Sony's next generation console, the PlayStation 3, has officially gone on sale in the US leaving UK gamers the last major territory left not to get a piece of the gaming action.

Scenes like those in Japan just a week earlier were repeated as shoppers braved the November cold to get their hands on the new console.

Some reports online suggested that those first in the queue were mobbed by reporters covering the event as stores around the country opened at midnight.

Sony has reported made 400,000 consoles available for the US with many expecting them to sell out within the first day.

While UK gamers have to sit back and wait, they can get a piece of the action by making sure they sign up for their online user name which Sony has made available worldwide.

Those with a console can download the first batch of playable demos.

The service, Sony's equivalent to Microsoft's Xbox Live and Marketplace, can be accessed for free, and lets new PS3 owners set friends lists and send messages, as well as create an avatar.