Nintendo Co.'s entry into the game console wars, the Wii, went on sale yesterday, and quickly sold out in many U.S. stores despite stocks that far surpassed those of the rival PlayStation 3, which went on sale two days earlier.

"There were enough people in line to snap up almost all the units of the Nintendo Wii that we had in stock, so it was an instant sellout," said Circuit City spokesman Jim Babb.

Such was the case at the Circuit City in Pearlridge, which had 31 units for sale yesterday morning. Two hours before the store opened, employees passed out vouchers to the first 31 people in line.

Across the street at Toys n' Joys, another 30 or so consoles sold out, as they did at the other Toys n' Joys at Kaimuki, where some shoppers waited overnight.

Both O'ahu Best Buys and the Pearlridge Toys "R" Us also reported that they were sold out.

However, some retailers reassured customers that they expect more shipments in the coming weeks, and the Wii should be more readily available in Hawai'i than the Playstation 3.

The Toys "R" Us in New York City's Times Square hosted a midnight launch event that drew a crowd of more than a thousand people. The first buyer, Isaiah Triforce Johnson, had been waiting outside the store for more than a week. He wore a Nintendo Power Glove, a wearable controller that came out in 1989, while shaking hands with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. Johnson said he had legally changed his name to include a reference to Nintendo's "Zelda" series of games.

The launch apparently went smoothly, a contrast to the PlayStation 3 release, which forced police to disperse rowdy crowds at some stores around the country. Sony had about 400,000 PlayStation 3s in North American stores on Friday. Nintendo has said it would have "five to 10" times as many Wiis available at launch, and will have shipped 4 million units by the end of the year.

The Wii costs $250, including one game, half of what the cheapest PlayStation 3 model costs. The most common PlayStation 3 model costs $600, with no included game.

On the eBay auction site, Wiis were selling yesterday for twice the store price, indicating that supplies are still tight. The PlayStation 3, meanwhile, was selling for around $1,500, already down about $1,000 from Friday.

"The people we saw today were much more likely to take these games home and play them and love them rather than flip them on eBay," Babb said. Circuit City expects more Wiis in stock soon, but Babb could not say exactly when.

Launching right after the much-vaunted and technically sophisticated PlayStation 3 is a brave move for Nintendo, which lost the top spot in the market to Sony Corp. in the mid-90s.

The Wii takes a different tack than the competition, forgoing the high-definition graphics that Sony has spent billions to develop for the PlayStation 3.

Instead, Nintendo aims to draw gamers and nongamers alike with intuitive game play. The Wii comes with a motion-sensitive controller that the gamer waves around in the air, using it as a tennis racket, golf club, steering wheel, gun or sword depending on the game.