Nintendo has been planing to get rid on Region Codes for the Revolution for quite a while now. lol and they've been doing that for a long time, in their handheld consoles.
Heck even the GC doesn't have much of a region code... beyond almost just a little switch inside... (almost XD)

If the PS3 also comes out with no region code, thats good news for all those people that like to import Japanese games (that never make it to the states)