But British videogamers will be devastated to learn that Santa’s sack will not contain the PlayStation 3 console.

Apologising repeatedly for the debacle, Ken Kutaragi, the Sony engineer known as the “Father of PlayStation”, admitted that Britain and Europe were the victims of a harsh corporate marketing decision.

British gamers must wait patiently for the machine so that Sony can keep its promise to the American and Japanese fans to deliver the consoles to them in mid-November, as advertised.

An eleventh-hour production problem with the PlayStation 3’s revolutionary blue laser disc-reading system, and a decision to dispatch the heavy 7kg units by sea, have meant that the long-awaited console will not arrive on British shores until Easter.

The only positive side is that it may spare many parents an expensive Christmas: the price has yet to be fixed, but is likely to be about £425 when it finally hits the shops.

It is yet another heavy blow for Sony, which is desperate to retain its dominance of the £20 billion global games industry in the face of surging competition.

Since its release five years ago, Sony’s PlayStation 2 has held the clear lead over its rivals and sold more than 100 million worldwide.

But Sony’s latest troubles have handed the Xbox 360, the rival next-generation machine made by Microsoft, a head-start of more than 16 months in the British market. And the postponement of the PlayStation 3 release is expected to cause havoc for retailers and video games makers across Europe who relied on Sony’s assurances that 1.5 million units would be available.

Eithne O’Leary, an analyst for Oriel Security, said that the high street retailers HMV and Game Group were likely to be worst affected.

“It can’t be seen as particularly good news for either of these stores, but it is more of a delay in sales rather than a fundamental disaster for the companies,” she said.

Sources close to Game Group, one of Europe’s largest video games stores, said that it would not affect sales significantly. The source said: “We were never anticipating a substantial amount of PS3 in 2006. We expect to see some mitigation of profit impact with a strong line-up of other products now in free supply.”

The British market had planned for an estimated 200,000 consoles for the launch, with about 50,000 going through Game Group.

Explore Personal Tech

• InGear