Sony Computer Entertainment has confirmed that the handheld PlayStation Vita, which is set for Japanese release on Dec. 17, will be region-free. This means users can play games purchased in any territory on any PS Vita, instead of having a situation like with DVDs in which the player and the titles have to be from matching zones.
The confirmation came directly from Shuhei Yoshida, president of SCEA Worldwide Studios, shortly after he spoke at the Tokyo Games Show. He took to his Twitter account and answered some questions being posted there, including a firm “Yes, it is,” when @WinningWeiner asked, “I was wondering.about one thing That was not covered in the press conference. Is the vita region free like the psp and ps3 before it? [sic]”
A little while later, Yoshida added his opinion to that answer. “There are people who are interested in importing the Japanese version of PS Vita from outside Japan, but I personally do not recommend that,” he tweeted. He explained there were minor problems with playing games on a different territory’s player, such as the X and O buttons not behaving as expected.
Yoshida had no information to share about the PS Vita’s release dates outside of Japan, however, writing, “Sorry to make you wait a bit longer. We will update the launch dates outside Japan soon.”
Related Links:
http://us.playstation.com/psvita
The Telegraph (U.K.) – http://tinyurl.com/3bnbvxc
Gamasutra – http://tinyurl.com/3hou2uh
Nikkei – http://tinyurl.com/3kzhgzv
