Playstation 2 Hits 3 Million in Japan

Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi has announced that 3 million Playstation 2s have shipped in Japan as of August 1, less than five months after its March 4 launch. By comparison, the original Playstation took 19 months to achieve the same feat, and has moved over 77 million units worldwide to date. In other PS2 launch news, several U.S. retailers, including Babbages/Gamestop, Funcoland, Toys 'R Us, and Electronics Boutique have halted or scaled back preorders for the new console, anticipating that supply will not be able to match demand at the October 26 launch. Some of the retailers are still taking preorders through their online stores, while others have eliminated guarantees that preordered consoles will be shipped on the launch date. And finally, manufacturing delays have almost halved the number of PS2s that will be released in Europe at the console's launch. Europeans were initially slated to receive 200,000 units, now they may receive only about 100,000.