RetroPie consoles are the ultimate solution if you’re serious about retro gaming. While emulators have been around forever, RetroPie is a program that brings them all together and makes them user-friendly. For a very low price, you can buy a RetroPie system that offers thousands and thousands of old video games, comes with controllers, and plugs directly into your TV.
Pros: These consoles are cheap, easy to use, and let you play any kind of old game imaginable. For example, this system will plug right into your TV. It comes with two wireless controllers and a wireless keyboard that you can use to play over 100,000 old games, all for $159.99.
Con: Reliability and legality. The games on RetroPie consoles likely come from the same source as the web games mentioned earlier, so some have the same “they might not all work” problem. Plus, it’s hard to say if it’s exactly legal.
While emulation consoles aren’t illegal to manufacture, own, or sell in themselves, the games shipped with them could be in violation of copyright laws, depending on who owns the rights to the game’s intellectual property (and who you ask). While the feds are not likely to bust down your door for playing a pirated copy of Mr. Do, and these games collections are sold openly on Amazon, it’s at least worth being aware of.
