http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/06/at...sses-surprise/
So Persona 4: Arena is to be the first ever region-locked PS3 game. It was fun while it lasted, guys. Apparently it's okay though, because this is totally a one off, and won't set a precedent to other companies or anything. Yeah. Because one company being able to push through a controversial decision that financially benefits them at the expense of the consumer
totally isn't going to make other companies curious.
What I don't get is that apparently it's region locked in
all territories, not just the US. The US region lock makes business sense because of the reason Atlus gave, even if it's not very classy behaviour from a company I always respected. But locking even the more expensive Japanese version? That's just a completely unnecessary slap in the face to people who want the Japanese version. Now I have to wait months upon months for a European release. Which I may or may not have to play in English despite speaking the game's native language. I haven't had to do that since about 2004.
Long story short, next generation I'm not trusting any promises that a console is region free, and I'm never buying a European console again.