Sony's game-business head Ken Kutaragi said it planned to unveil a playable version of the new consol at next year's E3, the annual video-game trade show scheduled to take place from May 18 to 20 in Los Angeles.
"There has been some talk that development is not going well, but we expect to have a playable version at E3. We are pushing aheadwith that schedule in mind," Kutaragi told a meeting of developers, suppliers and media.
Kutaragi did not mention a launch date for the new consol, dubbed "PS3" by some Web Site, but company officails said it may follow a similar timetable to market as its predecessor, the Playstation 2 (PS2). which went on sale in Japan almost a year after it was first displayed.
Next yea's E3 could be the stage for a showdown of new home consols from the industry's main hardware makers, including Nintendo Co. Ltd., which has pledged to take the wraps off its new game machine, codename "Revolution," at that time.
Microsoft officials have repeatedly said that its new game machine, dubbed "Xbox Next" by media,would not be beaten to market by Sony. Some industry watchers expect Microsoft to unveil its new machine at E3 as well