Sony Ships Its Last Ever PlayStation 3 In Japan (engadget.com)

After 11 years, Sony has stopped shipping the PlayStation 3 to retailers in Japan. The country stopped production on the 500GB model in December last year, but now a recent update on PlayStation Japan's website suggests that the other lingering units have all been shipped as well. It's only a matter of time before the console stops being produced altogether in other parts of the world. Engadget reports: Selling over 70 million units in just seven years, the PlayStation 3 was certainly a console to be reckoned with. Yet, for all its achievements, the long-surviving gaming machine initially made a name for itself for all the wrong reasons. With Sony riding high on the PlayStation 2's market-leading sales numbers, its successor launched at the eye-watering price of $499 -- and consumers weren't too happy about it. Luckily for Sony, publishers stuck with the pricey console, and exclusive games like Uncharted, Heavy Rain, The Last Of Us and Metal Gear Solid 4 helped to right the course of Sony's initially water-riddled ship. With the sun-setting on the aging console in the East, the news doesn't bode well for the future of the PlayStation 3 across the rest of the world. Sony has previously announced that PS Now will soon move exclusively to PS4 and PC. While few players will be mourning the loss of the pricey service, there are many PS3 owners still benefitting from free games on PlayStation Plus and downloading new content from the PS Store. As Sony slowly begins to start winding the console down, it's unlikely that gamers will be able to continue to use these services for much longer on the aging gaming system.

Comments

As a former PS3 developer

[Anonymous Coward]

Good riddance.

I dont get it.

[JustNiz]

Other than having an existing PS3 games library, is there any other reason to buy a new PS3 even after the PS4 came out?

Re:I dont get it.

[tlhIngan]

ther than having an existing PS3 games library, is there any other reason to buy a new PS3 even after the PS4 came out?

Given the PS4 cannot play PS3 games, yes, you need a PS3 if you want to play a PS3 game. If you don't have a PS3, you need to buy a PS3. And that's either new or used. (The xbone can play some xbox360 games through emulation).

Or you sign up for Sony's "Playstation Now" service which is restricting access to PS4s and PCs only now and play remotely. But if you have a PS3 game that's not ported to PS4 or on PSNow, well, you need a PS3. And there can be a few of those.

Re:I dont get it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Initially the ps4 didn't support DLNA. Last time my ps3 died, I bought another ps3 even though the ps4 was out because it still didn't support DLNA at that point in time.

I barely use it for games. I use it for Netflix, Amazon Prime, DLNA off a home file server, DVDs and Blu-rays.

Re:I dont get it.

[JJJJust]

I've just bought a PS4 and I've noticed that, at least among the titles I want to play, split-screen local multiplayer is no more. Figured one of the shooters I had would have it, nope. Went looking for it in Need for Speed, gone. I currently have no PS4 method where I can cathartically shoot my bf in the face or run him off the road. Couples who stay together apparently don't game together... or they have two TVs and two PS4s.

Re:I dont get it.

[BorgDrone]

Borderlands: The Handsome Collection gets you 2 shooters + a lot of DLC and it can be played split-screen on PS4, up to 4 players.

Re:I dont get it.

[Megane]

In these days of HDMI ports all over the place, maybe game consoles should start to support two screens for "split-screen" play.

PS3 Linux

[DrYak]

Speaking of which, it would be nice if their last patch before ditching the console did re-enable the "other os" option, this time with the hyper visor officially giving access to all resources.