Nintendo’s new gaming console, the Wii, has sold 50,000 units in its first 12 hours in the UK, the Japanese company said today - about one a second. The system made its British debut last night, with enthusiasts gathering for the midnight launch in the hope of bagging one of Christmas’s most desirable consumer durables.

Police dispersed scores of shoppers gathering at the Oxford Street branch of HMV in London, one of the few outlets to have supplies of the machine that had not been pre-reserved. It had been feared that competition for the console, which costs £179.99, could end in ugly scenes.

The scene had been set for frayed tempers. Some fans had camped out over two nights - during which time a tornado hit London - for a Wii. The console, which comes with a distinctive "wand" controller that replicates players physical actions on screen, has won rave reviews from industry commentators. Pundits have called it a "novelty bordering on the revolutionary".

A Nintendo spokesman said the group will be "constantly replenishing stocks" as quickly as it can.

Such is the excitement the Wii (pronounced "we") has inspired overseas, Nintendo has been forced to issue cautionary advice after over-zealous players lost their grip of its motion-sensitive controller and claimed to have smashed their TVs with it.

The latest entrant into the video games arena, a market worth an estimated £15 billion a year, the Wii has stolen a march in the UK on its arch rival, Sony’s PlayStation 3. The PS3 will only make British shelves in March, following a string of production problems. The PS3 will cost up to £425.

Nintendo’s sales patter and better production line has also scored an early victory over Sony in the US, where initial sales of the Wii eclipsed those of the PS3.

Nintendo said that it had sold more than 600,000 Wii units in the first eight days that it was on sale in North America, equivalent to about one sold every second.

Sony originally expected only 400,000 PS3s to be ready at in the US at launch, while analysts since have suggested that, amid continuing production problems, fewer than 200,000 may have been delivered.

Its early lead could vindicate Nintendo’s plan to market the relatively unsophisticated Wii to mainstream consumers. The powerful PS3, which comes complete with a price- inflating Blu-ray DVD system, is being aimed at avid gamers.

However, early console glitches are common and the PlayStation 2, which suffered a fraught launch in 2000, later went on to become the fastest-selling console to date.

Nintendo aims to ship 4 million Wii consoles globally by the end of the year – twice the number of PS3s that had been expected.

Amazon.com, the online retailer, sold out of its initial stock of the Wii in America in less than one minute. An Amazon spokesman would not reveal how many units it had initially secured, but said that the group had not been surprised to sell out so quickly. "In every instance I can think of, new games consoles have been underproduced," he said.

Rob Lowe, UK product manager for Wii, said the majority of consoles had already been reserved, but retailers had set aside a small number to sell in-store.

He said: "We are hopeful it will be the biggest console launch the UK has ever seen. The previous one was the Xbox 360, and we have got enough stock to be able to beat that."

In London last night, the former tennis star Pat Cash and the model Nell McAndrew exchanged shots on the Wii’s tennis game. Mr Cash told reporters: "I have played a couple of times but the first time I played I lost to a 6-year-old."

Wider wand appeal

· Nintendo’s Wii console retails for £179.99. Sony’s PlayStation 3 is expected to sell for £425

· The disparity reflects Sony’s likely appeal to keen computer games fans, who are willing to pay for the Blu-ray DVD technology and high-end graphics

· Nintendo’s Wii console is intended to appeal to a wider audience, including users who have not traditionally used computer consoles

· Nintendo hopes to cash in on Wii’s "wand", which is responsive to movement and allows users to make physical actions that are replicated on-screen

· Sony’s US launch was six months behind schedule. Microsoft launched its Xbox 360 console in late 2005

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