remote for most Bermudians as having to shovel snow outside their homes this Christmas.

That was until Sam Brangman managed to get his hands on three. The coveted state-of-the-art computer games machines will be raffled off on Saturday night.

Two thousand raffle tickets have been printed by the Jui Jitsi Club of Bermuda and will go on sale for $10 each tomorrow.

Intended supplies of the PlayStations had to be cut short in stores across the world including the US, when the manufacturer -- Sony was unable to meet its projected production levels.

Sony had planned to have one million of the computers in the US market by the end of November. A shortage of parts ruined those plans and left overseas distributors with little hope of seeing any of the products on their shelves.

The Phoenix Store secured three. It sold one to a wholesaler to use as a prize in e cereal promotion and by lottery draw, chose the customers that would be allowed to purchase the remaining two. Each of those customers spent $1,000 for the unit which retails in the US for $299.

Mr. Brangman explained that he was only able to secure the units through constantly bombarding relatives in Chicago.

"I had to use my contacts and call on my relatives to use their contacts in turn,'' he said.

"They (his relatives in Chicago) managed to buy them about three weeks ago but I just received them on Wednesday.'' Mr. Brangman said sales of the raffle tickets were put on hold until he had the PlayStation 2s in hand.

"My relatives in Chicago were only able to get them through their connections with electronic dealers,'' he added.

But in addition to having three chances to win a Playstation 2, those who buy the raffle tickets will also be in the running for 27 other prizes including a $350 travel voucher and $250 grocery voucher. Raffle tickets will go on sale on Saturday from 10 a.m. -- 4 p.m. at the Esso City Automart and outside the Bermuda Library.

Interested people can also call Mr. Brangman today at 299-6005.