This is not meant as an attack in any way, anyone can obvously buy whatever makes them happy.
I’m just really curious who buys consoles that aren’t that old for such high prices.
I can see the appeal of holding childhood consoles in your hands again, and I can also see the appeal in collecting cool really old stuff. But I struggle to understand why someone would buy e.g. a New 2DS XL for €300 or more.
So just out of curiosity, if you are someone like that, what’s the appeal that makes it worth spending so much money, instead of e.g. just going with a steam deck and an emulator instead?
Edit to avoid confusion: I am not talking about new reproduction systems (like the N64 Mini) or premium emulation/FPGA systems (like the Analogue Pocket or the MISTer), but about original game consoles that aren’t supported any more but also aren’t really old. Something like the DS/3DS, PSP, Wii U, Playstation 3. Some of them are now more expensive in mediocre second-hand condition than they were when they were new.
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Handhelds don’t really need an explanation, in my opinion. Major players don’t make those form factors anymore, but the use case is everlasting.
PS3 I can’t explain.
I bought the new N64,the Anologue 64 because I still have all my old N64 games and they have just been sitting on a shelf or in a container. I was planning on modding my N64 to add an upscaler, HDMI support and USBC PD, but then I saw the A64 and said Merry Christmas to me.
I’m playing Perfect Dark again and am so happy. Did you know you could use 2 controllers to have two movement control sticks!? The game also supports 16:9 and has “high res” option. It looks and plays amazing still.
To the everyday person a Steam Deck and emulation are very niche so they buy what they know.
The 2/3ds is probably the most easily hackable system there is…
PS Vita takes that cake, no contest. Open the browser, put in a url, you have a fully hacked Vita.
That said, 2/3DS hacking is still ridiculously simple.
good to know!
I usually try and pick up a console a few years after its done. Its usually cheap and the nostalgia wave hasn’t hit yet. At that point its probably been hacked and the store shut down so I feel no qualms aquiring games however I see fit. Though there seems little reason to do so after the 360 and PS3 since most games play on pc too now.
DS and 3DS are hard to replicate well on a single screen device. So i get those, but there are newer handheld emulators with dual screens. Nintendo also keeps shutting down 3DS emulators so progress is slow. Vita emulation is still in its infancy.
PSP and GBA wouldn’t be worth investing in. Both play great on handheld emulators. Home consoles I’d just emulate or newer ones usually have a pc port. There are some games stuck on consoles that don’t emulate well, so if one of those is a fav maybe buy the console.
I usually try and pick up a console a few years after its done. Its usually cheap and the nostalgia wave hasn’t hit yet. At that point its probably been hacked and the store shut down so I feel no qualms aquiring games however I see fit. Though there seems little reason to do so after the 360 and PS3 since most games play on pc too now.
That’s what I do too, but there’s a sweet spot. I got a bunch of New 3DS XL for the family just before the eshop closed, and I paid €80-100 for each of them. That made sense to me. But paying €300+ doesn’t make sense to me.
DS and 3DS are hard to replicate well on a single screen device. So i get those, but there are newer handheld emulators with dual screens. Nintendo also keeps shutting down 3DS emulators so progress is slow. Vita emulation is still in its infancy.
DS/3DS emulation works well enough with a phone and a portrait mode controller attachment. That way you get the stacked screen layout and it’s handheld too. And the screen is way better too, which is especially noticeable if you compare it to running DS games on the 3DS.
If you already have games it becomes an easier argument. Not always. I still have some 3DS games that I never got rid of when I got rid of the console, I would like another console but the prices…
That being said if my PS2 or 3 die, I’m replacing.
I feel like a lot of the retro gaming hobby can end up being closer to a tech hobby, I have more fun cracking old systems and making them do new things than I do actually playing games on them. If you’re just looking to play retro games without the tech hobbyist externalities then a ready to go system with a pre-loaded rom library makes a lot of sense.
Edit: A great example being my brother, I hack stuff for him and help him with computer stuff all the time because he wants to play the old games but he just doesn’t have an interest in tech as a hobby, just gaming as far as that goes. I set up devices for him (because I like to) to essentially be one of these pre-loaded machines that he doesn’t have to fuck with and can just run the games libraries I put on them. He’s not too dumb to do it on his own, he’s a smart guy, but he’s just not into tinkering with tech, it’s not his thing, it bores the hell out of him and I get it, but he really loves being able to play all his favorite games.
I guess my MiSTer setup could count as a crazy expensive new retro setup
I went for it because I just want to play the games, as hardware accurately if possible, in a small footprint with HDMI scaling & wireless controllers as an option.
I’ve got a few older consoles, but frankly since I got the MiSTer it’s nice to not have to mess with getting the old hardware set up in order to just play a game, and I’ve not gotten around to doing HDMI mods on any of them yet.
Sorry, that was a bit of a misunderstanding. A MISTer makes sense to me. I was talking about newer original retro consoles. Something like a DS/3DS, PSP, Wii, Wii U, PS3. These things are now often more expensive in mediocre second-hand condition than they were new back when they were new, and that’s what I don’t really understand.
I think its mostly for connecting to modern TVs.
Cause it doesnt matter if you get one of those new FPGA consoles, or buy an original console and spend money modding it for HDMI and other shit… it typically comes out to similar cost.
Unless theres been a radical change in price in the last year, HDMI mods for consoles are stupidly, insanely expensive. like 150-200 a pop last i checked, regardless of console.
HDMI mods don’t apply to handhelds, of course, but i think the same basic premise of modding an original or buying a FPGA repro probably still comes down to cost and if you personally want to do the work or not.
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