PS3 details expected tomorrow

New information regarding Sony's PlayStation 3 plans, which could include the pricing, launch date and initial software line-up of the console, is set to be announced in Tokyo tomorrow at a specially convened Sony conference.

Sony today confirmed that the conference, which has been widely rumoured to be the venue for new PS3 announcements since last week, will take place at 3pm local time (6am GMT) in Tokyo tomorrow, and will be open to media and analysts as well as to Sony's publishing partners.

Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi is set to address the conference, which will be the last possible venue for major PlayStation announcements in Japan before SCE's worldwide studios chief Phil Harrison's keynote at the Game Developers' Conference in San Jose next week, and probably the last chance for the firm to reveal PS3 details before its year-end on March 31st.

Although some commentators have suggested that the event may not include exact launch details since it is a relatively low-key conference, Sony can hardly afford to wait until E3 to announce further information regarding PS3, since it has as recently as last week claimed to be sticking to a launch timescale which will see the console appearing in spring.

Other indicators also point to a significant amount of information being released tomorrow - most notably screenshots of a PS3 version of RPG title Untold Legends, which were reportedly set to be released on Wednesday morning but were accidentally revealed a few days earlier. The timing suggests that at least some of the software line-up will get an airing in Tokyo tomorrow.

The current expectation from most analysts and publishers is that the PS3 will launch either in late summer or early autumn in Japan, followed by a US launch before Christmas and a European launch in the first quarter of 2007.