…And now it is official: PlayStation 3 had a more successful launch than Xbox 360 did a year ago. Even though the PlayStation 3 launch had been plagued with delays and did not quite go off as planned, Sony still managed to ship a million consoles in North America alone.

To compare, Microsoft sold 600,000 Xbox 360 units from their November launch to the second week in January, according to Kotaku. Wii has sold 2,000,000 consoles to date. The gleeful release follows.

At the Consumer Electronics Show 2007 in Las Vegas, Sony Computer Entertainment America announced that more than 1,000,000 units of its recently launched PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system have been sold in to the retail channel in North America. The company successfully achieved this milestone by the end of the 2006 calendar year, just six weeks after the product was introduced on November 17, 2006.

PS3 has been selling-out at retail outlets across North America since it was launched. This high consumer demand drove the PS3 to reach the one-million mark before its predecessors, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and the PS one game console – both systems have shipped more than 213 million units of hardware and more than 2.1 billion pieces of software worldwide.

"SCEA went to great lengths to help meet demand for PS3, including airlifting systems into North America on a weekly basis to ensure a steady stream of units were available to consumers throughout the holiday season," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, SCEA. "The fact that we were able to reach the one-million mark faster than our top-selling platform, the PS2, further validates the strength of the PlayStation brand and our belief that consumers are ready to experience true high-definition gaming."

PS3 wasn't the only hot gift this holiday season, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system continues to enjoy record-breaking sales in North America. In the first quarter of 2007, PS2 will continue to fuel industry growth with the highly anticipated release of the MLB 07 The Show and God of War 2 titles.

PlayStation-branded entertainment and gaming content that will be shown in the Sony booth at CES 2007, includes:
FORMULA ONE CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION – PS3
MLB 07 The Show – PS3, PSP
MotorStorm – PS3
LAIR – PS3
Heavenly Sword – PS3
Gran Turismo HD – PS3 downloadable
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters – PSP
Killzone – PSP
SOCOM: Fire Team Bravo – PSP

Other features on display will include "Remote Play" for the PS3, which allows the consumer to utilize their PSP to access content on their PS3 hard drive, including movies, television shows, videos and music. A full demonstration of the PLAYSTATION®Network, and PLAYSTATION®Store for the PS3, as well as Location Free TV™ for the PSP, will also be shown.