Sony has promised to ship the PlayStation 3 in 2006. Sony Computer Entertainment Asia head Tetsuhiko Yasuda told reporters at the Taipei Game Show that the console will launch this year, though no specific date or price point have been decided, he claimed. He also said the company expects the new machine to out-sell the PS2.

Alas, the show played host only to mock-ups of the next-generation gaming platform and not the working units some gamers had hoped for, DigiTimes reports. Fans and observers' eyes will now turn to the E3 show, to be held in Los Angeles in May, for the debut of working consoles.

Unless, of course, Sony launches sooner, such as the late March timeframe it originally suggested. Some observers have claimed that's unlikely, given the lack of working PS3s at the Taipei Game Show, the report said.

Yasuda said the company expects accumulated global PS3 shipments of more than 100m, beating records set by the PlayStation and the PS2, and despite the fact the PS3 will cost more than the PS2. ®