I'm pretty sure it's been possible to buy them in the past (certainly PS2's were region locked by default) but it was also pretty easy to get a region-free play

I'm pretty sure it's been possible to buy them in the past (certainly PS2's were region locked by default) but it was also pretty easy to get a region-free player if you wanted. Also, I suspect they may have legal protection now; I was under the impression that the poxy copyright amendment bill of a couple of years ago added something along those lines, but I don't remember specifically enough to be sure (since I no longer live in NZ it's a bit less relevant).