he PlayStation 3 console has broken UK sales records with more than 165,000 machines sold in the first two days of release, say analysts Chart Track. More than a million consoles were shipped across Europe on launch day last week with 600,000 sold. Sony is hoping to retake its title as the console market leader, as Microsoft and Nintendo head the next-gen race. Meanwhile, games firm Namco Bandai has said it is to use the PS3's Cell chip in arcade machines. Microsoft sold 71,000 Xbox 360 consoles during its UK launch weekend, while Nintendo sold 105,000 Wii machines. But both companies offered limited stock to retailers, which led to shortages. Ray Maguire, managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment UK said the figures were a vote of confidence in the machine. "Having broken the record for launch sales, we are now replenishing retail stock across the country," he said, The first arcade title to use the PS3 microprocessor will be fighting game Tekken 6, Namco said. While PlayStation technology has been used in arcade machines in the past it is believed to be the first time that the Cell will be used for games not running on Sony's console. Namco Bandai has sold its PlayStation 2 arcade technology to other firms, but it is still undecided about whether to sell its PS3 Cell-based technology, a spokeswoman for the firm said. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6499841.stm 1...2...3 Let the fanboy war begin......bye going to watch 300 now.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist given the mention of 300

Am I the only one who thinks 435K from the rest of Europe is a little high?

With 60% of their initial shipment sold it is (reasonably) safe to say that by the end of March the launch demand will have been satisfied. This means that in April or May we will know what the actual demand for the PS3 is in Europe ...

France ,Germany and Spain count for some 85-100K each at least .That would put the number in 435-470K alone between these four countries .130K between Austria ,Holland ,Portugal ,Greece ,Switzerland ,Belgium ,Sweden ,Norway ,Denmark ,Poland etc seems not only reasonable but in the low side of predictions .

Now if they would add the extra 100K to the frontpage .... This bothers me a bit ,with the PS3 vgcharts always consider the lowest number available as the safest bet but with the others they put the best predictions ,make numbers from nowhere ,and even when things doesnt bode well with their own data (X360 Japan data being 15K off right now ,X360 NA data being nearly 1 million off comparing with NPD,Wii Japan data being nearly 200K off ) or the provided by NPD or Media create they dont change ir or if they do they dont do it in the correct amount .

I would like to know how many they have sold in the Arabic countries they said it goes well there to.

According to the austrian kurier sony sold 8,000 units in Austria. I think sony sold in greece, switzerland, norway ... the same numer.