THIS week's guide to wasting your hard-earned money is all about microconsoles.

Wassat then, I hear you ask?

Normally I would reply: "Shut up, I can't be bothered to answer that question. Go and do a Google search."

But that would make this column pointless. And rude. Pointlessly rude. You get the point.

Microconsoles are, supposedly, the new big thing. They will transform your life. The very fabric of reality as you know it will be warped into a new dimension of computer gaming joy by these iconoclastic devices.

I've always wanted to use the word iconoclastic in print. There, I've just done it. Twice.

Anyway, that's what the people who make these things want you to think.

They are essentially small games consoles that will be hitting the market soon, powered by Google's mobile phone operating system, Android.

They're likely to be cheap (less than £100), and will plug into your TV, allowing you to play Androidy-type games in your living room. Or indeed your bathroom, if you have a TV in your bathroom. You freak.

There are currently four major contenders in the emerging microconsole market: Ouya, Project MOJO, Gamepop and Gamestick.

Ouya and MOJO look like the most interesting.

The question is - why would you want a console to play Android games?

The reason Android games are so popular is that 750 million of us worldwide already have Android devices, such as phones and tablets.

Many of these phones and tablets have TV out ports, and some of them allow you to plug a control pad into them.

Why do we need to spend more money on a dedicated device?

If I want to sit and play games in front of my TV, I've got a Playstation that does a much better job. If I want to play frivolous Android games I can do so already on my tablet or on my phone (with a touch screen, which said games are designed to utilise), and I can do it anywhere.

Well, not quite anywhere. Not 300 metres underwater, because they would get wet and the pressure would kill me. Or on the moon, because I can't get there very easily. But you know what I mean.

Some folks are already getting excited about the new microconsoles, however, hoping they will breed a new generation of independent game developers and herald the dawn of a new era in which games are developed purely for the love of gaming and not for flashy graphics and big money.

This would definitely be a good thing, and I would happily eat my earlier words if it became a reality.

Meanwhile, in next week's column: the best way to burn a wad of £20 notes.