Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii will be absent from the upcoming Taipei Game Show (TGS) 2007, which will kick off on February 8, raising speculation that Microsoft's Xbox 360 will be allowed to dominate the local Taiwan market, according to company and market sources.

The Taipei branch of Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong (SCEH), has confirmed that it will not showcase its products at the annual game show this year because of cost considerations. Instead, the company said it will devote its resources to organizing independent promotional activities for PS3 and other game products.

SCEH said it is not worried that its absence from the game show will let Microsoft dominate the Taiwan game market, but that it expects PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii to jointly help growth Taiwan's game market.

The PS3 is already available in Taiwan but Nintendo's Wii has yet to hit the local Taiwan market, and market sources speculate that the delay may be the reason for Nintendo's decision not to participate in the upcoming game show.

Xbox 360 will occupy 36 booths at the game show, according to Microsoft executives in Taiwan.