EXPECT lengthy queues in Bournemouth and Poole on Friday. It's not roadworks on the A338, or another Next sale. It's the release of the new Sony Playstation 3, which is available from midnight tonight.

It's taken four months longer than expected to get here (due to a few "technical glitches"), but that won't stop gamers from queuing for up to 36 hours to make sure they don't miss out.

Sony has had to ship 220,000 of the consoles to the UK for its launch - that's around a quarter of Europe's total stock.

And thousands of those will be making their way to Dorset, today.

HMV in Bournemouth has been given around 50 consoles, 25 of which have already been pre-ordered.

In anticipation of the demand, they will be opening their doors an hour early on Friday, at 8am.

Game will be opening 220 of its stores at midnight tonight and the other 159 stores, including Bournemouth and Poole, will be open from 7am on Friday.

Anna Macario, marketing director for Game, said: "The customer reaction to the arrival of the Sony Playstation 3 really has been nothing short of phenomenal. It's the most incredible games console ever to be launched and has a wealth of amazing technology inside. It's a machine that will revolutionise our experience of gaming."

So, what's so special about the successor to the PS2 that has British players, young and old, dancing in the isles?

The most exciting thing is it's backwards compatible, which means all Playstation and Playstation 2 games can be played on the new console. So you don't have to buy new games, if you don't want to.

The hand control is motion sensitive; great for those of us whose hands get rather animated. This means if you need to get round tricky bends in your sports car or duck a punch from a hairy one-eyed monster, a quick flick of the wrist and you're out of trouble.

As you'd expect, the hi-definition imagery is better than ever, and far more realistic.

It contains a 60GB unit, hooks up to TV sets to play blue-ray movies, DVDs, CDs and digital music via your MP3 player. There's even a memory stick slot so you can download images direct from your Sony camera.

On top of that, it links up to broadband to enable you to browse the web and allows you to copy CDs onto your hard-drive.

If that means nothing to you, then for non-techies, the PS3 looks and sounds great. It's better looking than its predecessors, and has a whole new catalogue of games to choose from including old-skool skating with Tony Hawks Project 8 and the racing game Ridge Racer 7 where you learn to drift.

If you've got broadband, you can get online and play the entire world (or just talk to friends through the audio chat, but try not to hurl abuse).

Priced at £425 for the 60GB model (extortionate if you're not a games fan, reasonable if you are), the PS3 sticks two SIXAXIS motion controls up to the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox, and proves it's still a contender.

What makes PS3 so different (and more importantly, how can you convince your parents/partner/flatmate you need one)?

  • New Motion Sensitive SIXAXIS Wireless Controller - motion sensors detect movement through six axes, changing the way you play games and interact with PlayStation3.
  • Up to seven controllers can be connected to the PS3 simultaneously.
  • Higher processing power than any other console giving the best graphics and gaming experience available.
  • Download playable demos of the biggest launch titles free, from the PlayStation Network Store.
  • Access to the internet and ability to download movies, music and other media directly to the console.
  • State-of-the-art Blu-ray Disc Technology enabling the storage of over 77 CDs or six DVDs worth of data, on a single disc. Blockbuster movies on Blu-ray, such as Casino Royale, X-Men 3: The Last Stand & Mission Impossible 3.
  • A simple-to-use photo storage device. You can plug your digital camera straight into the machine, download your images, plug in your printer and print them straight off.