IGN sat down with Nintendo global president Satoru Iwata at E3 to discuss the issue of region locking. Both Sony and Microsoft have announced that their forthcoming next generation consoles will be completely region free, which just leaves Nintendo. The original Nintendo DS and DS Lite were region-free, but this all changed with the Nintendo DSi. Here’s what Satoru Iwata had to say on the controversial issue of region locking.
“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.”
'Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock-n-roll.'
-Shigeru Miyamoto
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