With Nintendo's 64 still to be launched in the UK and Sega's Saturn already all-but written off by most of the industry, the only player in Console Town three years ago this week was Sony's PlayStation. The All Formats Top 20 Chart had four PlayStation titles in the top five (Destruction Derby 2, FIFA 97, Tomb Raider and Die Hard Trilogy, the only exception being the PC's Red Alert at number four) and the Sony format enjoyed a 52 per cent share of the console software market. As a matter of interest, the second and third best-selling console formats were the Mega Drive and Game Boy.

Everyone - software publishers, retailers and consumers - loved PlayStation and it was against this background of sweetness and light, not to mention a paucity of competition, that Sony announced a new initiative this week three years ago: a range of £19.99 'budget' software which was to be called Platinum.

The republished titles were guaranteed to be out of the top drawer - they must have sold in excess of 100,000 at full price before being considered for inclusion - which was another innovation. In the past, repackaged console software on other formats had always been titles of which there were 'healthy' amounts in warehouses up and down the country. In other words, they had stiffed.

The first six Platinum titles, which were actually released on March 7, were Ridge Racer, Destruction Derby, Tekken, Air Combat, Wipeout and Battle Arena Toshinden, all of which were warmly welcomed by both consumers and retailers alike. Indeed, such was the satisfaction level with everything Sony-related at this time that if they had put up a bunch of officially licensed candidates in the May '97 general election, they would have probably won quite a few seats.

The Platinum brand went on to become yet another plus point in the 'reasons to buy a Sony' list, a list which to this day still has very, very few minus points.

As a footnote, a PlayStation game which sneaked out this week three years ago with very little fanfare was Twisted Metal World Tour, a damn fine driving blast 'em up which deserved far more success than it got.