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Hey everyone,

I'm looking to dive into the world of retro gaming and I'm in need of some advice. I'm interested in getting a retro console but I'm not sure where to start. Could you please share your recommendations and insights on which retro console would be a good choice for a beginner?

Game Library
Availability and Affordability
Emulation and Mods
Controller Comfort
Video Output Options
Maintenance and Longevity

I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions or tips you can provide. Thanks in advance for your help!

Have you never owned a console before? If not then do you want to try and buy real retro hardware or rather to emulate systems?

Hot Trout wrote:Have you never owned a console before? If not then do you want to try and buy real retro hardware or rather to emulate systems?

Thanks for the reply, I would like to know about both suggestions!

moriswayne wrote:

Hot Trout wrote:Have you never owned a console before? If not then do you want to try and buy real retro hardware or rather to emulate systems?

Thanks for the reply, I would like to know about both suggestions!

Well there is something very special about playing original games on the original hardware. Sometimes this is to do with the timing of the hardware and also the true output from the screen and also the sound. Of course you then also need the proper display from that time, like a CRT or TV that matches the date. These things make it more difficult to obtain and setup and also normally more expensive. In addition, as the years march on, you may also find that you need to carry our hardware repair/maintenance on this hardware, like capacitor replacements etc.

On the other hand you have emulation as a means to get into retro consoles and computers. This method is a lot more accessible to many people. As long as you have a fairly decent PC setup, you will be able to software emulate a lot of different systems. Often this is also very low cost and indeed free. In addition to this software emulation, you now also have hardware emulation which basically means using a chip called a FPGA to hardware emulate a specific computer system. This method produces more accurate results and is preferred by many.

I would suggest that to get started, download an emulator of the system you want to use for your PC. Then download the rom images that you wish to play or use and start there. If you find a system that you really love, then consider finding and buying an original on sites like fleabay or buy an FPGA solution that will hardware emulate that system.

Hopefully this gets you started.