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PS Vita on sale in Japan, doesn't allow multiple accounts

Sony's latest handheld has gone on sale in Japan, but make sure you read this before you get yours on import.

Joe Svetlik Reporter
Joe has been writing about consumer tech for nearly seven years now, but his liking for all things shiny goes back to the Gameboy he received aged eight (and that he still plays on at family gatherings, much to the annoyance of his parents). His pride and joy is an Infocus projector, whose 80-inch picture elevates movie nights to a whole new level.
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Joe Svetlik
2 min read

The good news? Sony's PS Vita is on sale now in Japan, and it's region-free, so will play games from all over the world. In other words, you can import one from the Far East, and the games will work. The bad news? If you want to sign in with a different account, you'll need to do a full factory reset.

"[The] PSN account is tied to the hardware and the memory card, not just the card," a Sony spokesperson said in an email to Wired.com, "which means that if a second person is using your Vita, it's not just a case of switching out memory cards, it's clearing out all of your saved data on the Vita itself when you do the factory reset." That sounds like a lot of hassle, especially considering it links to Sony's online hub for gaming and shopping.

"In other words, PlayStation Vita is intended to be played by only one user," the spokesperson clarified. The PS3 and PSP let you create Japanese or European accounts depending on where you are, to download games from those regions. It seems quite a major oversight to leave that out of the Vita.

But it didn't seem to deter this happy customer, who seems pretty chuffed. His nine-minute long unboxing is worth a watch -- despite being in Japanese, you get a good up-close look at a game in action, as well as the ports and what's in the box. The device looks nice and glossy too, with ebook-style turning pages on-screen.

The Vita doesn't go on sale in the UK until 22 February, though it will stream all your PS3 games, so you won't need to hog the TV to game.

What do you think of only allowing one account on the Vita? And will you be buying come February? Let us know below or on our Facebook page.