Nintendo 3DS Gets Region Codes

By Douglas Perry
published

Nintendo

will apparently continue its policy to ship its handheld gaming system with region code protection, while prevents games to function across multiple generations. So if you happen to be in Japan or in Europe on a vacation or a business trip, you won't be able to run a game purchase there on your 3DS.

It is not unusual for Nintendo, as the DSi and DSi XL consoles integrate region codes as well, while the original DS and DS Lite versions were region code free. Typically, these region codes separate global geographies such as North and South America, Japan, China, Europe and Oceania.

The high price of $300 of the 3DS suggests that especially enthusiast gamers may adopt the 3DS first and it has been especially this group that complained about region codes before as it forces them to wait for certain games and prevent the import of games from other geographies.        

Douglas Perry
23 Comments Comment from the forums
  • rbarone69
    This is complete crap... Not the article, but the fact they are restricting content.
    Reply
  • pozaks
    "So if you happen to be in Japan or in Europe on a vacation or a business trip, you won't be able to run a game purchase there on your 3DS."

    Oh. How inconvenient.

    "The high price of $300 of the 3DS suggests that especially enthusiast gamers may adopt the 3DS first and it has been especially this group that complained about region codes before as it forces them to wait for certain games and prevent the import of games from other geographies."

    How very speculative of you... from the price, to who will buy it, to how they will react. I'm finding this article to be rather wack.
    Reply
  • masterbinky
    If the enthusiasts that desire imports are a part of the early adopters, the inclusion of region restrictions creates a market for circumvention methods/devices. I believe that developing a business motivation for others to reverse engineer the 3DS by such a stance is a poor idea if you want to keep away from another R4 situation.
    Reply
  • eklipz330
    eh the region codes dont bother me

    what does is the pricetag

    i will HAPPILY wait for the revision due in two years, and as well as a pricedrop.


    sadly, i know nintendo will still reap amazing profits because of the hype behind this machine, and i won't get the price drop that i want so bad.

    ....but here's hope to the psp2, and hope they severely undercut the 3ds, maybe even by $100... they will gain a massive amount of marketshare and fanbase, despite the fact they may not reap as much profit... maybe even work at a loss... i think it would be worth it on their end though
    Reply
  • jimsocks
    lame, region codes,no cross-realm play. Bs
    Reply
  • pharge
    yea... I do not have that much problem of region code itself. The problem I have/had was that there are so many great games they relased in Japan will/would never get to released on this side of the ocean.. specially those tranditional/Japanese RPG games.
    Without regin code.. I can still try to play the games by improving my Japanese skill or guess the words...
    With region codes... I will either forget about them all together or have to but a Japanese version which can not play anything I buy at here (so inpractical)...
    or... I will be forced to jailbreak it like many of my friends did for their Wii.
    Reply
  • miloo
    honestly i dont why the fxxk they want to do the region code ~
    now i cant play japanese games ? alright probably a R4 3DS will solve the problem ~ wait and see
    Reply
  • borisof007
    Pricetag will me murderous. I expect this to drop to $199 very quickly.
    Reply
  • TheViper
    Douglas, you might want to edit this article for syntax and fact checking.
    Reply
  • The DSi isn't region locked. I just loaded Ouendan 2 into my US system no problem.
    Reply