Retro Consoles Still Worth Collecting
Retro collecting has two honest motivations: you want to play old games on real hardware, or you want shelves that make visitors say "whoa." Both are legitimate. What isn't legitimate is the advice most listicles give, which ignores the realities of forty-year-old capacitors, dying disc drives, and a market that swung wildly after the pandemic-era price spike. Here's our practical take on which systems are still worth buying, and what each one will actually demand of you.
The easy recommendations
Super Nintendo (SNES)
Still the safest entry point in all of retro collecting. The hardware is famously durable, the cartridge format means nothing mechanical wears out in normal use, and the library is arguably the strongest of any 16-bit machine — see our roundup of SNES hidden gems for proof that it runs deeper than the famous first-party lineup. Consoles are plentiful; the pain point is game prices, since the best-known RPGs now command serious money. Buy the console cheap, be patient with the games.
Game Boy Advance
The GBA hits a sweet spot: a massive library spanning three generations of design (its own games plus near-complete Game Boy and Game Boy Color backward compatibility), tiny storage footprint, and a thriving modding scene. A backlit IPS screen mod transforms the original hardware into something better than it ever was in 2001, and it's one of the most beginner-friendly mods in the hobby. If you only collect for one system, a strong case says it should be this one.
PlayStation 2
The best-selling console ever made is still cheap, and its library is so large that entire genres live inside it. Slim models are compact and reliable; the earlier fat models offer better expandability. Disc rot is rarer than forums suggest, but optical drives do wear — test before buying, and factor a possible laser replacement into any purchase. Game prices for standouts have risen, yet the long tail remains a bargain bin of genuine quality.
The enthusiast picks
Sega Dreamcast
The romantic's console. The library is small but astonishingly creative — Jet Set Radio, Shenmue, Crazy Taxi, Soulcalibur — and the hardware accepts modern quality-of-life upgrades gracefully, from HDMI mods to optical drive emulators that replace the failure-prone GD-ROM drive entirely. That last part matters: the stock drive is the Dreamcast's weak point, so budget for an ODE or accept that you're buying on borrowed time.
Nintendo GameCube
Prices climbed hard once nostalgia caught up with the purple lunchbox, and first-party titles now cost more than they did new. But the hardware is robust, the controller remains one of the best ever designed, and the library has aged beautifully. If you can find a unit with the component-video-capable digital port (early models only), it's a keeper.
Approach with caution
Original PlayStation and Sega Saturn
Both are wonderful machines with laser assemblies that are increasingly tired. The Saturn in particular combines an expensive library with hardware that demands maintenance skills — its 2D fighters and shooters are legendary, but this is a system for collectors who own a screwdriver set and aren't afraid to use it. The PS1 is more forgiving, and its best library entries are widely available through official re-releases, which weakens the case for original hardware unless you specifically want it.
Anything CRT-dependent without a CRT plan
Pre-HD consoles were designed for CRT televisions, and on a modern flat panel through composite cables they look genuinely bad. Before collecting seriously, decide your display strategy: hunt down a CRT (free-to-cheap locally, miserable to ship), or budget for a line doubler/upscaler, which has become the standard answer for playing classic consoles on modern displays. This single decision shapes the whole hobby more than which console you pick.
Practical buying rules
- Test before you buy whenever possible; "worked when last used" is a coin flip.
- Buy consoles locally, games online. Shipping is where consoles get damaged, and local listings run cheaper.
- Loose carts over boxed unless you're specifically a box collector — you're often paying triple for cardboard.
- Learn what recapping means before buying anything older than the mid-90s. Electrolytic capacitors age; some systems (Game Gear, early Macs of the console world) practically guarantee the work.
- Check region differences. Some libraries are dramatically better (or cheaper) in PAL or Japanese versions, and many consoles are easy to region-mod.
Or skip the hardware entirely
There is no shame in deciding that original hardware isn't for you. Emulation and official re-releases cover a huge share of the classic catalogue, and if the legal side of that gives you pause, we broke down what's actually allowed in our emulation and the law explainer. Real hardware is a hobby; the games themselves are the point.