Sony sells over 1M PlayStation 4s in first day

Sony says it sold more than 1 million of its PlayStation 4 video game consoles during their first 24 hours on the market.

The consoles went on sale Friday in the U.S. and Canada. Andrew House, president and group CEO for Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., said in a release Sunday that sales remain strong in North America. The company will launch the gaming system in Europe and Latin America on Nov. 29.

Sony has said it expects to sell 5 million units by the end of its fiscal year in March.

The PlayStation 4 is Sony's first new video game console in seven years. It faces competition from Microsoft Corp.'s new Xbox One, which goes on sale this week.

But unlike seven years ago, video game systems are also now competing against tablets, smartphones and other gadgets for the attention of gamers.

The PS4 is powered by Advanced Micro Device's "Jaguar" chip and uses its Radeon Graphics Core Next engine. The device has a built-in 500-gigabyte hard drive, has a higher 1080p screen resolution and runs at 60 frames per second. The console is not backwards compatible, but Sony says that gamers can upgrade a PS3 game for about $10, as long as the disc is in the optical drive.

The DualShock 4 controller, which replaces the PS3's Sixaxis controller, adds a touchpad, light sensor and share button -- among other upgrades. The PS4's user interface has an heavier emphasis on graphics and adds a social feed that broadcasts updates from friends.

Sony is launching the PS4 with at least 26 games, including "Killzone: Shadow Fall," "Call of Duty: Ghosts" and "Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag." The console retails for about $400.