For those old school gaming fans despairing over never being able to play certain PS3 games without having to fork out for an expensive physical edition, fret not! Sony has decided to do a 180 on two-thirds of those plans, and keep the PS3 and PS Vita stores alive. The PSP is still scheduled to be taken out to the shed, where you’ll hear a shotgun being loaded with fresh retirement buckshot.

It’s the end of an era later this year, when Sony sunsets its PlayStation 3, PSP, and PS Vita digital storefronts. Those banana stands have seen an influx of activity lately, with many players seeking to download as many of the rare and platform-exclusive games before the chance to do so is taken away from them.

It’s time to crack open a fresh LP of Boyz II Men, because we’ve once again come to the end of the road for a piece of the gaming industry’s legacy. Last week it was reported that Sony would be pulling the plug on its PS3, PS Vita, and PSP online stores, news which Sony confirmed last night. The PS3 and PSP stores will go offline on July 2 this year, with the PS Vita following its brothers into obscurity on August 27.

Forget about Bitcoin or turning your collection of questionable Jpegs into NFTs to score a big buck, because the next best resource that you can hoard right now might just be PS3 and PS Vita games.

A sluggish collection of games that doesn’t exactly have a user-friendly interface or features in comparison to Microsoft’s offerings on the digital retail side, that archaic console café is about to get a big upgrade.

Nothing lasts forever. Empires have crumble, Highlanders have gotten their heads chopped off in bafflingly bad fourth films in a movie franchise and even a French baguette dreads the day when it is no longer fit to be used as a stale baton. You can throw video game servers onto that list, because no matter the fandom or the passion for any particular game, there will come a day when the lights are turned off and that final multiplayer match is had.

In the month of romance, Sony is making an effort to be everyone’s Valentine with the following games that subscribers will be able to grab for free from February 5 to March 5.

This year’s December is also a month for free games, as the ol’ PS Plus engine is firing up again and getting ready to hand out some free games to help justify the cost of PlayStation’s online subscription service. December kicks off with at least one high profile release: OnRush. Released earlier this year, the Codemasters developed game is an odd but fascinating stab at combining action with racing.