AS SONY emerges victorious from the current console battle, the heat is on to see who can get the upper hand in the next next-generation console war.

The revolutionary Playstation, ironically developed as a CD-rom drive for Nintendo, wiped the floor with Sega's Saturn and put the mockers on the launch of the N64.

But that could all change soon as the next-next generation consoles near launch.

Sega are first off the blocks with the Dreamcast - it's looking like a winner with units flying out of the shops in Japan and a huge number of pre-booked units for the official launch in Europe.

Sony will launch its Next Generation Play Station six months to a year later and the technical specifications sound out of this world.

Nintendo, once the world-leader in video-gaming are lagging behind with their project, previously dubbed 'Dolphin'.

So which way does the consumer turn? It's a matter of taste. Nintendo has long been family-favourite with more censorship and emphasis on younger players. Sega has often attracted the more die-hard fans while Sony's graphical and audio-frippery were enough to turn anyone's heads on the launch of the Playstation. All three will be technically excellent. It's the software that counts.

My advice is before you dive for a new system, go into a shop that will let you play on them first. Try before you buy - it's the only way.

This week, we take a look at Capcom Generations on Playstation.

Sheer heaven. Remember Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, Commando, 1942 and MERCS? Well these are just some of the 13 games in the new Capcom Generations retro-compilation.

For £40 you get four discs crammed with classic games through the ages.

Some inevitably show their age, such as Exed Exes, and there is repetition, with the likes of 1942 and its sequels 1943 and 1943 Kai.

But for the price, the amount of software on offer here is wonderful - especially when you consider the quality of titles Capcom has put out over the years.

The company must be congratulated on packing this release with so much software. And again because so much of it still stands up in its own right today. 9/10.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.