Despite its hefty price-tag of €629, a number of shops around the country will open at midnight tonight to start selling Sony's Playstation 3 games console.
Sony Computer Entertainment Ireland says 20,000 machines will be available to Irish customers for tomorrow's launch and it expects retailers to take in €15 million the same day on sales of the console and its accessories.
Games that Sony publishes for the new machine will retail for €60.
The Playstation 3 is the most expensive video game system ever launched on the Irish market. Microsoft's competing Xbox 360 Pro sells for about €459, while Nintendo's Wii can be purchased for €270.
The high price-tag has also been criticised because the unit sells for approximately €100 less in the US.
Niall O'Hanrahan, managing director of Sony Computer Ireland, said US retailers operated off much smaller profit margins than in Ireland and the US price did not include sales tax which is different in every state.
He said the price in Ireland was about the middle of the European range with Scandinavian countries charging €670.
More than 30 different games are available at the launch, including titles published by Sony such as racing game Formula One Championship Edition, second World War shooting game Resistance: Fall of Man and martial arts title Genji: Days of the Blade.
In a demonstration for The Irish Timesyesterday, the gaming experience was impressive with a much higher degree of realism than that normally associated with computer games.
Sony says the Playstation 3 is not just a games machine but a home media system which can store and display digital pictures, films and music in addition to providing access to the internet.
It includes many of the features normally found on a laptop or PC, such as wireless networking.
Standard computer keyboards and mice can be attached to the machine to make it easier to carry out functions such as organising and displaying digital pictures, surfing the internet, and managing music stored on the machine.
Using a broadband connection, gamers will be able to go online using the new Playstation Network to play against other people from around the world.
Because Sony intends the machine to be shared between family members, each person who uses it can set up a personal account.
In this way, parents can impose controls such as what age certificate films can be watched by different family members.
The Playstation 3 has a high-definition DVD player based on the Blu Ray standard. Because it can store significantly more data than an existing DVD disc, it allows for more vivid pictures and sound which is closer to a cinema experience.
While Sony is trumpeting the fact that the Playstation 3 includes a Blu Ray player in the price while a standalone Blu Ray player can cost €1,200, this addition may prove to be of limited value in the future.
In a throwback to the Betamax versus VHS wars of the late 1970s, different electronics companies are backing two competing standards - Blu Ray and HD DVD.
It remains unclear whether both formats will be able to co-exist or if, as with VHS, a single standard will dominate.
Sony has come in for criticism in recent weeks because the new machine will not play all the games it has previously released.
The version of the machine sold in the US and Japan can play all existing Playstation games on account of it containing an additional chip.
Mr O'Hanrahan said it was not a cost-cutting decision that led to the removal of the chip but a decision to handle "backwards compatibility" through software rather than hardware.
However, in online forums, many games fans have expressed disappointment that many of their favourite titles will not play on the new machine.
Ireland has had the second-highest per capita ownership for the previous two generations of Playstation - this make it lag only behind Sony's home market of Japan.
Sony sold just under 700,000 Playstation 2 consoles in Ireland, to an estimated 47 per cent of Irish households.
It is expected that €15 million will be spent tomorrow on the new Playstation 3 console and accessories.