The Playstation 3 was first revealed in 2005. Photo: AFP / Toru Yamanaka
The PlayStation (first released 1994), PlayStation 2 (2000) and PlayStation 3 (2006) consoles are profiled and add weight to speculation that Sony intends
to get the jump on Microsoft with a next generation announcement well ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June.
A live stream of the reveal event is expected to be hosted by the PlayStation Meeting website, with a start time of 6pm EST (New York/Toronto/Montreal).
That translates to 3pm PST (San Francisco/Seattle), 11pm in London and Cape Town, then midnight on February 21 in central Europe, 7am in Singapore and Malaysia, 8am in Japan and 10am in Sydney.
The new console has been referred to as the PlayStation 4, PS4 and PlayStation Orbis.
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have all been busily augmenting their games machines with non-gaming applications over the past seven years, and the trend is expected to continue with a new generation of consoles.
Nintendo's new Wii U has a tablet-style gamepad that can free up the TV for other uses, as well as a Nintendo TVii app which, where available, corrals content from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, YouTube, and cable providers.
Sony bought online streaming company Gaikai in July 2012 and could use Gaikai techno know-how to aid in streaming its established library of music, games, and video.
And Microsoft is looking to harness voice and motion control alongside TV, music, and video on demand and connectivity apps that can link up with smartphones and tablets, using them as second screens -- but the new Xbox isn't expected to be announced until April.