14 DAY TRIAL // Video game hardware developer and game publisher Sony has initially shipped 500,000 units of the PlayStation Vita handheld for the launch on the Japanese market and has then supplemented the number by another 200,000 in order to make sure that there are enough devices available in order to sate the demand of gamers.
Sources inside the company are being cited for the figures and they also say that Sony is ready to deliver more Vita handhelds during the launch week in order to make sure that all the players who want one can get it in stores.
Soon after pre-orders were open for the PlayStation Vita a number of Japanese retailers announced that they would suspend the process because they were not sure that they could deliver the units on launch date.
Since then pre-orders were re-launched and Tsutaya, Yodobashi Camera and Bic Camera have confirmed that any gamers can walk into a retail outlet even without a pre-order and can buy a Vita.
Sony has not yet announced how many devices it has managed to sell during the launch weekend but a number might be released soon, especially if the device managed to perform better than expected.
The Vita will also soon appear in the Media Create compiled weekly sales chart for the Japanese market, where it will have to deal with a resurgent Nintendo 3DS, which managed its best seven day period ever during last week.
The PlayStation Vita will be launched on Western market on February 22 and Sony has said that it will ship enough devices in order to satisfy all demand.
The new handheld offers an improved screen, touch capability on the back of the device and more computing power, with Sony saying that it can support the same gaming experiences as the home based PlayStation 3.