Sony has ceased shipments of the PlayStation TV in Japan, according to the official Japanese website. This does not come as a particular surprise, but does point to a failure at some level, considering the device was only in the market for 2 years and 3 months.
The PlayStation TV was launched back in November 2013 in Japan, and later came to the USA in October 2014. The device originally retailed at $99.99, but retailers ended up dropping it to as low as $39.99 due to its poor sales. Known as PSTV for short, the device connected to TVs and played many of the PlayStation Vita’s games.
The PlayStation TV never made much of an impact, however. Sony president of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida spoke about the device in June last year, in which he said that the device failed to capture consumers’ imagination. He added that if described as a mini-console, people expect the PSTV to be like the Xbox One or PS4. It was also not an optimal video streaming device, as there are other devices with higher definition video.
The PlayStation TV’s future in North America seems very unclear at the moment, and it is unlikely the device will continue being shipped for very long following its discontinuation in Japan. If you were interested in one, now’s the time to get it.
Do you have a PlayStation TV? Are you going to get one? Let us know in the comments below.