Sony and Microsoft were reportedly set to go head to head at the E3 games expo this June, with the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox 720 both purported to be given débuts at the LA based show, but a couple of French directors from the companies have dampened rumours that the consoles would launch this year.

First up is a comment from Microsoft France's marketing director Cedrick Delmas, who told website LePoint.fr: "There will be nothing new in 2012".

"We are in an industry where it talks a lot, it likes to tell stories," he said. "I'm not convinced that things are happening this year. The cycle of the Xbox 360 is far from over. The proof we are not at all parties on the logic of price drop this year. Then what will happen at E3, it is still premature. What is certain is that there will be nothing new in 2012."

Microsoft famously beat Sony to the seventh generation console punch back in the last decade with the Xbox 360 getting a head start on the PS3. A start that led to a lead it has never let slip. However, it was Nintendo who won the war with sales of the Wii far eclipsing Sony and Microsoft's efforts.

And with the Wii U all set to launch in 2012 you might think the two companies were concerned about playing second and third fiddle again.

Not so though, according to Delmas. "We're not here to counter Nintendo and they're not here to fight the other manufacturers," he said. "Nintendo has put itself in a different cycle, it's going forward to its own rhythm, with success as we have seen with the Wii, and now it's their turn to present their innovation."

Sony France CEO Philippe Cardon also spoke with LePoint, stating: "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."

Despite the claims if there's not at least a teaser about new hardware from both Sony and Microsoft at E3 in June, we'll eat our control pad. Our six year-old control pad.