Being a genuine hardware owner and enjoyer myself, I know it might seem bad to recommend an emulation setup over genuine hardware. But in my experience, I find I spend a lot more time playing on a mini PC with emulators I have connected to a genuine CRT it 1x internal resolution than I do playing on the real hardware I have. Its a big hassle. Sometimes I pull them out for guests or jids or whatever to get to experience how things used to be, but for me I want to play the games and the genuine hardware is just extra steps.

Of course, using genuine hardware is going to give a more immersive and nostalgic experience. But if someone is wanting to actually play the games and not just experience nostalgia for a week before the hardware starts collecting dust, emulation is clearly superior.

The thing about genuine hardware is that constantly getting up to reset it when a glitch happens, or when you want to change games or change consoles, etc, gets annoying pretty fast. Eventually you figure you don’t have enough time or energy for it and thats when it starts collecting dust. I say just skip that step altogether and go the emulation route. Then if you really want a genuine console, buy a cheap one first and see how long you last playing on real hardware. I give you a week before you go back to the emulator.