Sony must know something that the rest of us in United States don't. Apparently there is a shortage of PlayStation 3s around the country and Sony aims to have the problem solved by May of this year.

According to Sony, it will ship 2 million PS3s to North America by the end of next month and will hit its stride by May. "April or May is when we feel like we're going to catch up to demand and have product fully in stock across North America and stay there," said SCEA CEO Jack Tretton. "It's a testament to the fact that we've been able to manufacture and ship units on a greater pace than any previous console."

Tretton continued, "Our goal is to fill shelves across the United States. Our goal is not to have empty shelves, it's to have full shelves. If we have empty shelves, that's one less consumer who could have bought a PlayStation 3."

Despite Tretton's claims, many stores across the U.S. aren't having any problems with PS3 supplies. In fact, many stores appear to have a surplus of PS3s and a complete lack of Nintendo Wiis. But then again, according to SCEA’s Dave Karraker, the Wii is an “impulse buy.”

Tretton already ran into this issue earlier this year when Electronic Gaming Monthly noted that PS3s were rather easy to come by -- even in early January. Tretton famously responded with "If you can find a PS3 anywhere in North America that's been on shelves for more than a few minutes, I'll give you 1,200 bucks for it."

Penny Arcade took up Tretton on his offer and went on a one-hour expedition to locate PS3s in the area. Their total haul according to Tretton's offer price was $13,200. There's still no word as to whether Gabe and Tycho have received their check from Tretton.