Sony isn't "contemplating" talk on PS4 "at this point"

Sony Computer Entertainment president Andrew House has said the firm isn't "contemplating" discussion on "anything to do with future console iterations at this point," reiterating that Sony is committed to supporting PS3 for its entire lifecycle.

Speaking with CVG at Vita's Japanese launch in December, House said Sony's stance on supporting its consoles is "somewhat in contrast to our major competitors".

"One thing I always point to is that, we have, particularly with PS2, managed the length of the lifecycle and ensured its profitability for our publishing partners for a much longer lifecycle than has been true of the competition," he said. "I would say that's in part because of the global reach of Sony from a distribution, infrastructure and marketing standpoint, because in many markets, we work alongside really long-standing, established operations in electronics, we're able to migrate out into rather more emerging markets much more easily and sustainably than is possible for some of our competitors."

House said Sony is interested in exploring all business models for future console abilities such as streaming, but, for now, "quality high-definition console gaming" is where the market is as "there are still some significant barriers" to streaming solutions.

"Whether it's in mobile or cloud-based services, there are opportunities there for more casual content and in our case potentially for legacy content, which we would definitely like to explore," he said. "But I think we are a way away from being able to deliver the full-on top-end experience like that.

"The scale of data involved and issues around latency do mean that, at least for now, the easiest consumer experience is from physical media."

House said Sony has seen growth in the number of consumers who want to access content through streaming devices, but at this point the number is "pretty small."