Update: No PS4 Reveal Planned for E3 2012

Hirai tells gamers not to hold their breath

By Justin Brenis, Editor-In-Chief

Oh, well.

We recently reported on a rumor that with the Wii U planning a holiday 2012 release, and the now debunked rumor that Microsoft would reveal the NextBox at CES this week, that Sony was in the initial stages of planning a reveal for the PS4 at this year's E3.

Now, courtesy of Sony chairman Kaz Hirai, any speculation on the matter has been completely dismissed.

At a recent CES press event, Hirai, speaking to the Wall Street Journal, made it very clear that the PS3 wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

The rumors of the now far-off console began just after Thanksgiving when Sony exec Jim Ryan told Eurogamer that it would be "undesirable" for PlayStation to fall behind in the release of a new console--the exact issue the company ran into at the beginning of the current generation.

The statement sent the rumor mill abuzz, and speculation was coming in left-and-right as to how this would play into Nintendo's full reveal of the Wii U planned for E3 2012.

“I’ve always said a 10-year life cycle for PS3," Hirai told the WSJ, "and there is no reason to go away from that.”

Hirai with his now 6-year-old child, the PS3.

In previous console generations, the idea of a 10-year life cycle seemed slightly absurd. With technology and capabilities getting upgraded often faster than we can buy them, gamers wanted something newer, bigger and better than their current console after an industry standard of about four to five years. With the PS3 out in 2006, a year after its Nintendo and Microsoft competitors, the last of this current generation has passed its fifth birthday.

However, unlike any console generation before it, the adaptation of the industry to the use of the internet for software upgrades, and the occasional design of a newer, slimmer version of the current-gen console, has extended the shelf life of the current generation appreciably. With Xbox's newest, though widely panned, dashboard update, the company was able to yet again breath new life into a console that has been around since 2005. 

Add in concepts like the Move and Kinect motion controllers, 3D TV and more, and the current generation looks like a blank slate to build on more than any generation before it.

With all the possibilities open to designers at this point, and all the complaints gamers offer up when a new, super-expensive console hits the market, it isn't shocking that the goal is to extend the life-expectancy of a system as long as possible. 

That considered, it isn't terribly surprising that Andy House, Hirai's appointed head of PlayStation's video game division, was the one who broke the news to the media and subsequently many disappointed fans. Hirai was quick to back him up as well, saying, "Andy (House) is absolutely right in that we are not making any announcements at E3."

So there you have it, folks. If you're currently unhappy with your PS3 and are looking for something new from Sony, don't expect much in the next few months. Instead of hoping for that futuristic home console, it might be worth your while to check out the PS Vita when it releases next month, and will probably be a large focus of Sony's come E3 in June.

Via VG247