Playstation Vita region free
Yoshida discourages Japanese imports, Sony confirms memory card prices and battery life
Sony has confirmed that the PlayStation Vita will be free from region coding.
Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida released the information via his Twitter feed, replying, "Yes, it is," when quizzed on the issue by one of his followers.
Without region locks the Vita could theoretically be imported by gamers in outside of Japan when it launches there on December 17.
However, Yoshida subsequently discouraged those considering this option, saying, "I personally do not recommend that."
"Sorry, I'm not explaining well, but from my experiences owning both US and J game consoles of everything, there tend to be minor nuisances."
As an example, Yoshida offered the traditional difference in the use of the X and O buttons in Japanese games, where O typically means "yes" and X means "no" - in European and American games the opposite is generally the case.
Sony also released information on the Vita's battery life, and the price of its memory cards. When running a game, a fully charged Vita will yield 3 to 5 hours of play, which equates to around 5 hours of video playback, or 9 hours of music.
The 4GB model is 2,200yen ($29/£18), 8GB is 3,200yen ($42/£27), 16GB is 5,500yen ($72/£46), and 32GB 9,500yen ($124/£79). The Vita's European release is expected early in 2012, though no official date has been set.
To read Rob Fahey's recent editorial on PlayStation Vita, click here.