Sony has kept quiet when it comes to the actual number of PlayStation 3 consoles that shipped when the system launched earlier this month, but Larry Probst, CEO of Electronic Arts, isn't following its lead. In an article posted by Reuters, Probst says that only about 200,000 PS3s were sold at retail outlets when the system was released on November 17 in North America. Sony originally planned to have 400,000 units ready for the U.S. and Canada. Probst also says that he expects Sony to ship only 500,000 to 800,000 units in the U.S. by the end of this year and adds that 20,000 of the consoles were sold on eBay.

Probst isn't the only executive talking PS3 numbers with the press. Takeo Takasu, President of Namco Bandai, recently spoke with Bloomberg regarding the next-gen game system. During his interview, Takasu says, "We have to sell at least 500,000 copies per title worldwide to make a profit on PlayStation 3 games." He adds that high definition games cost about $8.6 million to create, which is more than double the cost of developing a title for the Nintendo Wii. If both Probst and Takasu are accurate, it may be a while before anyone starts seeing serious profits flow in from the PS3.