Coming right as this generation of console gaming is beginning to die, Sony today announced that sales of its PlayStation 3 console have reached 70 Million units worldwide. That matches the figure Microsoft cited last month as the number of Xbox 360 consoles that have been sold. Nintendo managed to sell more Wii consoles than either, though, and has gotten a jump on the next generation of consoles with the launch of its Wii U console.

Sony used the announcement to highlight some PlayStation 3 milestones, including multiple PlayStation Store redesigns, the PlayStation Plus subscription service, the debut of the PlayStation Move controller, and the new, lighter version of the console it released just this fall.

The company also provided some interesting numbers for PlayStation 3 software sales. There are now 3,590 different software titles for the PS3, and more than 595 million total units have been sold worldwide.

The fact that the PlayStation 3 has caught up with the Xbox 360 in the long run is somewhat surprising. The PlayStation 3 debuted one year after the Xbox 360. That and its high price ($600) ensured that initial sales were slower than those of the Xbox 360 and the Wii. The current tie might not indicate that the console gaming world is bifurcated so much as this long console cycle has enabled a large percentage of gamers to save up enough money to buy one of each console.

Unfortunately, Sony did not reveal any information on the future of the PlayStation brand in its announcement. Both Sony and Microsoft are expected to announce, if not release, new consoles within the next year.