The best reasons to own a NES console in 2025

How do you do, fellow human?

Is it just me, or has the internet turned into an army of chatbots talking to each other? When I researched this article (a little. Kinda.), I found exactly what I should have expected: An uninspiring stack of low-effort ai-written posts to lure potential buyers to generated websites with overpriced retro gear. And I mean *really* overpriced.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. I do have a few NES console bundles for sale. And at much better prices than my uninspired competition. And shipping is super fast. And if you happen to make a purchase here, then Hey! I won’t try to stop you.

Anyway, I’m not an ai chat bot thingy or whatever. I’m a real human boy writing about old games because I love old games and I hate how expensive they’ve become. I doubly resent the fact that just a handful of companies have managed to push retro prices into the stratosphere, making the hobby inaccessible for thousands of nerdy people just to make themselves a little richer.

To avoid trouble, I won’t name names. But here’s another article that goes into more detail. And I’m due for a few more, as some other bad actors have emerged to make retro gaming even more expensive.

Retro gaming is still cheaper than modern gaming

Despite huge markups, monopolistic shenanigans, gouging, sleazy influencers and corporate bullies, vintage gaming continues to be far more cost effective than modern.

You’ll get plenty of high-quality play time from Super Mario World or the original Metroid. And despite being some of the more premium titles for the Super NES, it still won’t cost you $450 for the console or $80 for the games. 

I don’t want to quote exact numbers because the market is constantly evolving, but by and large, the average classic title for 8 or 16-bit consoles will be far less than the $80 price tag Nintendo and the other big publishers are now putting on all their AAA titles.

Retro game prices aren’t likely to reverse any time soon. A few titles will become less hot and less expensive, but the trade as a whole will keep growing in price if not in popularity, especially as collectors continue to amass and hoard the really rare stuff, removing it from circulation and decreasing supply. But that sort of market volatility is gradual and predictable and as of this writing, the rest of the U.S. economy is… well…

Let’s just say the government’s weird game of tariff/no tariff is not helping the prices for modern games. Market uncertainty is making importers second guess the American market. It’s even worse than that crypto-induced chip shortage back when the PS5 was un-gettable.

Buying retro is buying local. These cartridges and discs are already made. No overseas manufacturing. No tariffs. No child labor either, other than the occasions I make my son play-test.

Imagine owning software

And you know what else? When you buy classic hard-copy physical games, you actually own them!! You don’t need any subscription, you don’t have to wait for the new patch, there’s no microtransactions, no internet needed, and no company can suddenly withdraw support for your game to make it unplayable.

When you buy old games, they’re actually yours for as long as you keep them. And when you’re done, you can sell them to the next person, potentially for a profit. (But don’t count on that.)

As game companies move further and further from the “buy it and own it” model in favor of the “pay us forever or we’ll kill your games” model, it’s more important than ever to preserve physical media whenever possible. Video games are precious pieces of pop culture that deserve to be kept safe.

Imagine a dystopian future where Nintendo buys back every cartridge they ever produced, only to destroy them and force us to pay a subscription to activate the NEStalgia(TM) chip they’ve mandated us to install. Hey, that’s pretty good actually.

Anyway, let’s keep our vintage video games safe! And let’s also give the same treatment to other physical media like DVDs, VHS, cassettes, board games, comics, computers, and the vinyl records which are making such an impressive comeback.

Oh, and also…

In this economy, it’s important to support your neighbors. As the corpos continue to “streamline” and robotize their labor pool, regular Joe Schmoes like you and me are looking to earn a living by side-hustling or starting their own business. A purchase from Amazon is a purchase from a dystopian future.

Even if you patronize your local GameStop instead, you’re contributing to your local economy, helping your neighborhood franchise owners, and keeping local nerds employed. Same is true for thrift stores, pawn shops, and the ever-dwindling Local Game Stores (LGS).

And yes, it can be more expensive to buy local. That’s just what happens when you don’t use an exploitative business model.

My last point is for the hippies

Consider the environmental impact of purchasing local, reused stuff instead of buying new items that were produced from a smoke-belching factory or whatever.

Remember FernGully? No? Don’t lie. Remember Crysta? (Help it grow!)

Well, you should watch it with your kids. And when they understand the importance of reusing and recycling, they’ll have such a deep appreciation for old video games probably. And if they’re like me, they’ll also have some uncanny feels for fairies that their young bodies just aren’t quite ready for.

Hey look! You can get it on VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray or even laserdisc! (From eBay. And I’ll earn a few cents, so…)

In conclusion: Buy my stuff!

Okay you don’t have to. But just know that there are plenty of reasons to consider a long look backward at the gaming history that got us here in the first place. And if you can do your part to preserve it for future generations, you might as well climb aboard the retro train. Choo-chooooo!