While other video game console manufacturers such as Microsoft and Sony have more or less done away with region-locking, unfortunately the same cannot be said about Nintendo who has a reputation for steadfastly region-locking their games and consoles. In fact in 2013, gamers took to petitioning the White House to ban the act of region-locking.
Well the semi-good news is that Nintendo has heard your concerns and has mentioned recently that they will be looking into it. According to a translation provided in the NeoGAF forums, Nintendo’s President Satoru Iwata had this to say. “As for what should be done going forward, if unlocked for the benefit of the customers, there may also be a benefit for us. Conversely, unlocking would require various problems to be solved, so while I can’t say today whether or not we intend to unlock, we realize that it is one thing that we must consider looking to the future.”
Basically Iwata mentions that there are pros and cons to region-locking and while it does seem that Nintendo is still leaning towards keeping their games and consoles region-locked, they are acknowledging that this is an area in which they could be exploring in the future. It’s hard to say when Nintendo will abolish the practice, but in the meantime are you guys at least happy to know that there is a faint possibility of that happening?
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