Sony: Watch our rivals go next-gen first

Successors to the Wii and Xbox 360 are more likely to arrive before the release of the PlayStation 4, according to a top Sony exec.

In an exclusive interview with Develop, Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida said he imagined either Nintendo or Microsoft will jump first to the next generation of consoles.

Five years into the current console generation and the three big platform holders have decided against discussing future hardware. When asked why he thought this was, Yoshida said:

“Looking from the outside, it was Microsoft that released the first of this generation of consoles. Naturally, in my opinion, Microsoft will make the first move.

“Or, because Nintendo’s approach was not to upgrade much on its basic hardware – Wii doesn’t even support HD resolution – so they might be the first to move.

“Probably the watch should be on these companies, in my opinion. Because PS3 was later than Xbox, and is more powerful, so it has a longer lifespan.”

The interview with Yoshida will be published tomorrow.