By Fans of importing games from other regions have had a rough time on Nintendo consoles in recent years, but that could change with its next system, codenamed the NX.
President Satoru Iwata said that while there are still no plans to drop region-locking for its current hardware - the Wii U and 3DS - it is "optimistic" about allowing games from any country to be playable on its next console.
"Removing region-locking from current game machines presents various issues, so we don't consider that to be very realistic," he explained during a recent investment meeting (via NeoGAF).
"However, regarding NX, given the customer feedback and proposals from the market, while nothing has been decided yet, we're currently investigating internally what problems there would be in realizing it.
"You can think of that as the current situation. I understand your desire, so I'd like to look at it optimistically going forward."
The NX is expected to be discussed by Nintendo starting in 2016.
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Nintendo announced the hardware to ensure investors it is still working on dedicated games hardware, following news that it would be working with DeNA to create mobile and tablet games.
In 2013, Nintendo announced it was to merge its handheld and console divisions to come up with "next-generation game systems".
The most recent Nintendo consoles were the 3DS, launched in 2011, and the Wii U, launched in 2012.
Nintendo launched New 3DS hardware in February in Europe and North America, while the Wii U had its best month of sales in the US in December.
Last month, analyst Michael Pachter said that Nintendo is in denial over its failure to court third-party publishers.
