PlayStation Vita will be region-free

Sony has confirmed that its forthcoming handheld, the PlayStation Vita, will be region free.

Confirmation came from Shuhei Yoshida, president of worldwide studios at Sony Computer Entertainment. When asked on Twitter whether the device would be region free, he replied: ‘Yes, it is.’

This means that eager gamers will be able to import games from other territories to play on their Vitas. Furthermore, if you just can’t wait for the European and US Vita launches in early 2012 then importing the handheld from Japan on its 17th December release date is now a viable option.

Nintendo’s 3DS, meanwhile, is locked by region. Previous handheld consoles from Nintendo have been entirely region-free, which led to many gamers importing titles in order to play them sooner.