Is the PS4 closer than we think?

Now I am like most PS3 gamers. We want to get more money out of our machine before the next cycle arrives. But looking at the line up this year, I just can't help thinking that a large majority of the big developers have released a game this year which has got to hint at something

The PS3 has enjoyed some wonderful exclusives this year. From Killzone and LBP2 all the way to Resistance and Uncharted 3. It is not really the amount that, to me, hints at a PS4's announcement on the horizon but it is the high quality studios themselves who have released/releasing a game this year. So Media Molecule, Guerrilla Games, Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch, Zipper Interactive, Evolution Studios and more have released/going to release a game this year. That is a lot of major Sony studios

Sony exclusives do sell well. But to release a game pretty much every month or two seems, to me, a bad business plan. Everyone has preference over which exclusive to like but with the situation this year the amount means that not all of us can afford to get every exclusive. I have found it more difficult this year than I have in the past. But you may ask what has this go to do with the PS4

Well it feels that this year is the last hurrah for the PS3. The biggest studios have come/about to come out with big games. These developers usually spend around two to three years developing a game. It may seem plausible to you that in two to three years they will come out with more games for the PS3 but I am not getting that feeling. Media Molecule have already stated they are now looking beyond LittleBigPlanet. The studio director told Edge that they are "stepping away from LittleBigPlanet to focus on some new ideas." A tweet was shortly followed on the media molecule twitter feed which read "Loyal sackfolk - please be reassured that we will always be involved with LBP, at least a bit, and there's lots more fun yet to come! <3".The words "at least a bit" caught my eye. At the moment Media molecule are basically following up some ideas.

A lot may be thinking this might have something to do with narrowing the PS3 and 360 gap. I believe that is true but there could be another motive for this. The amount of games and the price cut shows it has been a busy year for the PS3. I am getting the impression this is the last chance to entice more people to buy a PS3 to increase sales before the PS4 is announced.

I conclude with this open thought to you. Why would Sony release all its major games and unveil a price drop this year? We have had some games announced for 2012 but not many major ones. Could we see a PS4 announcement at E3 2012. I kind of hope not as it means buying a new console but Sony are defiantly indirectly hinting at a new console. Why bunch up all the exclusives into one year if this wasn't so? I would love to know your (N4G users) opinion.