this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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Who buys crazy expensive "new retro" consoles and why? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by squaresinger@lemmy.world to c/retrogaming@lemmy.world
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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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[–] FartMaster69@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

In general playing games on original hardware is going to be a better experience than running it in an emulator.

Especially in the 3DS family of systems, where so much unique hardware stuff is part of the experience. In an emulator you’re going to miss out on the dual screen, 3D effect, and stylus touch screen.

That’s not even getting into emulator issues with things like slow down, sound issues, or inaccuracies in rendering.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

In general playing games on original hardware is going to be a better experience than running it in an emulator.

Tbh, I think that depends. On the 3DS it does make more sense, you are right, especially if you want the 3D effect. That one is really not replicable.

On a New 2DS XL without the 3D effect, I don't know... Most games I played don't really use the touch screen a lot (though that obviously depends on the games) and a phone with a portrait-mode controller can replicate the dual-screen quite well.

But yeah, everyone has their own preferences.

[–] sisyphus@leminal.space 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I second this -- SNES and Gameboy/GBA games run perfectly on emulators in my experience. Those are the platforms that I play. I'd imagine that Genesis and N64 are similar.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

These old consoles are 100% better on emulators with stuff like fast forward, save states, upscaling and in the case of the mobile ones, decent screens.