The Playstation 3 was launched on November 10, 2006 in Japan and on November 17, 2006 in North America. Due to a shortage in materials needed for the Blu-ray drive, release in European countries and other world markets was delayed until 2007.
LAUNCH DATES & PRICING
| DATE | LOCATION | 20GB MODEL PRICE | 60GB MODEL PRICE |
| November 10, 2006 | Japan | JP¥59,800 | Set by retailers** |
| November 17, 2006 | North America | $499 | $599 |
| March 23, 2007 | Europe | €499 | €599 |
| March 2007 | Singapore | Not released | S$799 |
| June 16, 2007 | South Korea | See note below* | See note below* |
| 2007 | Mexico | MXN$7,999 | MXN$9,499 |
| March 23, 2007 | Australia | AU$829 | AU$999 |
| March 30, 2007 | Middle East | Not released | AED2499 |
| April 20, 2007 | Ukraine/Russia | Not released | UAH4000 |
| April 27, 2007 | India | Not released | Rs39,990 |
*The only version sold at launch in South Korea was a 80GB model.
**The 60GB model's price in Japan was open and set by the retailers themselves.
LAUNCH GAMES
There was a total of 12 launch games for the North American launch, 24 games for PAL regions, and 6 games for the Japanese launch. The best selling game for the Japanese launch was Ridge Racer 7, although no details are known about the other two launches.
| TITLE | NORTH AMERICA | EUROPE | JAPAN |
| BLAST FACTOR | No | No | Yes |
| Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII | Yes | Yes | No |
| Call of Duty 3 | Yes | Yes | No |
| Def Jam: Icon | No | Yes | No |
| Enchanted Arms | No | Yes | No |
| FIFA 07 | No | Yes | No |
| Fight Night Round 3 | No | Yes | No |
| Formula One Championship Edition | No | Yes | No |
| Full Auto 2: Battlelines | No | Yes | No |
| Genji: Days of the Blade | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| The Godfather: The Don's Edition | No | Yes | No |
| Madden NFL 07 | Yes | No | No |
| Marvel: Ultimate Alliance | Yes | Yes | No |
| Miyazato San Kyoudai Naizou: SEGA GOLFCLUB | No | No | Yes |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MotorStorm | No | Yes | No |
| NBA 2K7 | Yes | Yes | No |
| NHL 2K7 | Yes | Yes | No |
| NBA Street: Homecourt | No | Yes | No |
| Resistance: Fall of Man | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ridge Racer 7 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | No | Yes | No |
| Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tony Hawk's Project 8 | Yes | Yes | No |
| Virtua Fighter 5 | No | Yes | No |
| Virtua Tennis 3 | No | Yes | No |
| World Snooker Championship 2007 | No | Yes | No |
LAUNCH SALES
In Japan, a total of 81,639 PS3 systems were sold within the first 24 hours, which is around 80% of the expected 100,000 units that were shipped there for the launch. In North America, there were an expected 400,000 units to be available at launch, although only around 40% of that figure was actually available.
In Europe, the PS3 sold around 600,000 units within the first two days of launch, with around 160,000 of those being from the United Kingdom. France's PS3 sales were around half of the UK's, with Spain and Portugal slightly behind that number. In addition, Germany saw some strong sales, with around 60,000 units sold.
