Hi,
I am new to this forum and I have subscribed on behalf of my son and have a couple of problems...

1) I have bought him a 3DS in the US. It appears that for some bizarre reason Nintendo have regionalised the consoles so it will only play US games. Is that right? Can it be hacked in the same way you can hack mobile phones? Can we buy US games from somewhere in the UK?

2) I charged it in the US before I came back to the UK in the cradle. I am now in europe and am for some reason cannot recharge it. I left the cradle at home in the UK. But surely it should charge without the cradle? I am just plugging the charger straight into the back of the device. Is that right?!

I cannot believe the charging is regionalised, what would a american do if they were travelling?!

Honestly, I´ve had this thing for a week and I´m ready to bin it! PLEASE HELP!

Big Thanks

Hello chilli and welcome to the forums,
I am afraid that yes all 3DS games are region locked, but I am not sure about charing.
I can only reccomend that you buy a new 3DS and/or sell your current one on ebay.

Welcome to the forums!

Oh, also, you might not be able to charge your 3DS in different countries if they use different power outlets, so you would need to buy a different wall adapter.

1) Yes, the 3DS is region-locked. Sorry. I'm sure you can find a place to buy US games off the internet if you so desire. It might actually be cheaper than buying UK games. But if you don't want to go through the hassle just sell it and get a European 3DS. (It is forbidden to talk about hacking on here by the way.)

2) The 3DS will charge without its cradle but your problem lies in the fact that the US, UK, and the rest of Europe use a different voltage and frequency for electricity. You're going to have to buy a whole new 3DS charger or get a travel adapter.