It was clear from the moment it was first rumored that the new version of the PlayStation 3 from Sony would make a big impact on the gaming world. After all, if only the initial promises of a lower profile, better power consumption and more efficient ventilation were fulfilled, gamers would have been interested in the device but with Sony also cutting the price of the console to the rather low 299 dollars, the possible impact increased exponentially.

And initial sales reports confirm the projections. Famitsu, the quintessential Japanese gaming magazine, revealed that in the first three days on sales, the PlayStation 3 Slim managed to sell no less than 150,000 units.

The number is huge, considering that the initial launch of the PS3 resulted in just 88,000 devices sold. At the moment, there are more than 3,400,000 units in households in Japan. People also need to keep in mind that the console is now more than three years old and nobody thought that a sort of re-release could be so profitable. Sony executives must really be smiling on hearing the news.

The Land of the Rising Sun is quite an eccentric market. After, all both Sony and Nintendo are Japanese companies, and buyers are skewed towards them, with the Wii usually being the best sold gaming console on the market.

Even when Microsoft enacted price cuts back in September of last year, the impact in Japan was rather limited and now sales of the Xbox 360 are slow, hovering around 5,000 units in one week.

Of course, the initial surge in sales for the PlayStation 3 Slim might not hold over the long term and Sony might end up seeing that its home console slides back to its usual place behind the Nintendo Wii, the DSi and the PSP.