If true, all the more reason to request localizations

An email response supposedly from Nintendo JP Support has dashed gamers' hopes of eventually importing games for their 3DS.

As spotted by a member at NeoGAF, the quoted email originally posted on Korean message board Ruliweb speaks of the 3DS and how it locks out foreign games upon detection, making them unplayable. Roughly translated, the message says:

There are no Region codes in DS and DSlite... But DSI, DSILL,3DS has Regioncodes... The Region Codes are installed in each games and the 3DS itself. If the codes dont [sic] match... You cant [sic] play...

Nintendo hasn't officially confirmed nor has it denied whether this is true or not, so until it does, consider this another rumour in the lead-up to the machine's launch in the next couple of months. Hopefully, Nintendo will see itself in a position to tell us if the 3DS will be region-locked or not when the preview events take place next week.

[source neogaf.com]