Nintendo 3DS Apparently Will Be Region-Locked

Bad news for importers, as Japanese and European games won't work on U.S. 3DS units.

Although they had remained undecided on the matter even up to the announcement of the device at E3 last year, it looks like Nintendo has indeed made the 3DS region-locked.

The confirmation comes by way of an email from Nintendo of Japan's customer support, translated by NeoGAF user farnham. "The Region Codes are installed in each games and the 3DS itself. If the codes don't match, you can't play," the email reads.

 

So that means, for example, that if you plan on importing a 3DS from Japan when it releases on February 26, you won't be able to play U.S. games on it. Similarly, if you planned on importing Japanese games to play on your U.S. handheld (the 3DS launches here in March), those won't work either.

 

The decision is in keeping with Nintendo's change in policy when it comes to their handhelds, though. While the DS and DSLite were both region-free, the DSi and DSi XL were both region-locked as well.

Source