That is more than 10 times the sales scored by the original PlayStation console in the same period when it was launched five years ago, the company said in statement. The figures, however, included consoles sold over the Internet which had not yet been delivered to customers.

Sony's shipments seemed to have fallen short of demand and it admitted that production was 10 days behind schedule due to a shortage of memory cards, which are used to store games.

Of 380,000 units sold online, only 120,000 had actually been delivered, the company said, adding that the deliveries should be completed in two weeks.

Sony said it expected the memory card shortage problem to be resolved by mid-March and that it expected total PlayStation2 shipments to reach 1.4 million units by the end of the month. It had originally forecast shipments of 1.5 million by that time. It also said it had shipped 1.3 million PlayStation2 games and that the console, which can play digital video discs, had boosted DVD sales with video stores having ordered double to quadruple their usual number of DVDs since Saturday.

Many analysts have said the console, priced at 39,800 yen ($370), takes home entertainment to a new dimension with life-like animation as well as the capacity to play DVDs and surf the net.

Its "emotion engine" processor has been billed as creating film-like quality, enabling it to depict the most subtle images and movements from hair blowing in the wind to sparks flying from the undercarriage of speeding race cars.

Sony is betting heavily on the success of the new machine. The original PlayStation, and the games that go with it are a high-profit haven for Japan's leading high-tech firm, which already holds a dominant 70 percent share of the world game console market.