SONY GAME SYSTEM IS ALREADY SOLD OUT.

Byline: Robert Monroe Staff Writer

Sony PlayStation 2 - expected to be Christmas' hottest toy - already is sold out, even though the game consoles won't be available in the United States for another six weeks.

That was the word Friday from the nation's toy stores, where demand for the game systems has forced many retailers to stop taking advance orders on the consoles more than a month before the consoles arrive on Oct. 26.

Sony has been taking pre-orders since May for the game player, a device which can not only play games compatible with the original PlayStation but which can play DVDs for mom and dad as well.

The company plans to ship 1 million PS2s, as the new consoles are known, to the United States and pretty much every one of them already has somebody's name on it, said Jim Silver, whose monthly Toy Book trade magazine tracks the nation's hottest selling toys and games.

``Lots of luck trying to get one,'' says Silver. ``If you don't have one in your hands Nov. 1, you don't have a good shot of getting one. I'd say 10 percent (chance) is generous.''

Those without PS2s were beaten to the punch by people like Dorian Gonzalez, who pre-ordered PlayStation 2 at three different stores, including North Hollywood's Game Dude where he works.

``I'm a junkie,'' said the 27-year-old Pasadena resident. ``The first DVD player that came out, I got it. I just love technology.''

Toy retailers won't say how many pre-orders they've received nor how many PlayStations they'll have available to sell. Some tip their hats to Sony and the frenzy it's generated through what they call flow management.

``In the toy business, there are always toys that are hot and there are never enough of them and I suspect this is one of those times,'' said Mike Wagner, chief operating officer of KBKids.com, the online division of KB Toys.

Wagner said KBKids is still taking online orders though KB Toys stores aren't. He suggests that would-be Santas hurry.

``I would be surprised if we're still up taking pre-orders by Oct. 9,'' he said.

Another online toy retailer, Santa Monica-based eToys, said it stopped taking pre-orders for PlayStation 2 when it exhausted its guaranteed supply. Now it offers to send consumers an e-mail when it gets more of the $300 systems in stock.

``The last thing you want to do is disappoint your customers,'' said spokesman Jonathan Cutler.

A Sony spokeswoman for the PlayStation 2 launch did not return calls seeking comment.

Peter Dille, vice president of marketing for Calabasas video game software maker THQ, said the only thing controlling flow is how fast Sony can assemble PlayStation 2 units. THQ will release one game title, ``Summoner,'' in conjunction with Sony's release of PlayStation 2.

Dille marvels at the envelope-push PlayStation 2 has given the industry, noting that the the game player is so immersive that Sony calls its chip the ``emotion engine.''

Video games ``are really becoming more movie-like,'' said Dille. ``You have soundtracks scored by complete orchestras and these beautiful 3-D environments.''

Though the original PlayStation only debuted five years ago, the difference between that and the newcomer is like that between a Ferrari and an Edsel, said the experts. PS2 hums along at 300 megahertz, compared to the 33.8 Mhz speed of the original, and offers a 128-bit processor compared to PlayStation's 32-bits.

The huge popularity of the PlayStation 2 even before its United States debut could actually work to the advantage of Sega's Dreamcast, in the short term anyway. Dreamcast, the only next-generation competition currently on the market, has sold more than 2 million units in the United States since its debut about a year ago.

``I don't think the PlayStation 2 will have more than 1 million units here this year, and they're all sold, which may lead people to buy the Dreamcast if they want a new videogame console for Christmas,'' said Tom Russo, editor in chief of Next Gen, a Brisbane, Calif.-based magazine that covers the video- and computer game business.

Sega and Sony face some challenging competition in about a year, when Nintendo rolls out its Gamecube, the successor to the N64 console, and Microsoft enters the console market with the Xbox, a powerful machine that runs on a variant of Microsoft's Windows operating system.

Staff writer David Bloom contributed to this report.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo: (1 -- 3 -- color) no caption (Toys)

(4) ``Summoner'' is played on the new PlayStation 2 at THQ in Calabasas.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box: PLAYSTATION 2 PREDICTED TO BE NUMBER ONE