Big surprise: Huge PS3 shortages in Japan. According to Kotaku, only 5-6 PS3 consoles will be available per retails store, if they’re lucky. As we mentioned before, Japan is only getting 80,000 consoles, compared to 400,000 in North America (and 0 in Europe). The really big retail stores in Japan, like Shibuya TSUTAYA, will get around 10 per store. More info at Kotaku here.

While we’re at it, the first PlayStation 3 games are beginning to appear on retail shelves as well. According to Opposable Thumbs, Tony Hawk Project 8 for PS3 is already available at EB Games, and so will many other launch games before the console arrives.