If you plan to purchase a DSi in Japan when it’s released in November and hoping to have a region free handheld gaming device, then you’re going to be awfully disappointed. Nintendo has announced that because of of the online features for the system, they’ve decided not to allow people to purchase a Japanese unit and have it work with American games. A Nintendo spokesperson confirmed it with CVG:

“DSi software is region locked, for example European DSi software can only be played on European DSi consoles. DSi embeds net communication functionality within itself and we are intending to provide net services specifically tailored for each region”

Although, Nintendo didn’t blame piracy for the primary reason we think it had to be the main reason. Considering Nintendo never had a handheld region locked before but this time they do, and at the same time people for the first time are hacking the crap out of it –  it only makes since.

So if you can’t speak Japanese, we recommend to hold off on buying a DSi until it comes out here in the states next year.