THE BUZZ: Recently, word came out that in Japan, PS Vita owners downloading software from the PlayStation Store via 3G would be restricted to downloads that are 20MB in size or smaller.

At that time, we wondered if a similar cap would be in place for the Vita in Western territories. Today, we know that answer.

Speaking via a sponsored session for the 2011 Game Developers Conference Online, Sony Computer Entertainment America senior staff developer support engineer Chris Norden confirmed that the download data cap would indeed be in place in other territories as well. This cap is not something put in place by Sony themselves, but instead the cell carriers.

Norden was also asked if the Vita would support ideas such as free-to-play games, to which he replied that developers are free to “explore whatever business model they want”.

EGM’s TAKE: Yeah, it sucks, but it’s also just what you have to expect from mobile data providers. The limit is also imposed on the iPhone, but there, the main source of downloads are song purchases or new iOS apps that can easily come in under that limit. Here, it’s going to be near impossible to find any game offerings that’ll be downloadable over 3G (with the exception of possibly Minis).

Source: Gamespot