Another, slightly more shocking announcement was the revelation that PS3 will indeed be a global, region-free system. This implies that import gamers won't need to modify their systems to play Japanese or European games, and software pirates will have one less excuse for modifying theirs.
All this is possible, Harrison said, because of Sony's proprietary Blu-ray discs, which will have enough capacity to enable publishers to cram multiple language tracks on to a single disc. So your dream of playing the next Harry Potter in Swahili may finally be realised.
The rest of the speech was dedicated to developers showing off a few games, and confirming new online features for PSP, including PSone full-game downloads. An enhanced EyeToy camera will also soon be available which is primarily intended to turn the handheld into a video phone, though Harrison said that it "could" be used for gameplay - as could an upcoming GPS add-on. The speech didn't touch on how PS3 and PSP might be used together, but Harrison promised to be more revealing at the E3 games show in May.
