You should read IGN users comments on the article about "Kaz Hirai says 'no PS4 at E3'" it's hilarious. All these users are getting mad saying "we can't let competitors get a huge lead again!" and "PS3 is old, we need new hardware".Yet, Sony and Microsoft haven't released any official information about their next-gen consoles, either, so why is Nintendo on the chopping block for releasing so little? The PlayStation 4 will most likely may not make an appearance at this year's E3, if we take Kaz Hirai's statements at face value.
I think the problem for Nintendo was that rumor leaks in April (Project Café) forced Nintendo to reveal the Wii U at E3 before they were ready. Apparently Retro only got a dev kit around Xmas 2010 so nothing was ready. No game trailers, no hardware specs, no actual game demo's. Nintendo probably rushed to reveal something, anything, for 2011. That is why we still know nothing about the Wii U. The problem is now Sony and Microsoft have seen the main premise behind the U and they will copy it for their next gen consoles and just add more powerful hardware. Nintendo should have and probably did want to reveal at E3 2012 and have proper game reveals, trailers, final hardware designs and specs, and release it for holiday 2012 so Sony and Microsoft would fall behind and be shellshocked.
But revealing it last year was like a country going to war against another and announcing it first lol. "hey guys, we're gonna attack you next year at this time, day, location, with these weapons and tactics".
Whereas if they did their reveal in 2012 it would have been more like "BOOM! The War is on MOFO's, what's that? You're not ready? Too bad!"