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.

In all honesty, we’re not quite sure what this move will accomplish, other than to give Nintendo increased control over software prices. That’s an advantage largely negated by the fact that this will give hackers more motivation to crack open the system to circumvent such restrictions, which of course has the potential side effect of piracy – even if not intentional.

Nintendo 3DS Region Code confirmed by Nintendo JP Support [NeoGAF]

Follow this author on Twitter.