PSVita will be Region Free

[-Seraph-]

Yup, it's pretty much been confirmed by Sony's Vice President of Sony Worldwide Studios Europe that the PSVita will be region free. I know a lot of people were kind of disappointed that the 3DS was region locked which is a major downer for importers but seems like that won't be the case with the Vita. Just like the PSP you'll be able to play games you've imported from other regions.

All I can see is woohoo!! No bullshit region locking FTW. That's another +1 for the Vita; and one less concern for many purchasers.

Sources:
http://psp.ign.com/articles/117/1174783p1.html
http://www.siliconera.com/2011/06/09/playstation-vita-will-be-region-free/

 

[SageRuffin]

Why can't more consoles, handheld or otherwise, do that? The 360 is missing out some great games (i.e. Arcana Heart 3) from this whole region-locking nonsense.

 

[axcme]

Great news, I dont like the idea of paying extra just because im unlucky enough to live in england. Definetely going to be importing one.

 

[-Seraph-]

Why can't more consoles, handheld or otherwise, do that? The 360 is missing out some great games (i.e. Arcana Heart 3) from this whole region-locking nonsense.

Well to my knowledge, the PS3 and DS were also region free. I never understood or bought into the logic of region locking things, so it would be nice if companoies did away with that sort of nonsense. I remember the ire the 3DS got when people found out it was region lcoked among other stupid things.

This is good to hear and only makes the system even more enticing. Only thing else they need to do to really appease me if come up with some way to allow backwards compatibility with PSP games that doesn't involve rebuying them off the PSN. I got over 70 UMD PSP games....please sony...give me a means to create a legal ISO or something.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Sony are really turning around in my eyes.

They really pissed me off with the whole lawsuit thing a few months ago, but since the, they seem to be handling things pretty well. And Vita has done nothing but impress me since I first heard about it.

I'm seriously looking at getting one... The only problem being that living in the UK we get seriously shafted on price thanks to our ridiculous tax and import system... I can't even import it from another country without getting arse raped on import tax.

.... I might have to wait till like 6 months after release when some good quality second hand ones start floating around.

You know what's dumb?
I live in Australia, and I import games from the UK in order to get a 40% discount.

 

[scnj]

Cool, so I can import and not pay the equivalent of $380 for it? I'm still waiting for a price drop.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Sony are really turning around in my eyes.

They really pissed me off with the whole lawsuit thing a few months ago, but since the, they seem to be handling things pretty well. And Vita has done nothing but impress me since I first heard about it.

I'm seriously looking at getting one... The only problem being that living in the UK we get seriously shafted on price thanks to our ridiculous tax and import system... I can't even import it from another country without getting arse raped on import tax.

.... I might have to wait till like 6 months after release when some good quality second hand ones start floating around.

You know what's dumb?
I live in Australia, and I import games from the UK in order to get a 40% discount.

It's not games that we get fucked on. It's hardware.

Our game prices are fairly reasonable. How much are you guys getting the Vita for? Because we're pretty much getting a £1=$1 exchange.

I don't know about the vita, but on launch the 3DS was retailing at AU$350 or so.
At a time when the australian dollar is on par with the US dollar.

 

[airwolfe591]

Why can't more consoles, handheld or otherwise, do that? The 360 is missing out some great games (i.e. Arcana Heart 3) from this whole region-locking nonsense.

Well to my knowledge, the PS3 and DS were also region free. I never understood or bought into the logic of region locking things, so it would be nice if companoies did away with that sort of nonsense. I remember the ire the 3DS got when people found out it was region lcoked among other stupid things.

This is good to hear and only makes the system even more enticing. Only thing else they need to do to really appease me if come up with some way to allow backwards compatibility with PSP games that doesn't involve rebuying them off the PSN. I got over 70 UMD PSP games....please sony...give me a means to create a legal ISO or something.

I wish they would allow this, but they'll never do it sadly. Because if you could create an ISO or I just thought if you could register the physical and download a digital copy, you could just up and sell the physical copy to GameStop or something and keep the digital copy, essentially getting the game at a ridiculous 'discount'. Course they could put in an EULA stating that you can only play the game if you hold the digital copy, but we all know it wouldn't work.

Edit: OT. The PSV is a first day purchase for me, and though I'm not an importer, this is just Icing on the cake for me.

 

[Pingieking]

Man, you Europeans and Aussies get shafted on the pricing.
Up here in Canada it's same price as US, but it's cheaper down south because we're slightly over parity at the moment (I think, haven't checked in a while).

OT: Cool, but this is more or less standard Sony operating procedure now. They haven't region locked anything since the PS2.

I wish they would allow this, but they'll never do it sadly. Because if you could create an ISO or I just thought if you could register the physical and download a digital copy, you could just up and sell the physical copy to GameStop or something and keep the digital copy, essentially getting the game at a ridiculous 'discount'. Course they could put in an EULA stating that you can only play the game if you hold the digital copy, but we all know it wouldn't work.

They would also have to work something out with the game's publisher. In general, it's kind of a legal nightmare. Unlikely to see any kind of solution except for maybe the really big publishers and games that Sony had published.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Sony are really turning around in my eyes.

They really pissed me off with the whole lawsuit thing a few months ago, but since the, they seem to be handling things pretty well. And Vita has done nothing but impress me since I first heard about it.

I'm seriously looking at getting one... The only problem being that living in the UK we get seriously shafted on price thanks to our ridiculous tax and import system... I can't even import it from another country without getting arse raped on import tax.

.... I might have to wait till like 6 months after release when some good quality second hand ones start floating around.

You know what's dumb?
I live in Australia, and I import games from the UK in order to get a 40% discount.

It's not games that we get fucked on. It's hardware.

Our game prices are fairly reasonable. How much are you guys getting the Vita for? Because we're pretty much getting a £1=$1 exchange.

I don't know about the vita, but on launch the 3DS was retailing at AU$350 or so.
At a time when the australian dollar is on par with the US dollar.

Sounds like you're getting just as dicked around as us.

The vita is reportedly coming to the UK at £235

Which tots in at about $385 US.

Whilst the US gets it for $250 and the rest of Europe gets it for 250 Euros.

Thank you UK tax... we really appreciate it an all... but could you atleast take me to dinner next time? Because if I like getting whined and dined before I get FUCKED!

Well, hardware prices being high is one thing .. but $110 for standard versions of games, and upwards of $160 for collector's editions, is ridiculous.

Heck, EB even has the gall to have a $90 price tag on Modern Warfare 2 (recently), and have a $15 off "MEGA SALE"
Really?

Edit:
Oh how about that. They're selling an xbox360 for $449 in their online store. WHICH IS EXEMPT FROM THE GOODS AND SERVICES TAX.
That's the equivalent of US$500 right now.

 

[Z3ldaX]

Yup, it's pretty much been confirmed by Sony's Vice President of Sony Worldwide Studios Europe that the PSVita will be region free. I know a lot of people were kind of disappointed that the 3DS was region locked which is a major downer for importers but seems like that won't be the case with the Vita. Just like the PSP you'll be able to play games you've imported from other regions.

All I can see is woohoo!! No bullshit region locking FTW. That's another +1 for the Vita; and one less concern for many purchasers.

Sources:
http://psp.ign.com/articles/117/1174783p1.html
http://www.siliconera.com/2011/06/09/playstation-vita-will-be-region-free/

That sounds like excellent news.

 

[Jeffrey Rodriguez]

Sony are really turning around in my eyes.

They really pissed me off with the whole lawsuit thing a few months ago, but since the, they seem to be handling things pretty well. And Vita has done nothing but impress me since I first heard about it.

I'm seriously looking at getting one... The only problem being that living in the UK we get seriously shafted on price thanks to our ridiculous tax and import system... I can't even import it from another country without getting arse raped on import tax.

.... I might have to wait till like 6 months after release when some good quality second hand ones start floating around.

I loved the lawsuit. Wish they wouldn't have settled.

 

[boag]

Yup, it's pretty much been confirmed by Sony's Vice President of Sony Worldwide Studios Europe that the PSVita will be region free. I know a lot of people were kind of disappointed that the 3DS was region locked which is a major downer for importers but seems like that won't be the case with the Vita. Just like the PSP you'll be able to play games you've imported from other regions.

All I can see is woohoo!! No bullshit region locking FTW. That's another +1 for the Vita; and one less concern for many purchasers.

Sources:
http://psp.ign.com/articles/117/1174783p1.html
http://www.siliconera.com/2011/06/09/playstation-vita-will-be-region-free/

This makes me happy to no end, I can finally get Jap Games without having to import Jap Hardware.