For the most part, Nintendo has done a good job of protecting its latest handheld from rampant piracy and other unsavory activities. However, those same security measures have prevented more enterprising fans from exploiting the 3DS in fun, safe ways. Worry no more, as a homebrew application is coming soon to the device.
Developed by amateur programmer smea, the 3DS Homebrew Channel is something of a spiritual successor to the Wii Homebrew Channel, which opened up the white box to everything from game mods to classic console emulation. According to this info roundup on Tiny Cartridge, the app currently supports North American, European, and Japanese machines, and it will run on the latest firmware. He stresses that you will not be able to play commercial or pirated 3DS ROMs, but he is still tooling around with getting proper region unlocking up and running — great news for importers!
Once the 3DS Homebrew Channel is out in the wild, other programmers will no doubt have a field day, adding new features left and right. I'm personally excited for the potential of region-free gaming at long last!
