Will Taiwan play host to the first working, playable PlayStation 3 consoles? Sony will be presenting the next-generation entertainment device next week at the Taipei Game Show, and Chinese-language paper the Commercial Times said Sony will devote a quarter of its extensive 80-booth show space to the PS3.

The show won't mark the PS3's first public outing - it was shown at the E3 event in May 2005 and more recently at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held last month in Las Vegas. In each instance, however, the boxes on display are believed to have been dummy cases, not fully operational prototypes. Where the console has been seen to be doing something, it's just been pumping out rolling graphics demos.

It's tempting to hope next week will see the first reports from gamers who've got their hands on the highly anticipated console, but we suspect Sony will hold back until next May's E3. Taiwan is unlikely to be a focus market for the PS3's launch, not like the US, Europe and Japan. Even Microsoft's Xbox 360 has yet to launch there - it's currently scheduled for a March 16 debut after the software giant was forced to delay the console's release because of "supply constraints". ®