TOKYO, July 12 (Reuters) - Electronics and entertainment conglomerate Sony Corp. (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Mondayit would have its next-generation PlayStation home console ready to display at next year's E3 video game show, usually held in May.
"There has been some talk that development for a next generation game console has not been going well, but we will have a playable version ready by next spring," said Sony's game division head, Ken Kutaragi.
He did not specify when the new console would go on sale, but said it would follow a similar schedule to market as its predecessor, PlayStation 2 (PS2), which first went on sale in March 2000.
Nintendo Co. Ltd. (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to unveil a new home console of its own, codenamed "Revolution", at next year's E3, the video game industry's annual trade show.
Sony's next generation console, already dubbed "PS3" by video game websites, will be powered by Sony's "Cell" microprocessor that is being developed with IBM Corp. (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Toshiba Corp. (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) .
The Cell processor will be up to 10 times more powerful than conventional chips and able to shepherd large chunks of information through a high-speed Internet network.
Kutaragi unveiled details of the new home console at an event flagging the release of the company's first handheld game machine, PlayStation Portable (PSP).
Sony has said it planned to offer the PSP in Japan before year-end, and has targeted a roll-out in Europe and the United States by March 31, 2005.
The PSP, Sony's first new major hardware release in four years, aims to unseat Nintendo's GameBoy as the dominant mobile game machine.
Ahead of the announcement, Sony's shares closed up 0.5 percent at 4,020 yen, underperforming the benchmark Nikkei 225 , which rose 1.4 percent
La presentazione delle specifiche avverrà invece prima entro l'anno fiscale,ovvero entro Marzo 2005.