Although some UK shops have been taking PlayStation 3 preorders since December, Sony is only just finalising its stock allocation to the retailers. This means that it's only now that preorders that guarantee a console on launch day are being taken.

　　Game yesterday evening sent an e-mail out to customers who had registered on the site to receive updates stating that preorders were now open. It is offering two different bundles, the first priced at £554.96 (approx $1,089) which contains the 60GB console and three games--Resistance: Fall of Man, Call of Duty 3, and MotorStorm. The second was priced slightly higher at £564.96 ($1,108), and included the console, Resistance: Fall of Man, Virtua Fighter 5, and Virtua Tennis 3.

　　Game states on its Web site that it was not able to guarantee it could fulfil preorders, and that they would be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, but only one console could be preordered per customer.

　　Play.com announced it was also starting to take preorders, but with one difference--the company would deliver on every order it accepted, a statement released today said. The company's head of games, Gian Luzio, said, "We received strong levels of preorders on launch of the last two consoles, however, due to market-wide stock shortages we were unable to fulfil these orders on day one. We know that we disappointed some of our customers and we wanted to ensure that we did not face the same situation again."

　　The price of the Play.com bundle is £524.99 ($1,030), and the 60GB PS3 comes with a HDMI cable, along with games MotorStorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, and Genji: Days of the Blade.

　　Amazon UK has posted a notice on its Web site that it will be starting preorders at 9 a.m. tomorrow, February 15. It is offering just the console, without having to buy any bundles, for the RRP of £425 ($834). The company is expected to close preorders in minutes--it sold out of all its allocated preorder stock for the Wii in 10 minutes last year.

　　Argos is also taking preorders for the console, and like Amazon UK, is allowing customers to buy just the console on its own, at £424.99 ($834). Preorders are being taken now on its Web site. The company states that it will only be taking preorders for the amount of its launch allocation from Sony.

　　Woolworths is offering a variety of bundles for the console, starting at a price of £464.99 ($912) for the console and Resistance: Fall of Man. It does not state whether its preorders are guaranteed or not.

　　GameStation is also taking preorders, but has decided to go down the 'bundle-only' route, which means gamers can choose one game to buy with the console for £459.99 ($902)--the games included in the offer are F1 Championship Edition, Genji: Days of the Blade, MotorStorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, and Ridge Racer 7.

　　Various other stores are also offering preorders, including Littlewoods, where the original offer of £549 ($1,077) for the console has been replaced by one that offers the 60GB version for £629 ($1,234) with Call of Duy 3. The site also claims that the 20GB version will be available in August. HMV sent out an e-mail to customers suggesting that they buy a PlayStation Portable to secure themselves a PS3, although a spokesperson later told GameSpot that this didn't mean customers couldn't just order the console.

　　Currys, PC World, and online retailer Dixons are not currently taking preorders, whereas Virgin says that it will be "taking preorders for the PS3 in the very near future."