SCEA president Jack Tretton has crushed the hopes and dreams of many, saying that the Playstation 4 is very far off; Sony has too much to focus on as it is. In fact, they won’t even be announcing the new console this year.
“Right now, we’re focused on PlayStation 3, and I’ve got another platform (PlayStation Vita) to get out the door in seven days, so I don’t want to be thinking about trying to launch new technology any time soon,” he said. “I want to focus all our energy on our console business, which is really just hitting its stride, and Vita, which really deserves a dedicated push from us.”
“I, quite frankly, would be very distracted if I had to be talking about next generation hardware this year,” he said.
Hopeful rumours went around the internet not long ago indicating the PS4 may be announcing at hthe 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo in June of this year. However new CEO Kaz Hirai quickly squashed that, pointing out PS3’s planned 10-year cycle, which would have the console in production until 2016.
It would appear then that Sony isn’t feeling threatened by the Wii U, which we should be seeing this year. It’s not known exactly what Microsoft has planned for their Xbox, but wanting to wait until 2016 to release the PS4 seems a little bit optimistic on Sony’s part.
All eyes are on the PS Vita at the moment, which will launch in the Western world next week. Sales in Japan were a little disappointing, getting off to a strong start, followed by an alarming decline; the Vita was soon getting outsold by the 3DS.
