illegal activity (except in Australia, where modding is perfectly legal).

Even more important to Nintendo, though not explicitly stated, is how mod chips could harm its business. Aside from allowing players to circumvent region locks, many mod chips allow you to play games you have downloaded and burned onto a disc -- even games released for the latest consoles.

It should be noted that mod chips are different than case modding, which does not change the inherent functionality -- you may void the warranty, but you certainly won't be handcuffed. Ben Heck, you're in the clear, but you've lost that "bad boy criminal" pick up lines you so often use at parties.

* Not confirmed; tests are currently being conducted to verify the correlation between cancer and mod chips.

[Via Go Nintendo]