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.
I feel like a lot of the retro gaming hobby can end up being closer to a tech hobby, I have more fun cracking old systems and making them do new things than I do actually playing games on them. If you’re just looking to play retro games without the tech hobbyist externalities then a ready to go system with a pre-loaded rom library makes a lot of sense.
Edit: A great example being my brother, I hack stuff for him and help him with computer stuff all the time because he wants to play the old games but he just doesn’t have an interest in tech as a hobby, just gaming as far as that goes. I set up devices for him (because I like to) to essentially be one of these pre-loaded machines that he doesn’t have to fuck with and can just run the games libraries I put on them. He’s not too dumb to do it on his own, he’s a smart guy, but he’s just not into tinkering with tech, it’s not his thing, it bores the hell out of him and I get it, but he really loves being able to play all his favorite games.