Japanese PlayStation 2 owners can play American DVD movies... Oops!

Sony Computer Entertainment admitted today that the proud owners of their next generation PlayStation2 console in Japan have got themselves an unexpected bonus: the DVD driver can play United States DVD movies.

By pressing certain buttons on the controller, users have discovered, the lockout system preventing the machine from playing DVD software from other parts of the world can be bypassed.

DVD players sold in Japan can normally only play discs with a particular region code, of which there are six in all.

It's an amazing blunder by Sony, already reeling from problems with the PSX2 memory card. The glitch breaches commercial copyright agreements, leaving the company open to possible lawsuits from American film makers.

Sony have now announced that they will release an updated version of the driver which will prevent region-lockout override. However, for the existing faulty systems already sold, Sony are likely to find a recall difficult because owners are unlikely to want to be parted from a machine with such accidental capabilities.

According to the BBC, a spokesman for Sony said: "We have not launched a recall or stopped shipments, although we can't dismiss for now the possibility of a recall."

It has turned out to be a difficult PlayStation2 launch for Sony and shares in the company have only recently recovered from the memory card fiasco. Gamers over here can only hope that when the console finally reaches our shores, the teething problems will have been well and truly ironed out.

We'll have more on this amazing story as we get it.