Yesterday GameStop's Chris Olivera told me that between eight and 16 Playstation 3s were pre-ordered at each of their 3,600 stores. If I apply math that means somewhere between 28,800 and 57,600 Playstation 3s were pre-ordered.

I had a chance to speak with Sony Computer Entertainment of America spokesman Dave Karraker last night about the sales. (He said he called because he felt sorry for me and my gimpy broken hand. ) Karraker said they heard within minutes of the nationwide GameStop sell-outs and that they were very happy with the news.

"It reconfirms the excitement and anticipation that we've known since we first discuss the PlayStation 3," he said. "We're just pleased to see that the reaction from the consumer is as strong as we anticipated it would be. It helps to validate everything we have been saying up to this point."

While he wouldn't tell me the break-down of which chains were getting what in the way of Playstation 3s, simple math shows that if Sony comes through on their 400,000 console promise to North America, that there are still more than 340,000 left to buy.

So far, so smooth. Brian Crecente

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