Bad news for importers: a rep on Nintendo of Japan's tech support line has confirmed that the 3DS is indeed region locked. While Nintendo handhelds have traditionally been region-free in the spirit of portability, the company broke that long-standing tradition with the advent of the DSi and DSi XL. Both allow carts with DSi-specific features and DSiWare titles to be played only on units that match the target region.
The effects of region locking are more detrimental in the 3DS' case, given that releases of DSi-specific carts were few and far between[...]
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