It is no longer possible to dismiss computer games as the exclusive province of adolescents and nerds. The games industry now generates more income than the film industry, and regardless of your age, sex or inclination, playing computer games has been deemed acceptable.

Unless you live in a nuclear bunker you will undoubtedly be aware that a battle royal is brewing between games console manufacturers Sony, Sega and Nintendo, and that Microsoft is also preparing a console of its own. So if you want to play electronic games, what console should you buy and when should you buy it?

The main contenders
Currently, there are three games consoles on the market - Sony's Playstation, Sega's Dreamcast and Nintendo's N64. No one is making new games for the N64 and some shops have even stopped selling it. So commiserations if you already own one.

Playstation is perhaps the most revered console in the history of computer games. It single-handedly made playing games cool once more, and spawned an incredibly large and high-quality library of games. This September Sony will replace the machine with the infinitely more powerful Playstation 2, so the original Playstation console no longer looks like a good buy. You can buy hundreds of old but still decent Playstation games for £9.99 each, and shops may be tempted to all but give the machines away as September approaches. However, if you want to experience cutting-edge gaming wait for the Playstation 2.

Dreamcast is more powerful than either the Playstation or the N64, but it hasn't really taken off in the UK. This is mainly because it lacks so-called killer games - games that are so jaw-droppingly fantastic that you simply must go out and buy the machine they're designed to run on.

Dreamcast's most attractive feature is its built-in modem. In theory, this should allow you to play games against far-flung Dreamcast owners. But Sega needs to put in a lot of work and investment before the machine's online side will work properly in the UK. To the company's credit, it promises that it will have Dreamcast working properly as an online machine before the end of the year. But by then, the much more powerful Playstation 2 will have hit the streets.

All consoles have a finite lifespan, and prices tend to drop as they progress through this. Currently, Dreamcast retails for £199, but it's difficult to see Sega holding out without dropping this to £149 or possibly even £129 before long. Bear in mind that Playstation 2 will almost certainly cost a whopping £299 when it appears this September.

Sega has a truly ground-breaking game on the way, called Shenmue. But the trouble is that no one knows when this will reach the UK. If you do see it in the shops and decide that you must have it, then it would be worth buying a Dreamcast. Incidentally, it's always a good idea to check out consoles you're thinking of buying before you splash out. Most branches of shops such as HMV or Virgin Megastore have console pods that you can play on.

Future world-beaters
Talk to any computer gaming fanatic and you'll find them in a state of excitement. This is because three new machines - Playstation 2, Microsoft's X-Box and Nintendo's Dolphin - are due to reach UK shops before Christmas 2001. This may get the pulses of veteran gamers racing, but the sheer confusion engendered by having to choose between three sparkling new consoles is enough to give the rest of us migraines.

Of the three, Playstation 2 - which is already on sale in Japan - raises the fewest question marks. It's a powerful machine that will be capable of running unbelievable-looking games, as well as playing DVD movies and a fair percentage of original Playstation games. But it will be expensive when it launches, probably costing £299. According to reports it will be available in the UK on September 29 2000. It will about three to six months before the machine starts to acquire a sizeable library of games, because games developers are finding the device difficult to get their heads around.

Nevertheless, Playstation 2 will be an attractive buy, particularly when its price begins to drop as it inevitably will in spring/summer 2001. Be warned: don't be tempted to spend ridiculous sums on the machine just to get it before anyone else. In some specialist computer games shops the console is available for up to £1200, but these machines have been illegally imported and will only run overpriced and incomprehensible Japanese Playstation 2 games.

Enter the dark horse
There's one thing that may cause you to pause before buying a Playstation 2: the projected arrival of Microsoft's X-Box in Autumn 2001. After months of speculation, the software giant has finally lifted the lid off X-Box, and it appears as if the company's first foray into the console world will have the measure, in technological terms at least, of Playstation 2. X-Box will probably cost between £200 and £250 when it arrives, and games software manufacturers are firmly behind. For technical reasons X-Box should acquire a large software library quicker than Playstation 2.

The thought of Microsoft and Sony battling head-on is fascinating, and the chances are that the two machines will be very evenly matched. However, both devices will provide a gameplay experience that knocks anything you'll see on one of today's consoles, Dreamcast included, into a cocked hat. It will be like the beginning of the 1990s, when Sega's Mega Drive and Nintendo's Super NES vied for console supremacy and popularised playing games.

Very little is known about Nintendo's Dolphin. Presumably, it will arrive at around the same time as X-Box, but it's difficult to see how it could compete with either X-Box or Playstation 2 in technological terms. Nintendo, a shadow of the company it once was, certainly will not be able to compete with Sony or Microsoft in marketing terms.

Nintendo has two assets: its in-house game creation geniuses, Shigeru Miyamoto and UK-based Rare Software. But with Dolphin, it is likely to return to its roots as a company primarily making games for the pre and early-teen market. Dolphin may be the machine to buy if you have children aged between eight and 14, but it's difficult to see it appealing to anyone else.

What you should remember when buying a games console

• try before you buy. Reputable computer games shops will always have consoles with the latest games that you can test
• remember that once a console has been on the market for six months, its price will begin to drop
• consoles have a finite lifespan of three or four years, after which they become cheap, but obsolete
• although you can play games online through the latest generation of consoles, Dreamcast and onwards, don't expect too much sophistication while we're still restricted to the somewhat antiquated telephone system
• don't forget the cost of games. At £40 a pop you can end up spending more on them than the hardware. Once consoles have been around for a year or so they tend to generate a library of so-called Platinum games which are priced more accessibly.