There was little doubt that online auctions for Sony's PlayStation 3 would be commanding exorbitant prices after the system's launch at 12:01 a.m. this morning. With expected shortages around the country and gamers and scalpers alike camping out for days just for a chance at landing one of the systems, prices on preordered systems were routinely hitting the $1,500 mark a month before the system went on sale.

　　Now that the PlayStation 3 has hit the market and sellers have their systems in hand, prices for online auctions are soaring. A quick survey of eBay Friday morning found more than 10,000 listings for PS3 systems (although many had been taken down), with three auctions won by bids of $15,000 or more. However, it seemed most systems were going for between $2,500 and $5,000, with one "lucky" bidder snagging a PS3 for $2,250.

　　Auctions for Nintendo's Wii were less plentiful (a search yielded more than 1,100 listings for Wii systems) and were commanding lower sale prices, but some of the $250 consoles were going for several times their retail price, with one bundle including games and accessories topping the $1,400 mark.