The Sony PlayStation Portable player was scheduled to go on sale at midnight in Europe for 249 euros ($307) or 179 pounds ($322), according to a statement by Tokyo-based Sony.

Sony hopes the PSP will have an impact on Japan-based Nintendo's dominance in handheld game players and expects to sell 13 million units worldwide in the year ending in March reports Bloomberg

In the U.K., the more than 150,000 PSPs that are available initially are likely to sell out, and some retailers stopped taking pre-orders for the console, according to the Times. In the U.K., Sony expects to sell 1 million devices before Christmas.