NEW YORK (XFN-ASIA) - Nintendo Co.'s entry into the game console wars, the Wii, went on sale Sunday, and quickly sold out in many stores despite stocks that far surpassed those of the rival PlayStation 3, which went on sale two days earlier.
''There were enough people in line to snap up almost all the units of the Nintendo Wii that we had in stock, so it was an instant sellout,'' said Circuit City spokesman Jim Babb. There were a few overnight campers, but most had lined up in the early morning.
Spot checks at New York stores turned up only one, the Toys R Us in Times Square, with Wiis in stock. The store hosted a midnight launch event that drew a crowd of more than a thousand people for the sale of the very first Wii.
The first buyer, Isaiah Triforce Johnson, had been waiting outside the store for more than a week. He wore a Nintendo Power Glove, a wearable controller that came out in 1989, while shaking hands with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. Johnson said he had legally changed his name to include a reference to Nintendo's ''Zelda'' series of games.
The launch apparently went smoothly, a contrast to the PlayStation 3 release, which forced police to disperse rowdy crowds at some stores around the country.
Sony had about 400,000 PlayStation 3s in North American stores on Friday. Nintendo has said it would have ''five to ten'' times as many Wiis available at launch, and will have shipped 4 million units by the end of the year.
The Wii costs $ 250, including one game, half of what the cheaper PlayStation 3 model costs. The most common PlayStation 3 model costs $ 600, with no included game.
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