Sony's Vita is Definitely, Sensibly, Brilliantly Region Free
That's another year of the importers' kid's public school paid for.
The Precious! The Precious!
In news that will excite hipsters and price gougers the world over, it was confirmed over the weekend that like the PSP and PS3 before it, the Vita will indeed be region free. When asked on Twitter whether the new handheld was confirmed to be able to play games from all regions (despite the fact it's not even out yet), Sony's President of Worldwide Studios came straight out with an answer: "Yes it is".
It's brilliant that Shuhei Yoshida has been so honest (and that the news is good) but he has also said that he doesn't recommend that people outside Japan import the Vita. As to why he believes this? Well, we don't know yet. Maybe he doesn't trust people with converting the PSU?
Whatever he's holding back, the fact that Vita will be able to play games from any region is great news indeed. Rather than relying on the whims of a big company to decide what games will come out when they please, gamers will be able to pick and choose whatever they like from any region. Fancy a bit of Densha de Go or random dating simulation game on a UK device? It's possible!
Of course, those who do want to get their hands on a Vita this coming December will inevitably have to pay a handsome price for it. With pre-orders opening from October 15th the rush to get one will be massive and importers will be delighted to take the money of those who delight in being ahead of the pack.
Source: Twitter
It's brilliant that Shuhei Yoshida has been so honest (and that the news is good) but he has also said that he doesn't recommend that people outside Japan import the Vita. As to why he believes this? Well, we don't know yet. Maybe he doesn't trust people with converting the PSU?
Whatever he's holding back, the fact that Vita will be able to play games from any region is great news indeed. Rather than relying on the whims of a big company to decide what games will come out when they please, gamers will be able to pick and choose whatever they like from any region. Fancy a bit of Densha de Go or random dating simulation game on a UK device? It's possible!
Of course, those who do want to get their hands on a Vita this coming December will inevitably have to pay a handsome price for it. With pre-orders opening from October 15th the rush to get one will be massive and importers will be delighted to take the money of those who delight in being ahead of the pack.
Source: Twitter
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Comments
irritant 19 Sep 2011 11:15
1/1
Region locking generally was originally used to prevent issues with incompatible TV sets, hence why handhelds were never region locked.
That became un-necessary as more modern sets happily accept any signal, but now Nintendo region lock (particularly the handhelds) because of parental controls. With each region having different ratings (and in Europe there are multiple standards) it's more simple just to lock the region of games rather than work out what an ESRB rating would translate to in PEGI, BBFC, USK or OFLC.
That became un-necessary as more modern sets happily accept any signal, but now Nintendo region lock (particularly the handhelds) because of parental controls. With each region having different ratings (and in Europe there are multiple standards) it's more simple just to lock the region of games rather than work out what an ESRB rating would translate to in PEGI, BBFC, USK or OFLC.