Welcome to being responsible and not just feeding hype wagons.

I bought an N64 with 4 controllers and 5 games for $5.00 about 10 years ago...the same setup is like $200 minimum now.

Hype on 'retro gaming' literally ruined it. I only emulate now. Currently building an arcade cabinet because it's actually cheaper then caring about the look and for something to sit on a shelf and slowly collect dust.

I'll play devil's advocate here and say that collectors have just as much of a right to these games as anyone else does.

You say they only want them to look pretty, for the box art etc. but this ignores the same sentimental value that you yourself are looking for when you want to play the original games on the original hardware. You can emulate everything right down to the bugs and glitches of the original systems, but it doesn't have the same feel to it as playing on the actual systems themselves, so you want some original hardware to achieve that. Nothing wrong here.

Similarly, someone that wants to appreciate the look and feel of the original games can easily print out a photo or poster of the covers, make replicas of the consoles etc that look exactly the same as the originals - but they aren't the originals, it doesn't feel the same looking at a picture of cover as it does looking at the real thing, so they want some original hardware to achieve it. Don't see anything wrong here either.

Not trying to say I can't appreciate your frustration. I'm down to a single Guitar Hero guitar for my 360, and if it breaks or starts to die, it's gonna be at least $100 to get a new one, and for something I pick up once or twice a month when the urge kicks in, it'd be hard to justify it. But I can't be mad at the fact that there's probably someone who has 3 of them permanently afixed to their wall as an art piece, because they're getting as much "use" out of it as I am, maybe more since they can look at and appreciate it every day vs my routine of using it for 3 days then burying it in the entertainment center.

Funny... I'm retro gaming for the cool cost of free by emulating them.

Doesn't sound like it's the retro gaming that's an issue, but the physically collecting old games that are rarer and of course expensive as all get out.

I'd love to own a physical copy of Chrono Trigger but fuck if that'll ever happen. That game is super rare, and easily can sell for THOUSANDS of dollars.

I only emulate. Its way more convenient. Load my shit up into my network, and I always have it on a main drive or a backup. It just makes no financial sense to own the physical ones when I can download it for free and just use my existing equipment. Yeah, it got ruined hard and nobody could preserve it in a way for everyone to enjoy because someone's taint will hurt if someone else posts 30 year old abandonware.

The physical hardware, including cartridges and disks, degrade over time. That's why collectors won't use them and why people who want to play retro games should always emulate. There's no reason not to other than potential legalities within your country.

As a Silent Hill fan myself, just wait until you find out how much people are demanding for games like Kuon and Panzer Dragoon Saga (USA).

100% just emulate them. Used sales do not give the original developers or publishers money anyway, so they couldn't argue about "lost sales" (stupid term BTW) anyways.

Plus, disks succumb to disk rot eventually, people are starting to see it happening with laser disks. Cartridges go bad, etc. It can be nice to have a physical copy, but only get them for ones that are affordable and need the physical as part of the experience. Steel Battalion, for example, requires the 40 button, 3 joystick, 3 footpedal controller as part of the experience.

Perfectly fine reason to pirate, just enjoy your childhood games! If you want authenticity then get OG hardware with mods/flashcarts or an FPGA based platform. Game copies are still 1:1 and you can print manuals if needed.

It's the unfortunate reality of collectible things. Cars are like that too but at least you can emulate games for free but you can't build a kit car replica for free

New 3DS XL/Wii U + custom firmware hacks, which are extremely easy these days if you follow the main guides, are the only way to play a collection for Nintendo.

Myrient for all other games for custom emulation / compilation.

Divorce yourself from the physical act of collecting. It is unrelated to the real joy IMO, each in is the preservation and play.

Silent Hill 3 is literally my favorite horror game ever, and I will never be able to afford a copy, or even if I did have the money to spare I could never justify the absurd price. I will never own a legitimate copy of Megaman Legends, Pokemon Platinum, Rule of Rose, or so many of these games that I really do care about and want to be able to experience on authentic hardware.

Believe it or not I see this as a good thing. It means that gaming has arrived to a point of a undeniably maturity as art.

I certainly can't afford a Picasso or Degas to hang on my wall. They are far too rare and too valuable for me to afford. Their value is established because of their rarity and quality for what they are.

The rest of us can buy cheaper lithographs to hang on our walls, just as we can still play the games...in copies in flash cartridges or in emulation.

Video games have taken the final step to arrive as art.

games that I really do care about and want to be able to experience on authentic hardware.

Crack the console then, ps2s have software cracks by now, and sideloading cartridges exist for a fair few portable consoles.

Basically the only one where you can't really do it is the cartridge era stuff but those can be approximated with a decent emulator, a controller adapter and a CRT screen, if you're willing to tolerate a bit of latency with output converters.

Games are fundamentally software, the hardware gives the experience but the cartridges/disks, with some exceptional cases aside, are literally just a delivery system and a means to maintain ownership.

It's nice to have them for that feeling of tangible presence but realistically that's never going to be more affordable the further we move from when they were made, but that doesn't mean you can't at least approximate playing on the hardware or straight up just do it.

It's a shame that people like you don't have a way to enjoy the classics as we did back in those days. I wish there was an answer for you, but aside from emulators there really isn't.

But whats even more frustrating about it all to me are the types of collectors that want something specifically because it is rare. The type of people to buy a game and shove it in a plastic box on a shelf where it will collect dust and never be played or appreciated beyond it's box art.

Totally get what you mean, mate.
If you prize your health, do not look up the rare prototype/demo hoarders, they'll really make your blood boil. 🫠

I love retro gaming on real hardware, but the prices for turn-of-the-millenium software are outrageous. whatever was popular 20 years ago tends to suddenly become very expensive, but after a certain point the price does go down again. I used to collect NES games, when they got too expensive I moved to big box pc games, and now I'm building a Wii and Atari 2600 collection. The 2600 is so old that most of the people who are nostalgic for it aren't actively collecting it. meanwhile, the Wii is still comparatively new (though that will likely change in a few years).

so, I guess my advice is: buy whatever's cheap. I had never played the 2600 before but I ended up developing a genuine appreciation for the console. similarly, I'm picking up Wii games because I love the Wii and I want to make sure I have all the essentials before they get really expensive.

Another alternative is to just buy a console and then use a flashcart/softmod. or use an FPGA system, which will get you a native-like experience.

it sucks that a thing I like so much has become a festival of unrestricted capitalism, but I think it's still possible to carve out a niche and enjoy yourself.

Ohhhh... I was about to recommend some excellent and inexpensive retro games, but it turns out you mean vintage games.

Idk about the other games but Pokemon Platinum isn’t that expensive

Still waiting for someone to release a dual screen emulating console so I don't have to spend $300 on a 3ds