RIP

In March of 2019, Sony decreed that Vita carts and most Vita models would no longer be produced, marking the death of the system in an official capacity. While the PSP and the PS3 had their time in the sun, their number is nearly up as well: at least as far as Sony is concerned.

Earlier today Sony of Japan revealed that they would no longer be supporting repairs for the PSP-3000 or PS3 models. The reason for the former? Sony says "repair parts are no longer in stock," and requests that folks "ask [them] early" if they need their PSP repaired. That's wild! The PSP has been a legacy system for a while but now you'll need to hunt down third-party services if you live in Japan.

It had a good run though. The PSP was released in 2004 in Japan and lasted all the way through December of 2014 in Europe. By comparison the Vita was released at the tail-end of 2011 and was taken behind the barn in early 2019. The PS3 on the other hand has a lot more to celebrate. It lasted from November of 2006 all the way through May of 2017 in Japan (nearly the same as the PS1's just over 11-year run).

That's one of the longest runs of all time for an active console, though almost nothing can touch the 2000-2013 run of the PS2. Can you tell I love console stats?

PlayStation JP [Twitter]