Pokémon Black & White Are Region-Locked On Nintendo DSi

If you’re planning to import Pokémon Black / White and use a Nintendo DSi or DSi XL, you might want to take note of an e-mail we received from Play-Asia last night:

“We got the first units of Pokemon Black / White in and confirmed, that the games are indeed region-locked on Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DSi XL consoles.

 

Please understand that we are not able to accept returns due to region lock issues. We are sending you this email to keep you informed and to ask you to make a decision based on this information.

 

First off, if you have a Nintendo DS or DS Lite Console from any region then there is no problem.

 

However, if you have a Non-Japanese DSi / DSi XL console then the title doesn’t not work at all on your console. The console simply will say: ‘no game cartridge’.”

So, in summary, if you own an American or European DSi, hold off on buying the new games until a localized version is available for your device’s region. Pokémon Black / White are scheduled for a Spring 2011 release outside of Japan. In case you missed it, the games include a video chat option on the DSi.