Winners and losers in the PS3, Wii launch frenzy

News from the virtual world:

— INAUSPICIOUS DEBUTS: There's an obvious lesson to be learned from the recent U.S. launches of Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii (not to mention last year's debut of Microsoft's Xbox 360): This is no way to do business.

Does any other industry introduce new products in such limited supply? Does General Motors roll out new SUVs that can only be bought by people who are willing to camp out for 48 hours? Would Warner Bros. heavily advertise a new "Harry Potter" movie and then show it in only three theaters? When the Xbox 720, the PlayStation 4 and the SuperWii arrive in 2011, we hope things will go a lot more smoothly.

November saw an unprecedented feeding frenzy over the two new consoles, and there were plenty of winners and losers amid the mayhem. Since there were more losers, we'll start with them:

LOSERS:

— Gamers: No matter how much you love video games, you probably couldn't take a couple of days off from your job and your family to wait in line for a PS3. So enjoy your time playing with the display model at Target: That's probably as close as you're going to get this year.

— Sony: Sure, the company got untold amounts of free publicity as TV news crews gawked at the desperate gamers lining up around electronics stores. But Sony's leaving a lot of money lying on the table by falling so short of demand — money that stands a good chance of going to its competitors.

— PS3 buyers: Those who were persistent enough to get PS3s may have felt some buyer's remorse once they unpacked them. There's only one good PS3-exclusive game — "Resistance: Fall of Man" — and that may not be enough to keep machines humming until next year.

— Nintendo: The Wii was supposed to be much more available than the PS3, with Nintendo promising to ship millions before the end of the year. But the thing is still awfully hard to find, and Nintendo could be blowing a big chance to take a bite out of Sony's sales.

WINNERS:

— eBay profiteers: There were reports of recycled PS3s selling for as much as $15,000, but prices on eBay seemed to have leveled off between $1,000 and $2,000. Wii markups are much smaller, but there's still profit to be made. We hate the profiteers — they really are ruining the fun for the rest of us — but it's hard to argue with their motivation.