Newsbrief: Nearly 13 years after the launch of the PlayStation 2 home console, Sony this week said that it has stopped shipping new PS2 hardware to Japanese retailers.
The PS2 has sold more than 150 million units worldwide to date since it launched in Japan in March 2000, and continued to receive new software in Japan until late 2011, according to Sony's official site, despite the PlayStation 3 launching in 2006.
According to Japanese magazine Famitsu, and as translated by Verge, Sony has not yet said when it plans to stop shipping PlayStation 2 consoles to retailers in other parts of the world.
The PlayStation 2 continued to sell comfortably in Japan even during Christmas 2011, when sales of the home console equaled those of the just-launched PlayStation Vita handheld.
I wouldn't be surprised if they're shipping a small number to third world markets for several more years. Further, I wouldn't be surprised if Sony gave the chipset one last die shrink to reduce the cost further. A few million more units can be worth the investment.
Bye bye ps2..