PlayStation 3 Nets Fair Price in Auction

The Sony Playstation 3 console and its new controller is shown in this picture after the Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. 2006 E3 media event at Sony Studios in Culver City, Calif., in this May 8, 2006, file photo. After years of hype and speculation, the latest round of video game console wars is finally about to begin. Unlike past battles waged since the 1970s, consumers this time around will have some truly distinct options among three contenders, as each device is tuned to different tastes and budgets. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, file) (Kevork Djansezian - AP)

TOKYO -- Sony's PlayStation 3 isn't living up to the hype _ at least on Japan's Internet auctions. The gaming consoles, which went on sale here Saturday, are fetching reasonable prices online, disappointing those who had hoped to make a quick profit by reselling the machines on the Internet.

Some of the 4,000 PlayStation 3 consoles listed on Yahoo Japan's auction site were downright bargains. Even systems with games included were going for about 60,000 yen ($510) for the most expensive model and 50,000 yen ($420) for the cheaper one. That's in line with Sony's suggested retail prices, minus the extra games.

In the U.S., where the PS3 goes on sale Friday, bidders on eBay have pushed up the price of PS3 preorders to $2,300 as of Wednesday.

The PlayStation 3 is facing off in a next-generation console war against Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360. The Wii debuts on Sunday in the U.S, while the Xbox launched late last year.

Yahoo Japan spokesman Nobumitsu Iwaisaki said some PlayStation 3 bids were as high as 2.1 billion yen ($17.8 million), but those turned out to be jokes.

Sony Computer Entertainment spokesman Daisuke Nakata declined to comment on the auctions, saying the deals were unrelated to Sony's operations.

Hundreds of hard-core game fans had lined up at electronics stores, many from Friday night, to make sure they got one.

But some were clearly not buying it to play _ including those who marched immediately to a waiting van with the machines _ says Hirokazu Hamamura, president of Japanese game magazine publisher Enterbrain Inc.

"The Net auction is so popular these days, that's inevitable," he said. "There's even talk some are taking the machines overseas."

Although Sony had promised 100,000 PS3 machines in Japan on the first day, the count was more like 90,000, and the entire shipment virtually sold out, Hamamura said.

Sony has promised 400,000 machines for the U.S. launch.

A survey by Enterbrain of 3,500 game stores across Japan showed that 88,400 PS3 machines were sold in the first two days.

Sony Corp. has promised a million PS3 machines in Japan by the end of the year, and an additional million in the U.S., targeting a global shipment of 6 million by March 2007.