Nintendo's Region Locking

So this topic, even though the subject was known for a few years but people seem to be slow, has appeared recently in which Nintendo's 3DS and Wii U are still region locked while the Playstation 4 and X-Box One will not be. There are people writing to Nintendo and Facebook campaigns and what not wanting Nintendo to be Region Free on their new systems. They are pretty much saying "If Sony and Microsoft do it, why can't you?" and that they would like to import games.

Nintendo did release a statement that said that they have no plans to change it and that "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."

So I have mixed feelings on it. While I kinda see the point (not the one Nintendo made but from another point) in which there is less of a chance of localizing the games when region free and it is easier for Nintendo (who are smaller than both Sony and Microsoft) to see the status of game sales in each country better. However, at the same time there are a number of anime games that I wanted to play on the Wii that I haven't been able too that I know will NEVER get localized here. While I think the "Region Free" is more of a bullet point for the PS4 and XBox One because most people don't import and only a handful do.

I feel like it's probably a vocal minority that truly care about that type of stuff and that's why Nintendo won't budge on the matter.

Yeah, probably this. Though I did like how I could play Jump Ultimate Stars on my original DS.

I personally don't mind region locking because I can't read Japanese anyways. A lot of games that people want are just re-releases or visual novels, which are even more niche in the American market. I would prefer if they didn't do this, but considering they brought over stuff like Tatsunoko vs Capcom and Rhythm Heaven Fever I'm pretty sure the big titles should still get localized anyways.

I don't mind region-locking , after all pretty much every game developed are either too culturally different in terms of gameplay , difficulty ,motif or concept.

One of the many things I don't like about Nintendo.

It's weird seeing how Sony and even Microsoft don't really do region locking, yet Nintendo insist on doing it.

Doesn't really affect people here, and it doesn't have that many negative consequences either. I remember games like The Last Story and Pandora's Tower got EU releases with English voice acting, but didn't bring them to the US till much later. And vice versa for the EU for games like FE:A. There were also a couple games that came out much later in the EU, and those had game breaking bugs.

One current example of how region locking sucks is that new One Piece 3DS game. It's been announced a while ago and set for localization in Europe but just now we're learning they have no plans to bring it to the US.

and what makes that relevant to region locking?
-I can read Japanese just fine.
-I play and finished the Japanese ver. of Catherine which is much harder.
-I like playing quirky Japanese games much better than the AAA scene.

The only valid reason for region locking is region pricing.
Like what happened for Pesona 4 arena, the first disc based region locked game for the PS3. This was done to prevent Japanese people importing the identical US version because it was cheaper and it will hurt the sales in Japan.

Other than that, any other reasons are just bullshit.