From a personal viewpoint I was pretty gutted when it was announced that the 3DS would be region locked, thus ending my chances of snagging an early copy of new Professor Layton games.
By the sounds of it the PS Vita might actually buck the trend, by remaining unlocked. In a session today Michael Denny, Sony’s Vice President of Sony Worldwide Studios Europe, said that to the best of his knowledge Vita is region free.
Sold.
Source: IGN
YOURMUMANDME
That settles it then, I’ll be buying me one for $299 and save myself the best part of hundred pounds (with p&p) !
I feel very bitter about this pricing fiasco…,
Samiro05
Yes I clicked on this article just to say I would be doing this too if this remains the case :)
Foxhound_Solid
Done deal.
tonycawley
Yeah I never thought of that, good point!
jayjay119
This is a very good decision, I love how the PS3 is unlocked as it makes the announcement of certain games being US or JP only not as daunting as on the 360 or other platforms. I never understood why things have to be region locked anyway!
Samiro05
The PS3 is unlocked but for network content. I have RDR from America but I can’t download the co-op and online content due to being on the EU Store – I know I could make a US store account but that defies the point of unlocking stuff on your own account. Skate 3, Fallout 3 and GTA IV are other examples I have of this and it’s quite annoying and hence why I never get games abroad anymore. +++ As I got my PS3 from Asia it’s got region locked Blu-Rays for there so obv no chance of playing any DVD/Blu-Ray from here :( At least I know for the future now though :)
jayjay119
I knew the store wasn’t unlocked but Blu-rays too? I never really thought about them as I’m yet to actually buy a blu-ray movie etc, but I suppose it makes sense given that DVDs are too. I’m just happy we at least have free reign amongst disk based games.
metamorph
Most Blu-Ray movies are indeed region-free (e.g. Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, etc). However, it depends on the distributor whether or not they want to region-lock their release, for licensing restrictions or whatever reason. Smaller or independent studios like BFI, etc. choose region-locks, for instance, though of course I wish this wasn’t the case.
Crocadillian
Woooo! As soon as I save up the money, this will be pre-ordered, although I hope that SEGA’s patents won’t go to waste….
DrNate86
Does that mean you can play games downloaded on the US PS Store as well, or are they still locked to a user like on the PSP?
BrainDiver
Oh snap! This better be true, it means those of us living in Australia will be able to save about $100 (that’s on the cheap one) by importing from the US.
Tuffcub
As much as I’d like to it to be region free, I don’t think it will be.
The most obvious reason is because its going to access the PS Store -including the video store and movie companies are very uppity abdout things being region locked.
Kovacs
They filter services like video store by IP address. I have an ancillary UK account but I don’t get the video service. You can make the games part region free and still control aspects of certain content.
colossalblue
yep, when I was in the US my PSP showed their store with some crazy currency they called “dollars”. It was madness!
Tuffcub
Ah cunning, ta for the info.
stueeeee
Well psp worked well with region free, I got my first one from japan a few months before it was released over here, but with Vita being highly tied to PSN it would be interesting to see how it works. Maybe only foreign physical games will work…
JesseDeya
Yeah I was going to ask why everyone is so surprised. The PSP has always been region free and the PS3 is region free. I’d be more surprised if Vita wasn’t than if it was.
InternationalGamer
Truly, there is no point at all for region lock. Region free is the best thing, hopefully, next time, so will DLC be region free.
Lorcan
I think it’s a smart move.
When you have a machine that says “Travel with me” you want to be able to enjoy new experiences as you do so.
Also helps with piracy. When a new JRPG comes out, some people are desperate enough to do anything to get hold of it and true fans will always import over illegally downloading. Might not have a huge effect on this front, but it will certainly help.
Smallville2106
Completely agree with you on that.