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About 10 years ago, I was in the market for a video games console for my older son and visited an electronics retailer. I had no idea whether to buy a PlayStation or Nintendo 64 as both were very much in the public eye and getting rave reviews. Not knowing where else to turn, I threw myself at the mercy of the shop assistant. What he told me appears to be very much same as what shoppers are being told today.

The young shop assistant obviously knew about games and he didn't beat around the bush. "Your son is only a young kid, so get him a Nintendo 64. He won't appreciate a PlayStation yet and he'll find it too difficult until he gets older," he said - or words to that effect.

I don't exactly remember the comparative prices but I do remember that the N64 was considerably cheaper than PS1. In fact records show that in the US, the launch price of the Nintendo 64 was US$199 compared with US$299 for the PS1.

I took the advice of the shop assistant and walked out the door with an N64, which still works to his day and which was well used by both kids until about four years ago when the older boy started playing PS2 and Xbox games at his friends' homes. That's when we went shopping for a PS2 and came home with an Xbox, because there happened to be some good deals going at the time.

I can't help but think that little has changed in the past 10 years. Like the N64, the new Nintendo Wii console is getting rave reviews for its ease of use, due in no small part to its innovative one handed motion sensitive controller. Like the N64, the Wii is a good deal cheaper than the new Sony PS3 and all reports say it's much easier to use. It's the obvious choice for kids.

So will the Wii whack the PS3 in the market place? If recent history is anything to go by, it's doubtful. Even major retailers don't believe the Wii will knock off PS3.

According to a Bloomberg report, a US-based spokeswoman for Toys R Us said the Wii will not take customers away from PS3 because they appeal to different customers - the Wii is family oriented, while PS3 is for the sophisticated gamer, she said. Does that sound familiar?

The only wild card in this two-way battle of the Japanese games titans is Xbox 360. Microsoft appears to have done very well in establishing itself in the consoles space over the past 12 months, in the absence of any new generation competition.

However, since its launch Xbox 360 has still been outsold by PS2 and has thus far been a miserable failure in Japan. It will be interesting to see what the arrival of Wii and PS3 do to Xbox 360 sales. Microsoft is likely to see its early lead in the next gen console race whittled down considerably over the next 12 months by both Nintendo and Sony.