Not sure if anybody is surprised but it is now confirmed that the new, more powerful 3DS that is coming out in Japan next month will still be region locked. I have hated region lock all my life and used Region free carts on Saturn, Dreamcast and even GameCube for imported games so see where people are coming from. Now Nintendo on the other hand argues that specific region adjustments must be made in order to make the game region friendly. My take is very simple; Let the people decide. If a person wants to buy a Japanese Sonic Adventure 2 for his GameCube like I did, let him do it. It is up to me to decide if I want the Japanese version or wait for an american one.
The argument supporting Region locking is that companies spend allot of cash translating and localizing games and may end up losing money if people started importing then ignoring the local versions. The answer is very simple but requre the developers spend little extra; Make the game with both English and Japanese text as an option and before you start: You are asking too much, this game did it!
This is 2014, Sony and Microsoft did it so why cant Nintendo? Must they always lag behind? One of the reasons Nintendo is in the position it is, is because they refuse to acknowledge anything but themselves. Don’t get me wrong, I love Nintendo like the next guy but things must change before its too late. Crossing my fingers for a better, region free future in gaming.