According to a chat Eurogamer had with Nintendo, the new DSi will feature a region lock for the new system’s specific software.

One of the great things about the Nintendo handhelds - going right back to the Game Boy - is they worked with worldwide software, and importers could enjoy those bizarre Japanese games regardless of whether they ever received their Western conversions.

This doesn’t mean DS games are to be locked, however. Those will be remaining worldwide, but the DSi is to incorporate net communication, net services and parental controls that Nintendo wants to target at specific regions separately - this means building a region lock into the DSi software.

Nintendo seems to be making a distinct differentiation between ’games’ and ’software’ when talking about the DSi’s nationality, but wouldn’t whistle when it came to the possibility of DSi specific games and their availability.

The Japanese get the new system at the beginning of November, so things will presumably clarify as the hardware begins to circulate. Keep checking back at GDN for more DSi news as it happens.