Nintendo Wii consoles selling on eBay hours after UK launch

Hundreds of Nintendo consoles appeared on eBay today, less than 12 hours after their UK launch.

The Wii (pronounced "we") was selling on the internet auction site for nearly three times its £179 retail price.

Eager games fans slept outside HMV's store in London's Oxford Street for up to two nights to bag themselves the first consoles.

The chain was forced to turn away potential customers several hours ahead of last night's launch after the queue reached the maximum number of available consoles.

Wii consoles were selling on eBay this morning for more than £500 each.

EBay spokesman Richard Ambrose said: "We expect the trading of Nintendo Wii on eBay to be fast and furious in the coming weeks.

"If previous console launches are anything to go by, like the XBox360 last year, we can expect a large volume of Wii sales on eBay.co.uk as high street stocks run low and parents under pressure try to find the must-have present to put under the tree."

Retailers have already sold out of their pre-order allocations of the consoles.

Nintendo will make further shipments to the UK before Christmas but would not say how many machines would be delivered.

HMV's head of events, Jason Legg, said: "The launch took place at midnight and we'd sold out of all our stock within one hour."

Nintendo wants the new console to appeal to more women, families and a broader customer age range than the traditional video games market.

It has a wireless wand-like remote but interacts with whatever game is being played.

Nintendo has emailed customers with advice on how to use the controller - such as avoiding "moist" hands - after reports of customers accidentally dropping the remote.

Copyright Press Association 2006.