THE PLAYSTATION
Truly the Playstation is an arcade in your own home. All you get is driving games, shooting games and beat-'em-ups. Anything that isn't one of those is a conversion or a clone, and what's left, the truly original titles, can be counted using the number 2: the brilliantly entertaining Simon-for-the-90s, Parappa the Rapper, and Konami's breathtakingly stupendous 3D reworking of their 12-year-old MSX game, Metal Gear Solid. And if anyone else indicates the console's hefty back catalogue as proof in itself of greatness, I'll be happy to call round and throw hundreds of rocks at their head with the promise that occasionally I'll be throwing a plum.

Strip away the marvellously choreographed, industry-rescuing Sony salesmanship (and make no mistake, the Playstation's mass acceptance saved everything) and you have a console with a handful of boastworthy top-flight games, a colossal porridge of strikingly mediocre ones and, flashbackily, the crap that sells because the box is good. And, curiously for the under-the-TV phenomenon of the decade, a shocking lack of decent multi-player games that means, basically, if you're not into football or driving, you're stuck. Blimey, that is odd when you think about it. You'd expect there to be a Mario Kart or Goldeneye clone to trounce the N64's party supremacy. But, still, you do get a lot of follow-my-leader hardware, like the analogue, rumbling, SNES-y joypad, and why the heck not, eh? And besides, the Playstation's had plenty of original ideas - remember the Neg Con, the ersatz steering wheel where you wrung the pad like a towel? No, thought not.

But hey. But hey, but hey, but hey. Let me not beat the Playstation too harshly with the badness stick, even though they think it should have a capital S in the middle. If you do happen to like driving games, this is exactly what you're looking for, with the painfully realistic Gran Turismo and hyper-arcadey Ridge Racer series (which the programmer admitted in a recent interview he's barely touched since the first one, although the graphics have changed) acknowledged masters in their world of car. Also, I hate driving games, but I'm anticipating with genuine excitement Driver.

Mr Steve and Mr Gideon of Future Gamer itself swear by footy sim Actua Soccer 3. Just to the right of it, in fact.

And you've possibly heard of Resident Evil (although it drags somewhat in the middle), Final Fantasy 7 (give it a while to get going though. Say five or six hours) and Tomb Raider (incidentally, which idiot came up with the idea of playing entire games looking at your character's back? And none of these third-person games can do convincing running. It's like having people nod in cartoons - it's a skill beyond human accomplishment. But anyway), which are the gameish cream.

I'd recommend the Playstation if you're firmly fond of genres. You'll be encouraged to stick to game series, which you'll find marginally improve each time in a comforting manner. Rarely are there surprises. Never buy a Playstation game on impulse.

J Nash's Playstation rating: A professional, shiny box from Sony. Games in quantity rather than variety. Handful of crackers.