Atlus has announced that the North American version of the upcoming 2D fighting game Persona 4 Arena will work only on PlayStation 3 consoles in North and South America.
Don't go parallel importing that PS3 copy from Japan just yet. While both the Japanese and North American versions of Persona 4 Arena will be identical and will include both English and Japanese text and voice-overs, the Japanese version of the game will require a Japanese PS3 console.
Atlus also confirmed that the online servers for Persona 4 Arena's online play will be global. This means that players using the North American version of the game can fight against other online players from different territories.
No comment has been given by Atlus to GameSpot as to why the region lock has been implemented in the PS3 version of the game. For more information, check out GameSpot's recent coverage.