Out of the big three hardware manufacturers, Nintendo is the only company with a home console that implements a region lock. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will be region free when they launch later this year. Of course, the 3DS is region locked as well.
In a recent interview with IGN, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata weighed in on the region locking situation.
He said:
“From some people’s perspective, it might seem like a kind of restriction. However, we hope people can appreciate the fact that we’re selling our products worldwide. 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.”
For what it’s worth, Iwata discussed this topic before Microsoft changed the Xbox One’s region locking policies.
