Why are we excited?
The 2nd generation remakes are long overdue. For about 9 years now, the 2nd generation has been widely accepted as the most popular, or "best" generation.
There were alot of new features included with the 2nd generation, many of them shaped the Pokemon franchise and made the games after them better.
The hype over the remake idea as a whole has been agrued about and disputed against ever since Firered/Leafgreen. Nintendo's announcement of HG/SS have put the end to almost 5 years of arguments.
As said before, or about 9 years now, the 2nd generation has been widely accepted as the most popular, or "best" generation. And these remakes are inheriting the 2nd generation's legacy.
And that is why were are excited.