After many weeks of discussion about release dates and numbers (from the high price to the low number of units), the closure of Lik-Sang and heated fanboy arguments about who had the power upperhand between Sony's third console and the X360, Japanese owners finally got their hands on the ¥60'000 console (roughly US$510 or 400€). Given the small number of units available (80'000), it's no surprise the console quickly sold out.

Popular gaming blog Kotaku published a first-hand report on the release of the console. The "dark side" of the release, that is.The first owner, for instance, was a Chinese man with no Japanese language skills, and haven't bought a single game. Where will that console end? Most likely at the hands of a gamer willing to pay double or triple for the console elsewhere, be it Japan, China, North America or Europe. In fact, a lot of those in queue were either being paid to buy the console and drop it at a truck outside the mall, or students looking for a quick fix of cash.

For the official release, American buyers will have a wait a week more, while Europeans have four more months of the waiting game.

Really interesting read. Its amazing the shit people can do for a 600$ colored plastic box.