Production of the PlayStation 3 has seemingly ended in Japan.

Loading

Gematsu reports the official PlayStation website page for the 500GB version, the only model currently that was in production in Japan, lists shipments now as “Ended.” We have contacted Sony for official comment.The PlayStation 3 originally released in Japan on November 11, 2006, and in North America on November 17 (PAL territories saw the system launch on March 23, 2007). The launch also saw Sony playing catch up to Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which released a year prior on November 22, 2005.Despite releasing later than anticipated, the PlayStation 3 went on to sell through some 80 million units worldwide as of 2013. Comparatively, as of April 2017 the PlayStation 4 has sold in excess of 60 million units.Launch titles included: Call of Duty 3, Genji: Days of the Blade (I require healing), Madden NFL 07, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire, Need for Speed: Carbon, NBA 07, NBA 2K7, NHL 2K7, Resistance: Fall of Man, Ridge Racer 7, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, Tony Hawk's Project 8, and Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom.The system also gave birth to a wealth of what would become beloved new IP, including the likes of Uncharted, The Last of Us, Demon’s Souls, and LittleBigPlanet, as well as platform exclusive sequels in Metal Gear Solid 4 and God of War: Ascension.If you fancy a trip down memory lane, IGN has a list of the top 25 games to play on PlayStation 3

Wesley Copeland is a freelance news writer who writes excellent bios. For more obvious statements and video game chat, you should probably follow him on Twitter