Nintendo 3DS sales went up 45 percent more in 2013 than they did in 2012 Nintendo announced.

According to a release by Nintendo, the combined sales of the 3DS, 3DS XL, and 2DS have reached 11.5 million units sold in the U.S. alone.

"Nintendo 3DS is a powerhouse with games and experiences that appeal to all kinds of players," Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales and Marketing said in a statement. "We're not slowing down in 2014. With more games featuring fan-favorite franchises on the way, the best days of Nintendo 3DS are still to come."

Yesterday a new hack for the Nintendo 3DS was revealed online that allows gamers to region unlock their handhelds to play foreign games to their specific country.

"Region Free Cart Loading with EmuNAND No flashcards" described taking 3DS software that is running on software between 4.1 and 4.5. The hack will only work on cartridge games, not ROM games.

According to Polygon's report, users said they were able to play games that used region free patches as well. Gamer's found success playing Japanese versions of Monster Hunter 4 and Kid Icarus: Uprising in the U.S.

See the directions here.

Perhaps the best part of the hack for 3DS owners is it does not require the handheld to be altered in any physical or internal way, making it a relatively risk free attempt at playing more games.

GameSpot reports that the 3DS is the first of Nintendo's handheld console's to impose region locking. Region locking puts a special lock on a game released outside of a specific area. For instance, Japanese games play on a Japanese 3DS, U.S. games on a U.S. 3DS, and so on.