Sony reckons it'll be the last to announce its next generation plans.

Sony France boss Philippe Cardon told Lepoint.fr (translated by Eurogamer's Oli Welsh) the Japanese company won't be rushed in the next-gen race.

"It's true that there are a lot of rumours, but I can't tell you anything," he told the interviewer.

"The Wii is under time pressure because it's in decline. As far as we're concerned, we're under a lot less pressure. We were the last to release the PS3, we will probably be the last to announce something."

Nintendo is set to enter the next generation ahead of Sony and Microsoft with the Wii U, due out this Christmas.

Microsoft is strongly rumoured to be preparing to announce its next Xbox at E3 in June, with a launch planned for 2013.

But what of Sony?

Jim Ryan, PlayStation Euro boss, told Eurogamer in November last year that it would be "undesirable" to concede another head start advantage to Microsoft with the next generation of consoles - comments that contradict Cardon's.

Earlier this month MCV claimed Sony would show its new console at E3 this year - a tip that came from an "ultra high level" source.

Meanwhile, Cardon suggested a Monster Hunter game will launch for Vita soon.

Commenting on the poor performance of the handheld in Japan, he said Monster Hunter on Vita was "due in a few months' time" (translation, again, by Oli Welsh).

"There were so many pre-orders that everything [all stock] went in the first few days," he said.

"The sales that followed might seem disappointing, but they're not. We must put things in perspective and stay calm. The games available at the Japanese launch didn't match the tastes of the Japanese public.

"One game in particular is missing - Monster Hunter, due in a few months' time. If it had been there from the start in Japan, it would have been a different story. The appropriateness of the games to the console at the European launch will be better than it was in Japan."

Vita launches in the US and Europe next month.