PlayStation Vita is region free

Sony have revealed that its upcoming PlayStation Vita console will be released region free, allowing people to import the console from Japan when it is released later this year.

However, president of Sony Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, tweeted that he doesn't recommend people import the console: "There are people who are interested in importing the Japanese version of PS Vita from outside Japan, but I personally do not recommend that."

That statement might have something to do with the fact that DLC for games may in fact be region locked, as it is with many of the region-free PS3 titles.

The news is even better for the Vita because Nintendo decided to region lock the 3DS, the first time it has done so for any of its handhelds.

The PlayStation Vita is out in Japan on December 17th, other release dates have been announced yet, but a UK/US release is not expected until some time in the New Year.