With next-generation speculation hot on every publication's lips, PlayStation Europe's Jim Ryan has said that it would be "undesirable" for the PlayStation 4 to launch later than its competitors

Chatting with Eurogamer at a press event in London, Ryan said of the PlayStation 4: "I think we would consider it undesirable to be significantly later than the competition."

But with rumours of an imminent XBOX announcement, and Nintendo's Wii U lingering on the horizon, Ryan was keen to talk up Sony's current strategy, insisting that "there is still a lot of unfinished business on PlayStation 3".

"If you look at PlayStation 2, now in excess of 150m units installed globally, a huge majority of that was done at price points of £120 or lower. [With PS3] we've only just hit £199 in the UK, so clearly there's a considerable untapped part of the market there."

Only last week EDGE magazine reported that one unnamed Sony studio had already started work on the PlayStation 3's successor. It was alledged that the same developer had been involved with building the graphics technology for Sony's next system.