The PS Vita has scored a point against the Nintendo 3DS in the battle for handheld dominanation, with Sony revealing at E3 that PS Vita will be region free, meaning you’ll be able to buy a PS Vita from anywhere in the world and play games from anywhere in the world on it.
The news came from Michael Denny, vice president of Sony Worldwide Studios Europe, who told IGN that to the best of his knowledge, the PS Vita will not be region locked. This is, of course, good news for those who’d rather not miss out on the number games that come out exclusively in Japan each year, or European players, who unfortunately are usually last on the release schedule for most games, it seems.
Much to the dismay of gamers who enjoyed the region free DS and DS Lite, the 3DS is region locked, a trend Nintendo started with the release of the DSi. What we’ve seen as of the PS Vita has been impressive so far, and when you add that to the $249.99 price point that was announced earlier this week (for the Wi-Fi only models) on top of the announcement that it’ll be region free, the PS Vita might actually give the 3DS a run for its money when it’s released later this year.
The only drawback is that you have to go through AT&T to get a PS Vita, as Sony has partnered with them to make AT&T the exclusive carrier in the United States. Still, with the PS Vita looking better and better every day, we imagine that’ll become less of an issue as time goes on.
What’s your take – are you thrilled to hear that PS Vita will be region-free, or are you not that much of an importer? Will you be getting a PS Vita early by purchasing one from Japan?
