It's "Game Over" for Sony's iconic PlayStation 2 video game console in Japan.
Japanese video game publication Famitsu reported this week that Sony has ordered shipments of the PlayStation 2 to halt this week in Japan, meaning that only PS2s available on shelves now will be available for customers for however long supplies last.
The company, however, has not gone public yet with any plans as to whether it will halt shipments of their one-time best-selling video game console around the world yet.
Since its release in March 2000 as the follow-up to the groundbreaking PlayStation console, Sony has sold roughly 155 million of the video game units worldwide. That benchmark makes Sony's PS2 the highest selling video game system of all time, which tops the previous sales of the original PlayStation's 102 million consoles and Nintendo Wii's 97 million units sold.
Part of the PS2s success was in its innovative hardware, with designers at Sony building the console with the ability to play DVDs--the first such video game console to ever do so. This created an entertainment experience for consumers that made the Sony gaming system a "must-have." The PS2 easily outpaced its rival console system the Sega DreamCast in sales.
While the company is currently gearing up to unveil its newest creation, the PlayStation 4, next year, the PS2 was still selling well during the holidays last year, with 500,000 PS2s being sold worldwide.
In fact, Sony claimed that the console was still selling well in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and South America.