Nintendo's upcoming portable, the Nintendo 3DS, will have firmware updates. According to company president Satoru Iwata, this isn't only to stop piracy.
The 3DS will update automatically, and the fact that the portable is updating automatically is an important feature to Nintendo. According to Iwata's past experience, manual updates can keep some individuals from updating their machines.
Thus, the 3DS's automatic updates can definitely help Nintendo combat piracy, but also, as Iwata points out, it can enable Nintendo to introduce new features, etc. This ability, Iwata says, is more important to Nintendo than stopping piracy.
"The main thing we want to do is offer players new features whenever possible," said Iwata.
It is even possible for Nintendo to offer firmware updates through the software ROM cartridges as well.