When Amazon UK announced preorders for the Nintendo Wii back on November 21, the offer closed within 10 minutes as consumers snapped up the offer.

　　The PlayStation 3, which was launched in Japan on November 11, 2006, and in the US on November 17, was delayed until March in Europe due to problems with production of its blue laser diodes. Preorders for Brits have been available for some time, with some high street stores choosing to offer the console for preorder back in December--although with no guarantees.

　　This week saw Sony dish out its official allocations to retailers, and some, including Play.com and Amazon UK, are guaranteeing all their preorder customers a console on the launch day.

　　However, unlike the Wii or previous UK console launches including the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2, the PlayStation 3 is still available to buy almost a week after being offered.

　　The marketing director of specialist video game retailer Game, Anna Macario, commented, "Game has had a really good response to their preorder campaign for the forthcoming PlayStation 3 console, both in-store and online...we are receiving more preorders every day. We are still currently guaranteeing anyone who preorders the console that it will be available for collection in the launch period both in-store and online. However, with any high-demand hardware, people shouldn't wait to preorder their console, as units won't be around for much longer."

　　Play.com's head games buyer, Gian Luzio, commented that demand for the PS3 on its site has been phenomenal. He said, "The Sony PS3 has preordered six times more than the Xbox 360 in this period before launch, and 15 times more than the Wii. So it's the most preordered console yet."