Over the past few months, we’ve seen many, many rumours of the next PlayStation and Xbox consoles. While we still don’t know 100% what the situation is at Microsoft, Sony Executives in America have effectively dismissed rumours that the PlayStation 4 will become public this year as it would be too distracting.

It makes sense after all. Sony are on the verge of releasing the PlayStation Vita to the wider market in just a couple of days time. Sony Computer Entertainment America’s Chief Executive Jack Tretton believes that any PlayStation 4 news is essentially so big a news story that to reveal anything now would be an untimely distraction for other and certainly nearer announcements, stating “I, quite frankly, would be very distracted if I had to be talking about next generation hardware this year”.

He has also said that the next generation position of Sony “really depend[s] on the health of the existing platform and the other things you have going on. Right now, we’re focused on PlayStation 3, and I’ve got another platform to get out the door in seven days, so I don’t want to be thinking about trying to launch new technology anytime soon. 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.”

We can effectively scratch any announcement at E3, and understandably so given that the PlayStation Vita is literally round the corner. But as for any announcement this year about the follow-up to the PlayStation 3? It wouldn’t surprise me if there was a teaser planned for showcasing at Tokyo Game Show 2012. Makes sense to unveil the newest piece of kit in its native Japan doesn’t it?