A few weeks ago Sony released WipEout HD on the Playstation Network. WipEout HD is not a completely new game, but rather a remake featuring some tracks and teams from the two Playstation Portable games.

The interesting part is that in all my years of gaming I never got around to playing the WipEout series before.

I’m normally very cautious of remakes—as they tend to butcher what made the classics…well, classics—but since I never played a WipEout game before, I had nothing to lose going in to it. In the case of WipEout HD, I fully approve of the game.

High-Definition remakes of classic games make up a large portion of the Wii Ware channel, PSN Shop and X-Box Live Arcade. Unfortunately, fans are all too often disappointed by the remakes for a wide variety of reasons that sometimes contradict each other.

However, the HD remakes could actually have a wonderful, unintended side-effect. New gamers now have the opportunity to try out classic games with a much more inviting visual experience. Let’s face it, graphics aren’t everything, but they do count for something.

Super Star Dust HD, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, 1942 and Doctor Mario—480p is better than nothing—are just a handful of the classics available in remake form. If you missed these games the first time around, now you’ve run out of excuses.

It might be the equivalent to learning about classic rock through contemporary bands doing covers, but at least the new gamers will be able to understand the early years of gaming through experience instead of hindsight.