Jrecee wrote:"There's great pluses to both formats, which we've discussed at length."
I honestly can't figure out any pluses to game compilations if you already collect and own all the old stuff unless you simply don't have room to keep your old stuff hooked up.
Then why the hell do I own Sonic Mega collection?

OK buddy, I'll bite.
1) Price - Nearly 50 games for 30 bucks. Even the most dedicated flea market junkie wouldn't be able to pull that off when you consider the likes of the entire PS series, Shining Force 1&2, Alien Soldier -- not to mention the arcade games.
2) Space - Less shit = looks better
3) Availability - While most of these games have been on lots of comps and are easy to find as carts, where else are you going to so easily find Congo Bongo, Golden Axe Warrior, PS series, Fantasy Zone, etc? I enjoy the hunt, but time is valuable, too. And do you really own all 49 of these games? I suppose your mileage would vary depending on how many carts you own. Personally I only have about 10 of these.
4) Convenience - Relive the 16-bit glory days without getting off the couch to change carts, blow in slots, jigger the reset button, etc. I'd argue it's more convenient than dicking around with emulators, too.
5) Play it on new TVs - The big one for me personally. I just invested in a plasma TV, but I've also invested a lot of money in retro games over the years. I'm kinda pissed I can't play the old games on my new TV. And no, I'm not putting two damn TVs in my living room although I do now have a retro shrine with a CRT in a back room.
5 1/2) Port quality - If it's poor, then that's a big reason to get the real thing. If it's faithful, then you're not missing much (besides the controller). According to the Retronauts hands-on, the emu quality is very accurate with perfect 2x upscaling the original pixels. See point No. 5. (Thanks for posting that, Flak. I hadn't seen it. Awesome OP.)