According to an article on Time.com today, Sony is now ending shipments of the PSP in Japan. Sony has already ended shipments in North America and Europe will soon follow later this year.
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) was released in Japan in December of 2004. In that ten year span, Sony has sold close to 80 million units. The handheld was released in North America and Europe in early 2005. The PSP was Sony’s first attempt at entering the handheld gaming market, which had to compete with the much popular Nintendo DS. Sony offered up five different versions of the hardware with the most recent being the 2011 PSP-E1000.
With Sony phasing out the PSP, the attention clearly now shifts to the PS Vita. For Japanese consumers, Sony is offering discounts on software and hardware for PSP owners. No official word has been given as to why North America did not receive the same discounts as Japan.
For those worried about possibly losing a huge catalog of games, Sony has made it possible to download PSP titles onto the PS Vita. Did you own a PSP and now own a PS Vita? Do you play PSP titles on the PS Vita? Let us know in the comments below.
via IGN