After gaming's arguably greatest-ever year, we've now hit the January doldrums. Everything of note either came out before Christmas or got pushed back towards spring. And yet, 'tis the season for hibernation. Whatever shall you do? Well, the irony of all these fancy-pants now-gen consoles, with their hi-tech bells and CPU whistles, is that their hard drives and download outlets (Sony's Playstation Network, Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade and Nintendo's Virtual Console) have created an opportunity for small-scale arcade games and revived retro favourites.

It's all part of the industry-wide drive to attract casual games. Sony’s PS3 has enjoyed some of its best press for original downloadable micro-games like flOw, which started out as an online flash game, and Everyday Shooter, a home-cooked title from Toronto’s own Jonathan Mak.

They’ve also added a high-def sheen to aged cult faves like Amiga's Asteroids-esque Super Stardust HD (yeah, I can't really remember the Amiga either), a simple pick-up-and-play shooter that sparkles with trippy visuals and sold 25,000 copies in under a week. It was recently released as a free demo so you can give 'er a run before shelling out. Nintendo, on the other hand, don't care about no pretty.

Their Virtual Console simply allows you to download their back catalogue (along with old-school selections from Turbo Grafx 16 and Sega consoles). In fact, they care so little about graphics that when they finally released the stone-cold classic Super Mario Bros. 3, they stuck with the NES original rather than the 16-bit Super Nintendo update. Throw that on a big-ass set and it looks even worse.

Does this matter? Not a whit. It's as fun (and challenging) to play as it ever was. But you don’t need to troll so far back to find good shit. Xbox has won fans for Live Arcade offerings like Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved and the new original shooter Omega 5 and are about to drop the adorable Boogie Bunnies, a puzzle shooter with brightly coloured dancing rabbits.

Besides, not all old games are as good as you recall. The recently re-released Tron is an atrocious bore. The new Xbox Originals line--which, like Sony and Nintendo, offers past-gen games--may sell stuff like Fable and Halo, but it also offers new life to cult classics like Tim Schafer’s Psychonauts--aka the best game ever--which you no longer have any excuse for not playing.

Seriously. Stop reading and go download it right now. Why are you still here?!? Scoot!