When Nintendo announced the New 3DS, the third major revision of the 3DS family, there were a number of fans who thought — perhaps foolishly — that this latest machine would scrap the region-locking mechanism that prevents games outside of their home country from playing on their devices. GameSpot was able to squash that hope quickly when it received direct confirmation from Nintendo that region-locking will remain.
Region-locking has been one of the most prominent marks against Nintendo these past few years. While its home consoles have always restricted software playback, the handheld line from the original Game Boy through the DS Lite allowed owners to run games from anywhere on the planet. This all changed with the launch of the DSi and DSi XL, which limited playback of DSi-enhanced titles, and continued with the 3DS, which restricts all 3DS software — thankfully, non-enhanced DS titles can still be played worldwide. Why Nintendo chose now to change its policy is a mystery.
Meanwhile, both Sony and Microsoft have embraced a market without regional boundaries — PS4, PS Vita, and Xbox One all support region-free gaming. At the very least, Nintendo should allow just the portables to play any country's software. What happens if you are on vacation and want to buy a game while abroad? What if a game is never released for your region and you don't want to have to import a second console just to check it out?
Anyway, the New 3DS is still set for an October 11 release in Japan. The US won't get it until 2015 at the earliest.
