Buying Old Consoles - Which old console is better for now ?

Its either NES or Super NES , or my all time fav Sega Mega Drive 2 ( I heard that Sega want to reborn this as just Nintendo did )

I'm surprised that nobody has brought up the idea of a RetroPie. You turn a raspberry pi into a retro gaming machine capable of playing games from a multitude of old consoles. That paired with a fairly powerful HTPC running emulators for newer consoles (Dolphin for the Wii and Gamecube, PCSX2 for the PS2, PSX for original Playstation, etc) opens up many possibilities.

You'll get way more bang for your buck going the emulator route, presenting you with more game and controller options. For example, if you have a Bluetooth receiver on your HTPC you can use actual Wii remotes.You can also use Xbox controllers.

Never had a PS3, but the PS2 had an incredibly huge library. It lasted for 10 years and could also play PS1 games. Honestly, getting a PS2 and a PS3 is a good idea if you can get them both and make enough room for them. If you can only get one, then look up the games each can play, how much the games cost, and decide which console to get from there.

Throwing out a couple more cents. Nintendo's good when it comes to having a retro library, too.

On the GameCube, there was a GameBoy adaption set (forgot the name). You basically added on an inch to the bottom of the console, popped in a special disc, and you could play GBA games on your TV. The GBA itself could play GB games, the old DS could play GBA games, but the Wii? It had backwards compatibility with the GameCube, and old games from the NES to the N64 on the Wii Shopping Channel. However, the WSC is going to shut down next year. Granted, there are a few good games on WiiWare, so it's just a matter of preference.

Edit: Only old versions of the Wii have backwards compatibility. New ones had it phased out. Look for the cover on the side hiding the gamecube controller and memory card ports.

Wii, is one of the most versatile when it comes to emulation of other older consoles, imo.
Between PS2 and PS3, I like the PS2 more. I still don't think of PS3 as a retro console, and PS2 had a lot of games which their sequels are in PS3.

NES and Gameboy are great,
But if you are asking for PS2 or PS3 you could just get PS3 and install ps2 games on it, some of good games there has been ported as far as i know

If you want a lot of cheap games, then the Atari 2600 is pretty nice!
(Granted, most games on it has aged really poorly)

snes, best console ever released

im fine with 2d games, but the old low poly count 3dgames really hurt my eyes
but on a small screen (PSP) it was tolerable
guess im saying get a ps3 :D

If you go with PS2, make sure you have a small TV to use with it. Those old graphics on a big screen are painful. :)

TLDR: xbox360 jtagged

good graphics ... Nintendo Gamecube... awesome titles...