We know that there are still plenty of gamers out there who are gaming on their PlayStation Portable handheld consoles. After all, the device has become somewhat iconic as it was what allowed Sony to compete with Nintendo in the handheld console market. However it has been about 10 years since the device was launched, which is why we can’t say we’re too surprised to learn that Sony could be looking to phase the console out.
Sony has announced that they will be ending shipments of the PlayStation Portable to Japan starting from this month, making it about 10 years since it was last released. Sony will also be running a trade-in program in which PlayStation Portable gamers can trade in their devices for the somewhat newer PS Vita. Sony has also recently the PS Vita Slim, which is a practice that they did with the PlayStation Portable as well, by releasing newer and slimmer versions.
Despite the PS Vita having been released a few years ago, the PlayStation Portable had remained somewhat popular amongst gamers. This was helped by games like God Eater 2 which was released in the fall of 2013, which meant that gamers still had another reason to either get themselves a PlayStation Portable, or hold onto their existing device and not upgrade to the PS Vita just yet.
However like we said, all good things must come to an end. We’re not sure if Sony will be doing the same to other markets, which is to phase out the console in order to encourage PS Vita sales, but we wouldn’t be surprised if that was going to be the case.