We shouldn't ever forget the sweet spot of the Game Boy Advance SP (proudly exclaimed "plays all games" on its box, and that wasn't a lie) and the original model of the PS3 which had full BC for every previous generation.

It's such a shame how far things have fallen since. The Switch 2 is an amicable modern day effort, but still, the industry has gotten much pricklier for the average consumer. Not to mention prices that will irreparably damage the scene.

We had a pretty good run there from NES onwards. Today the state of the games industry is weird - It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

The best part is that the era isn't gone; you can buy those and the games, and it's not even an expensive hobby. And people also know how to / can repair them.

Can we not forget Dreamcast was also part of that era?