It's a great time to be a patient gamer - the newer-generation consoles are bedding in properly with more games than ever to try out for a visual showcase but more to the point we're getting access to some older titles in new ways.

We're not going to claim that services like Nintendo Switch Online have got everything completely sorted as far as backward compatibility is concerned, but the fact remains that five years ago it didn't look like the direction of travel was good for retro gaming.

A few blockbuster remakes changed that, along with major backwards-compat steps from the likes of Xbox to make it clear that the audience is still hungry for older games.

Now, in the space of a few weeks at the start of 2023, we've seen rave reviews for a full-fat blockbuster remake in the form of the superb Dead Space, but also a heap of attention given to the arrival of a game from 1997 - Goldeneye.

In a couple more weeks we'll get a remastered Wii game on Switch in Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, while the latest Nintendo Direct shadow-dropped an immediate release for Metroid Prime Remastered, bringing back a GameCube classic.

Of course, sales numbers may well eventually tell a more conclusive tale. Still, this release period has made it clear that the big names in gaming think their customers want to revisit games without having to dig out old hardware and fiddle with adapters for their modern TVs, and we think they're bang on.

It's refreshing to see the number of announcements around remastered and re-released games flowing through, with nary a livestream going by without at least a few.

If you've never tackled a Persona game, the most recent three of its titanic JRPGs are all now available on every modern console, and they're a good showcase of the interesting place now occupied by remasters.

Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal have been received with the adulation you'd expect, while Persona 3's use of an older PSP port as its basis caused some disappointment. Still, most observers have rightly caveated their reaction with the fact that a sub-optimal port is still a lot better than no port at all.

That's really the crux of the matter, too - while there are still hiccoughs with implementation, we're being inundated with new ways to play old games, and we couldn't be happier.

The whole recent explosion might have had its touchpaper lit by the excellence of Resident Evil 2 a couple of years ago, but it's now flourishing vibrantly.

Persistent rumours suggest that Nintendo has an HD port of The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker ready to go, as it did with Metroid Prime, and the upcoming re-release of both Advance Wars games on Switch reinforces its pivot toward remasters further.

Looking further forward, Resident Evil 4 is also imminent, Knights of the Old Republic is in the distant future, and The Witcher has a remake in the works, too - there's no sign of a downturn here.

So, if you've missed any major games in the last ten years, keep your ear the ground, because you might just get a second, enhanced chance very soon. The biggest problem we've got with the whole situation is that our backlog just keeps getting bigger.