Nintendo NX release date rumors update: console rumored to be region-free

While avid gamers and tech aficionados are still mostly in the dark about Nintendo's much-anticipated new console, the upcoming device which is codenamed NX, rumors now have it that the company's new gaming system could come region-free.

Releasing the NX without a region locking feature will allow owners of the device to purchase and play games from any country. The rumor, which comes from Let's Play Video Games, cites insiders who claim that current development kits made available to developers are region-free. The report also states that the website's sources have not had any news of a region locking feature being added to the console before launch.

Should there be truth to this unconfirmed report, the NX would be Nintendo's first console in many years that will not feature region locking. This would mark a major detour for the Japanese company, whose home console offerings have always been region locked. While it is still unclear what type of gaming console the NX is, producing a home console or even a handheld home console hybrid that is region-free would be a big step by Nintendo towards opening itself to the worldwide console market.

Polygon notes that Nintendo's previous home consoles — the Wii, the Wii U, the GameCube, and others — have all been region locked, meaning that owners can only play games bought in their region of origin. This meant that gamers in the U.S. have missed out on games that were only made available in other parts of the world and vice versa. If the NX happens to be region-free, owners of the device can play games that were exclusively released in regions other than their home countries.

Meanwhile, in a recent interview with alistdaily, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime spoke about the upcoming console, saying, "One of the things that we have to do better when we launch the NX – we have to do a better job communicating the positioning for the product."

"We have to do a better job helping people to understand its uniqueness and what that means for the game playing experience," he added. "And we have to do a better job from a software planning standpoint to have that continuous beat of great new games that are motivating more and more people to pick up the hardware and more and more people to pick up the software," Fils-Aime continued.

Other than a previously confirmed March 2017 launch window, specific details about the release of the NX has not been announced.