By Neil McGreevey BBC Northern Ireland

Washing windows was never this much fun

And, in a year which saw Nintendo face seemingly constant criticism, two of my triumvirate of technological treats are only available courtesy of the one-time Japanese video game king.

Considering its sheer potential for fun, Sony's Eye Toy: Play (PlayStation 2) gets my vote. Video games may be the new Hollywood, but jiggling that joystick for too long can transform you into a pasty-faced monstrosity.

Instead of bashing buttons and feeling your backside grow, Sony's EyeToy gets the blood coursing through your flabby veins once again.

With the help of a tiny USB camera, players appear on-screen, interacting with game characters and environments, heralding a new era for gamers where to prove yourself, you've got to move yourself.

Bundled with a selection of 12 mini-games, EyeToy will get any post-pub party swinging, with players strutting their funky stuff in time to music, disarming bombs, playing keep-up with a virtual ball or laying waste to thousands of ninjas.

One game even has you scrubbing dirty windows to the crooning of George Formby.

Despite the faux-Japanese design, with Banzai's Burt Kwouk doing the commentary, EyeToy was born in Sony's Camden studios. EyeToy is ultra-responsive, with a decent picture quality and loads of bonus features - like the ability to record video footage or the chill-out room.

Taking the dance-mat craze to another level, absolutely anyone can enjoy EyeToy, even video game virgins.

Small but beautiful

My second choice also puts fancy visuals and engrossing storylines on the backburner in favour of twitch reflexes and unadulterated fun.

200 crazy games packed into one cartridge

Nintendo's WarioWare for the GameBoy Advance is a smorgasbord of over 200 micro-games crammed onto one cartridge.

Some are simple retreads of classic Nintendo fodder designed to get the nostalgic juices flowing. Others are bizarre head-trips that will have you grinning like a lobotomised monkey.

Individual games rarely last longer than five seconds, meaning lightning-fast reactions are required as well as the ability to work out what the hell is going on as quickly as possible.

Want to fire ketchup into flying hamburgers? How about shaking hands with a dog to make him happy? Each bout of quick-fire madness is topped off by the inevitable boss battle.

Trounce these nasties and you'll unlock bonus games, meaning even more chunks of your life will be wasted on such simple pleasures as hitting a cat with cymbals.

With over 200 finger lickin' treats designed to make brains throb and fingers bleed, WarioWare is the video game equivalent of a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get.

It features the kind of quick-fix, off-the-wall gaming the GameBoy was invented for, plus you get to shake hands with a dog.

Spooky stuff

And after such candy-coloured nonsense, what better way to round things up than with a decidedly darker effort as my third choice.

The undead echo down barren hallways

Although a conversion of an ancient PSone hit, Resident Evil Zero on GameCube was a real jaw-dropper. Dripping in visual bells and whistles, this is one of the best looking video games ever.

Incredible character models populate photo-realistic, pre-rendered backgrounds awash with lighting effects and goosebump-inducing camera angles.

Soundwise, eerie music and the moans of the undead echo down barren hallways, but the voicework is traditionally crummy.

Dodgy acting has always been a hallmark of the series, and Resident Evil on GameCube carries on the legacy, with dialogue so hammy the disc should have a rind.

On top of the usual item-gathering and puzzle-solving - keeping your brain ticking over lest the undead munch on it - new gameplay elements include defence items such as daggers that can be plunged into zombies when attacked, giving you precious time to scarper.

All felled zombies must also be either burned or beheaded to prevent them coming back as dreaded crimson heads, smarter, stronger and with a face redder than a well-smacked bottom.

For a console that has been criticised for its "kiddie" titles, Resident Evil on GameCube will rattle the toughest of cages.