NEW YORK — Contrary to earlier reports, Sony told Wired.com Wednesday night that its upcoming PlayStation Vita handheld gaming system will not be limited to one online account per device.

Speaking to Wired.com at a press event in Manhattan, Sony associate brand marketing manager Crystal MacKenzie said that PlayStation Network accounts will be connected to the Vita’s proprietary memory cards, not the hardware itself. Though you will have to restore the Vita to its default factory settings in order to change the account on each memory card, you can use multiple cards to access multiple PSN accounts on a single Vita system.

“Your PSN ID is bonded to your memory card and your memory card is bonded to your Vita,” MacKenzie said. “So if you wanted to change different PSN users but use the same memory card, you would need to go factory reset.”

Customers will be able to swap cards to use different PSN IDs on the same system, MacKenzie said. If you have more than one memory card, you can register a different PlayStation Network account on each.

“You can also use them both on the same PSN account as well,” she said.

Earlier this week, a number of gaming websites reported that Sony would support only one PlayStation Network account per Vita system, disappointing many American fans who used alternative accounts to purchase European and Japanese games on Sony’s last handheld system, the PlayStation Portable.

Sony will release PlayStation Vita on February 22 in the U.S. It will retail for $250 (with Wi-Fi) and $300 (with Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity).

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/12/vita-accounts/

So there you have it. You can have muiltiple accounts, but it will require additional memory cards.

This can benefit those of us who won't have a need for additional accounts and prefer the security of knowing if I hand the Vita over to my child, brother/sister or friend, they do not have access to my PSN account. 

However, for those who do care about having access to different PSN regions like Japan or the UK, while this does give you the ability without the need to factory reset, it does come at a cost that you would rather spend on another Vita title.

So for every PSN account you have, you have to buy an overpriced SD card? Nice.

Still, with a portable device that really should be used by a single person, I don't see why this matters. I know I'd end up buying multiple for my kids if I had to buy one.

Reason why we have two DSi, they are personal use items. Not like consoles.

Yes Sony is totally being reasonable.

Sure you will need two memory cards (which are close to £100 for the decent sizes)
Sure you will have to buy each piece of DLC twice if you want more than one person to be able to use it.
Sure there is no actual reason for them to do this other then stealing our money

BUT.....wait I think I missed the part where they were being reasonable actually

I like when Sony does things like this.

"Now can everyone relax or will we complain about this now?"

...i'm thinking this "we complain about this now"

Gamers love to complain , its part of their "first world problems" habits.

Are you being reasonable?

Why do you need two memory cards? More than one person can't use your psn?

I can just imagine someone asking to play yours, you rolling your eyes and switching cards.Are you also afraid of germs?

It's like no matter what Sony or Square Enix do, they can't win with internet people.

That or you can let a family member use your device without worry of them accessing your PSN account. Just pull out the memory card. 

No accidental purchases by my daughter when he gets a hold of this.

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As for people whining about buying multiple memory cards for multiple accounts. 

You whine when you think you can only have (1) account max without needing to factory restore.

Now you whine when you learn that you have the possibility for multiple accounts without needing to factory restore.

What?!

More than (1) person can use the Vita at a time? O_o

Of course the answer is no, meaning, why would you need to buy the same DLC twice?

Bad complaint is bad.

As for your first complaint. Unless you are buying all of your games digitally, I do not see why you need a $100+ 32GB memory card.

We all know full well that an 8GB is going to be more than enough, especially considering that not all games will require memory cards.

If you're really hurting for space just transfer some stuff to your PC. It is pretty simple really.