PlayStation 3 production has officially come to an end in its native Japan, Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced.
This has given us the chance to reflect once more on the best PS3 games, which include classics such as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Red Dead Redemption, Killzone 2, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and The Last of Us.
The hardware manufacturer confirmed the decision on the Japanese PlayStation website, where it listed shipments for the PS3 500GB model (currently the only available option for consumers in Japan) as “ended.” In other words, the company is no longer producing any more systems to ship to stores.
The console launched in Japan back in November 2006, which means it’s managed to adhere to the planned ten-year console cycle that Sony had roadmapped some time ago. There’s currently no word yet on whether or not Sony will follow suite in Europe and North America, although it’s likely only a matter of time. It’s worth noting that the system was released in PAL regions slightly later than the U.S.
PS3 was released over a year later than Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which would become its primary rival during the last console generation. Sony didn’t do itself any favors with the console however by slapping it with a hefty price tag at launch ($599 for the premium version), and a lack of must-have titles in its first year resulted in a slow uptake for the PS3. The system gathered steam over time however, with the introduction of the PS3 Slim and Super Slim, not to mention a slew of exclusive software, helping the console to notch up 85 million shipments worldwide, as of March last year.
With the PS3 and Xbox 360 war now pretty much over, it is believed that both systems came out about on par with each other. Of course, the Nintendo Wii managed to come on top during that particular hardware scrap, selling over 101 million units globally in the same time frame as the PS3.
Source: GameRant