3DS Impressions

[PatientZero]

Or to stop people playing games that aren't rated for their country, were never intended to be released there, and could get them involved is some serious legal disputes?
Or to stop people just importing games from countries with weaker economies and effectively crippling the games retail industry in their country of origin?

No wait, I take that back, they just do it because they don't want to let you play their games, developers hate people playing their games.

>developer still gets paid for the game
>crippled economy

You have to follow the chain forwards a few steps, economics is never cut and dry.
As an example, let's say for some reason there was a game released in the states and in Europe and there's no region lock, it could be any region at all, but I pick those two just because of the common language and because the American economy is pretty suppressed right now.
Now, I could go down to the local game store and buy it, OR I could import the US version at a cheaper price, it's pretty obvious which one makes the most sense, and on a small scale, that would be fine.
However, if it was a more widely viable option, nobody would bother buying games from local stores anymore, which means all the money that would be being put back into the local economy is instead being put into the American economy.

Now it gets a little confusing at this point, so bare with me if I'm not as clear as I could be.
Since game sales in Europe would take a major dive, less games would be brought and sold here, meaning for a game store to stay a viable option, they would have to charge more, or more likely, just close up shop.
And because developers are getting less sales in Europe and more in US markets, they are far more likely to release games tailored to that region.
(Granted it's not that big of a deal between these two in particular, but imagine if we were talking the US and Asian regions, not all Asian games appeal to an American audience)

So we hit a point where we're importing games intended for another region, and bolstering their economy while weakening our own, this means not only are we getting games that don't appeal to local consumers, but also that they're costing us more because of the difference between the two currencies, we COULD then switch back to buying games locally because there's no worry about exchange rates and import taxes, but because the local industry has become less viable we would still end up paying more than we did previously, assuming there are any stores still competing with the cheaper import market.

I so haven't been awake long enough to think about this stuff, my brain hurts.

TL;DR,
If everyone imported games they would cost more.
Economics is fucking confusing.