Reports from the initial day of the Wii launch in the US suggest that 607,004 consoles were sold. Many fans were left disappointed as stores sold out across the land and a brief look at Ebay, where Wiis are selling for double the store price, confirm that fans are eager to buy the console as soon as possible, despite more shipments expected shortly.

At midnight on Saturday, Isaiah "Triforce" Johnson, 29, purchased the first Wii as Toys "R" Us employees cheered and Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime helped ring up the sale.

"I had to get it first," said Mr Johnson, who was dressed in a black leather Nintendo coat and Legend of Zelda sweatshirt. He immediately took the Wii out of its box and had Mr Fils-Aime autograph it.

Nintendo expect to ship 4 million units by the end of the year and have predicted Wii to be a sell out across the globe this Christmas. In the US, early figures suggest that 255,172 PS3 consoles have been sold out of a shipment figure of 400,000 units.

These figures are currently unconfirmed.

Source: The Times