Only 100,000 PS3's for Japan Launch
November 11, 2006 | 13:17
Companies: #japan #microsoft #nintendo #sony
Sony's PlayStation 3 officially went on sale in Japan this morning, but Sony only released 100,000 machines for the launch.
Not surprisingly, the demand out-gunned the meagre supply and many gamers queued for hours in the cold only to be turned away because the supply had dried up.
According to the BBC, stores organised lotteries to decide which of the queuing punters would walk away with a PlayStation 3 - this was in the interests of safety.
Sony has said that it plans to have 400,000 units available for the US launch on November 17th and still remains confident about shipping six million units by the end of March 2007.
In contrast, Microsoft expects to have shipped ten million Xbox 360 consoles by the end of 2006, although the software giant has had a twelve month headstart on Sony in this round of the console wars. Meanwhile, Nintendo is confident that its Wii console will be a huge success - our man Ryan thinks otherwise though.
Officials at Sony said that it would be a few days before they'd know whether all retailers sold out of PS3's, but judging from the queues, we'd say that the retailers managed to shift every console they could get.
Were you lucky enough to get one of the first PS3's in Japan, or are you hoping to get one in America when it launches later this week? Let us know in the forums.
Not surprisingly, the demand out-gunned the meagre supply and many gamers queued for hours in the cold only to be turned away because the supply had dried up.
According to the BBC, stores organised lotteries to decide which of the queuing punters would walk away with a PlayStation 3 - this was in the interests of safety.
Sony has said that it plans to have 400,000 units available for the US launch on November 17th and still remains confident about shipping six million units by the end of March 2007.
In contrast, Microsoft expects to have shipped ten million Xbox 360 consoles by the end of 2006, although the software giant has had a twelve month headstart on Sony in this round of the console wars. Meanwhile, Nintendo is confident that its Wii console will be a huge success - our man Ryan thinks otherwise though.
Officials at Sony said that it would be a few days before they'd know whether all retailers sold out of PS3's, but judging from the queues, we'd say that the retailers managed to shift every console they could get.
Were you lucky enough to get one of the first PS3's in Japan, or are you hoping to get one in America when it launches later this week? Let us know in the forums.
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