Damn right before I was going to go to bed I see this on Kotaku.

Whew. Damn.

John Lucas

http://kotaku.com/343154/20gb--60gb-ps3s-discontinued-in-japan

PS3: 20GB & 60GB PS3s Discontinued In Japan

If you're Japanese/living in Japan and have long fancied Sony's 20 & 60GB PS3 models, time to get your skates on. Sony have just announced that they're discontinuing shipments of both models, in order to "improve software development environment and the availability of a more extensive line-up of software titles for PS3". Remember, Japan, just like Europe, this leaves you with the 40GB model, and means no more backwards-compatibility. According to Sony, the last shipments of both models will arrive in stores later in the month; once they're all gone, they're all gone for good. Official press release is after the jump.

Tokyo, January 10, 2008 - Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today announced that it would discontinue shipment of both 20GB HDD and 60GB HDD configurations of PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3®) originally launched on November 11th 2006, in the Japanese market after the completion of the final shipment scheduled in January 2008. Upon termination of the shipment, the sales of both models will be limited to stock in the market.

Along with both the increased efforts to improve software development environment and the availability of a more extensive line-up of software titles for PS3, SCEI will vigorously promote the expansion of the PS3 platform by further concentrating on the 40GB HDD (CECHH00 Series) model introduced in November 2007, equipped with the core technology components that make PS3 the most advanced high-definition entertainment system while realizing lower power consumption.

Following the ever greater line-up of the PS3 software during this holiday season, more and more software titles are scheduled to be released beyond January from third party game developers and publishers such as "Devil May Cry® 4" (CAPCOM CO.,LTD./ Expected Release Date: January 31st in BD format), "METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS" (Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd./ Expected Release Date: second quarter of calendar year 2008 in BD format) and "Ryu ga Gotoku KENZAN!" (SEGA CORPORATION/ Expected Release Date: March 6th in BD format) as well as SCE Worldwide Studios, Japan Studio titles including "echochrome" (Expected Release Date: Spring 2008 as PLAYSTATION®Network download content).

SCEI will continue to further expand the PS3 platform and create a new world of computer entertainment.

uh oh

Did they 4get about the 80gb for BC, or is that discontinued also?

Sony is further gimping its hardware

Ehh why should i care.

I'm pretty sure there never was an 80 gig system in Japan, they just stuck with the 20 and 60 gigs the whole time. Could this be a hint of what's coming for the rest of the world?

Finally, what took them so long? It happened in North America like half a year ago.

Perhaps they want people to have to purchase a ps2 for that new casual stuff they're going to start pushing. Seems like a lot of Japanese consumers are really into casual games.

Huh. That on;y brings one question to mind, what was the sale ratio between all three sku's up till this point? Also will the Japanese want a console without BC? We'll have to wait until y-koron speaks up or wait until March or April to see the effects ourselves.

PS2 in Japan is still mostly core users, it's much different than the ps2 base in America right now.