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    Nintendo 3DS

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    The Nintendo 3DS is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The handheld features stereoscopic 3D technology that doesn't require glasses. It was released in Japan on February 26, 2011 and in North America on March 27, 2011.

    European 3DS

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    xyzygy

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    I'm moving to Germany in September for school and I was thinking about getting a 3DS over there. I will be coming back in July 2014 however and I hear that the 3DS is region locked. I've never really had to deal with region locking before, so what does this mean? Should I wait to get a 3DS until I come back? What exactly will and will not work with a German 3DS in Canada and vice versa?

    I also have another more generalized question for things like the charger. Say if I buy a 3DS in Canada and want to take it to Germany, then would I simply need to get one of those NA to Germany input adaptors? Same goes for my laptop and all that. I went into The Source the other day and saw they they had NA to Germany adaptors for like 10 dollars. Is that all I'll need?

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    Justin258

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    #2  Edited By Justin258

    Your German 3DS games won't work on your North American 3DS and your North American 3DS games won't work on your German 3DS. You also won't be able to connect to the German eShop with your North American 3DS and... you get the picture. In other words, it's a safe bet that the stuff you buy in Germany will only work on your German 3DS and the same for North American.

    If you've got plenty of disposable income, then why not buy both? You'll be in Germany for a while, so you should have time to buy enough games to justify it. But it might be a smarter idea to buy your 3DS and a fair number of games in Canada and then import games to Germany if you want new ones.

    I don't know about the power adapters, though I think that would be fine.

    EDIT: The Vita is region free; is that an option?

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    konig_kei

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    eShop?

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    xyzygy

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    xymox

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    #5  Edited By xymox

    The eShop is also region locked. That is, Europeans can only buy games released digitally in Europe + Australia (I think?) but nothing from, for example, the japanese eShop.

    As for the power adaptors they wouldn't work either. The wall sockets and charger can have different pins/connectors (at least that's the case when bringing electronics from Sweden to the States).

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    Optix12

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    With power its best to just get a fresh new adaptor. If you want one to work in both areas you will need a 3rd party one which has changeable wall sockets (the plugs are different) as well as most likely one which can switch between 240v and 110v (the EU runs at 240V while US/im guessing most of canada runs at 110V)

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    Nictel

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    #8  Edited By Nictel

    Warning: Lots of games in Germany are actively translated, meaning you can only play them in German. So you maybe want to consider that as well. If you do get a 3DS in Europe I would suggest buying it online from e.g. play.com so everything is actually in English :-).

    If I were you I would get a 3DS in the US and order your games online in Germany (for e.g. from Amazon.com) though I tried it with a few games and some aren't able to ship to the EU but most seem to can. Also this forum thread might give you some insight. Some multiplayer games seem to be locked from local play as well :-(.

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    mwrizzle

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    #9  Edited By mwrizzle

    I bought a 3ds a while ago in Germany (was living and working there at the time now upgraded to 3ds xl back in UK)

    I bought games from gamestop germany and had no problems playing in English as my 3ds I had set up as english language. So the language barrier will not be a big deal for the 3ds as it most certainly is with other consoles where big titles are only in German.

    I believe that once you have your NA/canadian 3ds you could always buy digital games. As you can always change eshop location as I was able to change from German to UK(others correct me if I am wrong as I am not sure if this is only possible with europe)

    'Nictel' says it best with the ordering online of games. I did this with all my 360 ps3 games while there.

    Hope this helps a bit and best of luck with your move :-)

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    xyzygy

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    #10  Edited By xyzygy

    @nictel said:

    Warning: Lots of games in Germany are actively translated, meaning you can only play them in German. So you maybe want to consider that as well. If you do get a 3DS in Europe I would suggest buying it online from e.g. play.com so everything is actually in English :-).

    If I were you I would get a 3DS in the US and order your games online in Germany (for e.g. from Amazon.com) though I tried it with a few games and some aren't able to ship to the EU but most seem to can. Also this forum thread might give you some insight. Some multiplayer games seem to be locked from local play as well :-(.

    Oh, I know a lot of German and the reason I'm going there is for immersion. So actually having games in German will be beneficial. I've already played Lost Odyssey, Pandora's Tower, and Ni No Kuni in German in preparation haha.

    @mwrizzle Yeah, I think it would make more sense to buy one here but I still wish I could also be able to play the games in German. Hm. Maybe I will just stick to some light PC gaming or emulators.

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    mwrizzle

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    @xyzygy: Well when you are in Germany or even before you go there (if you decide to buy prior to moving). See if changing the language settings will make a difference. Games such as mario are not text heavy so it won't impact much there, but with the jrpg's you seem to be into, altering the system language might do the trick???

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    Nictel

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    @xyzygy: Well in that case it is no problem :)

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