In a move that is sure to see an unprecedented outbreak of face-palms around the world, Nintendo have confirmed that their new upcoming money-printing device, the 3DS, will be region locked. In a statement to Eurogamer, the Japanese publisher clarified recent rumours regarding regional lock-out. A Nintendo spokesperson said:
Nintendo 3DS hardware is available in three versions: Japanese, American and European/Australian. Nintendo has developed different versions of Nintendo 3DS hardware to take into account different languages, age rating requirements and parental control functionality, as well as to ensure compliance with local laws in each region.
Additionally we want to ensure the best possible gaming experience for our users, and there is the possibility that Nintendo 3DS software sold in one region will not function properly when running on Nintendo 3DS hardware sold in another.
There are partisan viewpoints regarding both the justification and the restrictiveness of region-locking software to a hardware device. While the latter school of thought promotes freedom of use and an increased choice, proponents of region-locking routinely quote how a more tailored service per region is in the best interest of consumers.
Whatever your stance on the topic, this news does make what Sony are primed to announce about the PSP2 even more interesting.
Source: Eurogamer
Person678
Not exactly a lot of good press about the 3DS lately.
ARUMIR Sympozium
PSP 2 I pray for thee
Kamokazi-UK
But most of mine i save for three…
Charmed_Fanatic
*Fingers crossed*
teflon
Well, one step forward, seven steps back from Nintendo here. Poor battery life, region locking, high pricing etc. etc. The list keeps getting bigger, and the justification they gave for region locking is truly awful.
Come on Nintendo, don’t get complacent again.
thefan604
fuck sake why man
Foxhound_Solid
Ah well, whats done is done
shields_t
Seems a little daft, I appreciate the reasons for separate region focusses on consoles, but I would think handhelds would benefit from people being able to purchase games for them wherever they travel to with them.
If that were the case in the past, neither my PSP 1000 which came from a trip to New York or my DSLite, which came from Tokyo would have had any games bought for them.
colmshan1990
I’ll always remember buying Final Fantasy Tactics for my PSP in a JFK airport vending machine.
Only in America, or at least, not in Ireland!
;)
Harinero
Yes, well… someone is bound to fix it sooner or later…
Bladesteel
When will companies understand than trying to divide the world into different markets this way will backfire.
This is an incentive for people to find a way to break the security of the device, in order to play imports of games that would otherwise be unavailable. And once they’ve done that the step into piracy is much smaller.
Sorry for yelling but QUIT SELLING US INFERIOR PRODUCTS TO WHAT THE PIRATES ARE PUSHING