Ok, so I just got a PS vita the other day. I've done my info digging but I just need some feedback on what I've got to make sure my knowledge is correct. Help and replies are much appreciated dudes and dude-ets'

Ok so here goes.

1) PS Vita is region free which means it'll play any game I purchase regardless of which region code the game has ie. R1, R2, R3 or R4 on the back of the case.

2) problem though is that since the update 1.80 you can no longer keep multiple PSN accounts on 1 card and if you own games from multiple regions, you have to own multiple cards tied to the right PSN account for swapping. Ie, R1 US account needs a card for your R1 Gravity Rush DLC and vice versa for R3 Persona 4 needing a R3 Asia account and it's own memory card to store that information.

3) Games which have online multiplayer funnels their players to the server corresponding to their region's game not the PSN account's region. Ie, I have an R3 Ragnarok Oddyssey therefore I'll be playing on R3 servers and can't play with people on the R1 server.

4) Ad-Hoc multiplayer also works similarly as mentioned above. R3 games will only acknowledge another R3 game and R1 with R1 etc. Which means if i own an R3 copy and my friend owns an R1 copy of a game, we can't play together.

This next one is more of an opinion that I just need.

5) if I were to stick to one given region, is it better to go with R3 or R1? In the sense from price point and ease of obtaining extras like DLCs and demos for the respective regions to maintaining a PS+ account if it ever comes to that. What's your recommendation.

Again, thanks for the feedback ^^ loving the energy from the peeps on this forum. Cheers

Read that on Wololo.net as the author mentions that previously there was a trick to doing it on a single card and that the update basically screwed a lot of people who used that method as it basically erased or corrupted their saves, data etc.
But yeah the jist of it is you can't maintain multiple accounts on a single card at least in the present time. Thanks mate


@Foxseatiger

Are you sure? Coz if you're not please provide a source that confirms it. My info dates back very far so I can't be sure what applied then applies now or what tricks or bypasses which worked before still apply on the newer firmwares

This post has been edited by renoxrinko: Sep 16 2013, 02:33 AM

Update, yeah I found out game companies are real weird sometimes with the region coding. Apparently with some game companies like namco and square Enix occasionally they release their games with the same 'BLES' coding for R1 to work with R3 (both NTSC) and R2 to R4 (both PAL). So your info was correct. It does work with SOME games when the print is the same. But when the 'BLES' codes are different, it won't work. >~< man... This is some complicated stuff. No wonder there's so much confusion about these things. Well in any case, best to be safe and keep to the respective regions I guess.

Well it's original purpose was valid since different regions use different coding for their tv sets. PAL and NTSC. Nowadays similar rules apply but seeing as it is possible for consoles to work regardless of the region, the only valid cause for it to still be in effect is a bundled mess.

a) Censorship, since different countries have different gaming rating systems. ESRB for US and PEGI for UK for example.
b) Language, coupled in with the reason above, the games would be coded different because the contents are different. Therefore DLCs would have to follow the specific game coded for that specific region otherwise it wouldn't work : (
c) Control on imports. Seeing as the gaming industry is a business, they would wanna keep tabs on their numbers especially with the rise of online shops being able to get their hands on cheaper Asian releases, it'd hurt sales for some of the areas that have there same game but are marketed for a higher price.
c2) There's also the factor of making sure your game appeals to the cultural norms of the region you're releasing to. Best example of course is Japan. A lot of the times, the games used to have references to things only Japanese (and some Asians) would relate to. Expressions, jokes, extra functionalities like wifi stations and promos and licensing of DLC content (like the anme related ones available on Monster hunter 3-g for 3ds but not for MH3U) are things they need to review before a release as it'll impact the reception of said game. I especially hated that I could get the extra stuff from my Love Plus+ because the wifi stations were only available in Japan and I'm stuck in Malaysia :pout: but that's just a tiny example to give you a jist of what I'm talking about.

On the other hand, having an international release can adversely affect a game's presentation for worse (at least I feel it is).
An example is Animal Crossing and I think it was harvest moon. They used to originally have celebrations for Matsuri and Japanese specific events. Since these games have gone international, they actually dropped these things for more generalised western type events. It's a small thing but I feel it's such a loss as I don't think that's how the game designer would have made it otherwise besides needing to make sure EVERYONE was their audience. Breaking things up into regions can be VERY good when done right especially in the Voice acting areas. There are some characters that JUST NEED ENGLISH. I can never look at characters like Zangief from street fighter or Dante properly in their Japanese releases. They're good, by all means but they just lack that certain oomph that makes them who they are if they're not in English (my preference you can feel free to disagree! XD)

There's probably more reasons that I didn't list off the top of my head but region locking has it's reasons still. It's annoying as a muther trucker and I believe a lot of people wish it didn't (or should still) exist but I suppose so long as the games are playable and we can get our grubby hands on them one way or another, I'm cool.

Phew, got that out of my system. /shakesfistsatregionlockingforvita
I hate having to get another memory card before even having one >.>

Can anyone feedback on this? I'd like to know as well /curious

Edit: Also does anyone know how well N.E.A.R works with the wifi only vitas connected to a portable wifi hotspot? Is the experience just the same as one that has 3G built in?

This post has been edited by renoxrinko: Sep 18 2013, 08:47 PM

Ah thanks for the reply so wifi only vitas aren't at a disadvantage. Cool, this means I can just tether to my I-pad and go for a walk. Cheers dude

Could't find anything on the net about it just yet sorry i did however find out you might be able to register more than 2 vitas on one PSN account since the Vita TV is launching.
http://n4g.com/news/1359386/ps-vita-regist...date-ps-vita-tv