Nintendo Wii Sells Out in Launch: Report

Ahead of Friday’s launch, Sony had said it was going to make 400,000 PlayStations available in North American stores. Nintendo had said it would have "five to ten" times as many Wiis available.

"Our research indicates that sell-outs for both the PS3 and Wii were apparently unanimous," said Paul-Jon McNealy, analyst at American Techno Research. "While the PS3 sell-outs were expected given the limited quantities, the Wii sell-outs were likely but less certain in our opinion."

Wii's rivals, the Playstation and Microsoft's Xbox 360 have been marketed as intense, high-definition gaming machines, qualities which tend to appeal to hardcore gamers. Meanwhile, the Nintendo offering has been touted as a user friendly game system that is fun for the whole family.

"We believe that the Wii sells itself to consumers, and that more hands-on time in places such as mall kiosks will only help create further buzz and success for the Wii," McNealy added.

The Wii costs $250, including one game, half of what the PlayStation 3 model costs.

The Japan-based Nintendo plans to follow its North American debut with a release of the console in Japan on December 2.