Which retro systems are actually worth owning?

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

PS3 is definitely worth owning these days.

I still have the one I bought in 2011 hooked up, and every-time I say that it significantly shortens its lifespan! hehe

 

[Bomberman]

If I had to prioritize them it would be
1) Sega saturn with Saroo/Satiator or pseudo saturn with burned cds
2) 3DS for 3D effect
3) Xbox and I think Xbox 360 because emulation is not so good
4) PS3 or psp for custom firmware 5)Wonderswan for Digimon Battle Spirit games.

Basically if you can get a Saturn get a Saturn as it’s the most unique.

 

[Masterofthefalcon]

I'd say the N64 is number one, as the emulation quality is nowhere near as good as a lot of other older consoles are. Even with the modern PC ports of a lot of N64 games, a lot of the library is difficult to emulate properly.

Besides that I'd say the "newer" retro consoles, like the PS3 and 360, are good to own as the emulation for the two in my experience are not the best.

Also, like everyone else has said, the Wii and 3DS are just emulation beasts that can do a lot.

 

[diet_orange]

I own: A Genesis Model I, a Genesis Model II, a Famicom, an NES, a Gameboy Pocket, a Dreamcast, a PlayStation 1, a PlayStation 2, and a PlayStation 3.

I don't intend to ever sell them, but I regret the Gameboy a little because I was never able to properly support it (I only own one game).

I own a Model 2 Genesis that has a reset button that's never worked, which makes using an Everdrive X3 kind of a pain in the ass. Still though, love the console, even more so now that I have a proper 6-Button controller for it

I considered getting a modded Gameboy and a flash cart, but having an emulator handheld like the Bittboy Pocket Go just made more sense in the long run in terms of what it could play at the time when it was released. It's ancient as hell now, especially considering what's out there these days, but I still appreciate it

And I also second, third, and fourth the sentiments that the PS2 is a still a wonderful console to own. I pretty much have it permanently hooked up to my Sanyo CRT at all times and mainly use it to play my very large DVD collection that I've acquired because of it. Always wanted the system when I was younger, but never got the chance until semi-recently. Best decision I've ever made~

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

I own a Model 2 Genesis that has a reset button that's never worked, which makes using an Everdrive X3 kind of a pain in the ass. Still though, love the console, even more so now that I have a proper 6-Button controller for it

I considered getting a modded Gameboy and a flash cart, but having an emulator handheld like the Bittboy Pocket Go just made more sense in the long run in terms of what it could play at the time when it was released. It's ancient as hell now, especially considering what's out there these days, but I still appreciate it

And I also second, third, and fourth the sentiments that the PS2 is a still a wonderful console to own. I pretty much have it permanently hooked up to my Sanyo CRT at all times and mainly use it to play my very large DVD collection that I've acquired because of it. Always wanted the system when I was younger, but never got the chance until semi-recently. Best decision I've ever made~

It's the same sentiment for my PS3, which I have set-up for PS3 games, as well as a DVD/Blu-Ray player.

 

[RETRO-VETRO RETRO-VETRO]

Original Xbox is definitely worth owning.

 

[ZEGA ZONIC]

Gotta get a PS3 for that Blu ray & free multiplayer!

 

[NeroVingian]

For home consoles, it’s definitely worth it to own a PS2. The games of this era are ones that are in the transitional period in game design; for example, imagine the clunky controls of console FPS games before and after Halo came out. It’s worth it to go back to these games and see how things were before standards were set in stone, and experiencing it in period-correct hardware. PS2 is recommended just because it has the biggest library, and probably the cheapest to buy today.

For handheld, Vita and 3DS are best picks, but I’m having trouble seeing them playing PSP and DS games, respectively. The screen on the newer handhelds have higher resolution than their predecessor, and thus there are some blurring there when using their backward compat. It’s no big issue, but for keen-eyed retro gamers, this might be a breaking issue.

Myself? I own 2 PSPs now, one is a 1000 model that I bought and fixed myself (it’s still not fully fixed lol), and a 3000 that a friend gifted to me when he saw me playing around with the 1000. For now, the PSP 3000 is my main retro gaming everyday carry, it serves as both gaming and music device for me on the go.