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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[–] 9point6@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

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.