Throngs of people lined up for hours around Bic Camera, an electronics retailer in downtown Tokyo, to get their hands on one of the consoles. The enthusiasm was so great, clerks with megaphones asked the crowd to stop pushing, warning that all sales would end if there were any injuries.

But would-be buyers were turned away even before the store opened at 7 a.m. The retailer refused to say how many machines it had, but said it knew it would sell out based on the length of the line around the building. Short supplies were reported elsewhere, too. Sanae Saito, a clerk at Yodobashi Camera Co. chain, said her store's stock had already sold out, although she declined to say how many machines were available. "It's all sold out with the people in line now," she said. "So many people waited in line."

Plagued with production problems, Sony Corp. has managed to ready only 100,000 PlayStation 3 machines in time for its debut in Japan. When it goes on sale in the United States on Nov. 17, some 400,000 PS3 consoles will be available there. The console's European launch has been pushed back until March.