New 3DS hack disables Nintendo's region lock

A cheeky hacker on the GBA Temp forum has reportedly figured out a way to break the region lock on the Nintendo 3DS so the handheld will play games from any country.

You're going to need a 3DS that hasn't been updated in many months and is still running firmware between 4.1 and 4.5. The most recent firmware update for 3DS was version 7.1.

You're also going to need a DS flash card that works on 3DS. If you've got all that, just follow the instructions on GBA Temp and your console should now play retail games from any region you like.

The hack - which only needs to be done once - also stops your 3DS from playing pirated DS games.

Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata previously defended the 3DS region lock to IGN. He said: "I hope that game fans can understand that the industry isn't doing this solely out of business ego." He then said that "there are some reasons behind it."

What are those reasons, you ask?

"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."

As always, Pocket Gamer takes no responsibility if you follow this guide and manage to bugger up your console in the process.