The race to next-gen remains a fickle subject and talk surrounding it has been heating up as of late. Regardless of when rival platform holders decide to dish out information on their latest pieces of kit, Sony Worldwide Studios head-honcho Shuhei Yoshida believes PS4 will be the last contender to emerge. He also expects Microsoft to make the first move, as it did with Xbox 360 back in 2005.

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

Yoshida also conceded that Nintendo may be first out of the gate this time around, due to the Wii’s lack of HD prowess. “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,” he explained.

Crysis developer Crytek and Capcom COO David Reeves expect the next generation to kick off by 2013, or 2012 at the earliest. While the big three have been reluctant to discuss specifics for obvious reasons, it’s clear that planning has already begun behind the scenes.

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