Sony PlayStation 4 goes on sale

The PlayStation 4, Sony's first new gaming console in seven years, hit store shelves today.

At sales locations across Canada, people lined up early to ensure they could get their hands on the new console before Christmas.

• PlayStation 4 vs. Xbox One: How they match up

Tyko Browning and her son were part of a crowd gathered late Thursday night outside a Wal-Mart store in South Windsor, Ont.,that expectedto start selling the new console at midnight.

Their family planned to buy several.

"There's one per person, so we're each going to buy one," Browning told CBC News.

One will stay at home, but Browning hopes to get up to $600for each of the other $400 units, due to the limited supply.

"Nobody's going to be able to have them for Christmas if they're not in this line," she said.

Network overload

Some customers returned home with their brand new consoles Fridaymorning, eager to try themout, only to face trouble logging onto Sony's PlayStation Network.

"PSN seeing very high volume, some gamers may experience difficulty connecting," Sony's PlayStation Twitter account reported around 4 a.m. ET.

There are about two dozen games available for the console, including the latest from some big-name franchises, such as Call of Duty: Ghosts, Killzone: Shadowfall, Battlefield 4 and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. More new games are due for release before Christmas, but the new console will not run games for Sony's previous system, the PlayStation 3..

Sony expects to sell fivemillion units of the PlayStation 4 by the end of its fiscal year in March. The PlayStation 3, in comparison, sold 3.5 million units in that time period seven years ago.

The timing of the PS4's launch gives it a little bit of a head start on Microsoft's new console, the Xbox One, which will launch on Nov. 22 andsell for $500.

Sony announced on its PlayStation blog that it opened three PS4 Experience pop-up stores on Nov. 1 to let Canadians try the new console and games before deciding whether to buy. The stores are scheduled to remain open until Jan. 5 and are located at:

• Torontos Scarborough Town Centre.
• Calgarys Southcentre Mall.
• Montreals Complex Les Ailes.