Sony Computer Entertainment president will open the Tokyo Game Show this year with a keynote address, taking place on day one. The event is the most important in Japan's gaming calendar, and in his talk Hirai will lay-out the future of the PlayStation to the watching industry.

The opening address slot has certainly seen a mixed bag of revelations and verbiage, using the 2005 address to announce the Wiimote, while last year Sony's Ken Kutaragi opted instead to wax lyrical on the possibilities of a PlayStation network (revealing very little of the 'concrete' variety in the process).

With Sony's market leadership still very much up in the air, and the platform's under scrutiny from all areas of the industry, Hirai's speech will give the opportunity to reassure onlookers that they're on-track to lead the next-gen charge.

More soon.

By Luke Guttridge