Nintendo says New 3DS will also be region locked

Both the New 3DS and New 3DS XL will maintain Nintendo’s region locking policy.

The platform holder confirmed the news to GameSpot.

That means that systems will only be compatible with games bought from the same market – so no American games will work on a European console, for instance.

While region locking has traditionally been very much the norm some modern systems, most notably those from Sony, do not region lock their software. Even in the last generation PSP was region free and Xbox 360 software was only region locked if a publisher decided to do so.

However, Nintendo’s recent stance has been resolute on the issue, with both Wii U and 3DS sticking with region locking despite plenty of vocal demands from their respective fanbases who would like the opportunity to import software from the East that is not available in the UK.

In July of last year Nintendo president Saturo Iwata admitted that while "from some people’s perspective, it might seem like a kind of restriction, we hope people can appreciate the fact that we’re selling our products worldwide”, adding:

"There are many different regions around the world, and each region has its own cultural acceptance and legal restrictions, as well as different age ratings. There are always things that we’re required to do in each different region, which may go counter to the idea that players around the world want the freedom to play whatever they want.

"I hope that game fans can understand that the industry isn’t doing this solely out of business ego. There are some reasons behind it."

The New 3DS and New 3DS XL were unveiled last week. They offer a second analogue nub, additional shoulder buttons and a beefed up CPU, meaning some games designed to work for the new models won’t be compatible with existing hardware.