I grew up in a relatively poor family, so the systems I got as a kid were always a generation behind. I got my first C64 when the Amiga was just making it big, I got my Amiga when PS1 came out. In 1997 I started on PC and PS1 gaming. Until 2008, I was exclusively a PC gamer.

I didn't start playing console catch-up until the DRM madness started on PC, at which point I bought a PS3. I then bought my brother-in-law's PS2 off him to catch up with that console's library of games.

And while not technically a "retroactively bought console", I bought a Wii U upon launch and have used it a lot to play the Wii classic back catalogue. That made a Nintendo fan out of me, so I then went on to buy a used GameCube and a 3DS (which, again, I also use to play the DS back catalogue). For the GameCube in turn I picked up a Game Boy Player, which I've used to play classic GB and GBA games.
Indeed, which is why I've avoided SNES and N64 for the time being. That being said, I bought a used copy of Link's Awakening DX for the Game Boy recently and the battery was surprisingly OK. Also, I saw a copy of The Legend of Zelda demoed on a NES in our local games store and the battery on that one was fine (whether it had been replaced I cannot say).

And this is why i'm looking forward to the Retron 5. It will save game data to the console itself, so if the battery dies your save file will remain intact. Another alternative is getting a flashcard like the Everdrive or the Super Ufo (since it saves to the SD card). It's much better than having to solder new batteries into your old cartridges.

However, i think that most SNES batteries are still fine for now. NES games are the ones that are suffering the most right now.

I collect old stuff now after getting my C64 & Megadrive / Genesis back from my mother last year

Stuff I currently have :

Nintendo Gameboy Pocket Yellow (6 games)
SEGA Game Gear (4 Games)
Super Nintendo (2 games and 1 extra controller)
Atari STe (14 boxed games, 4Mb ram upgrade & UltraSatan Hard drive with 1000's more games)
Amstrad CPC464 with color screen and analogue TV receiver (38 boxed games on tape)
ZX Spectrum +2A with Kempston Interface (131 boxed games)
SEGA Megadrive, Mega CD & Powerbase (Master System Converter (50 games, CD, MD Cart & SMS)
Commodore Amiga 600 (14 boxed games, do have PCMCIA Adapter and adf transfer kit)
Commodore 64 with 1540 Vic 2 Disk Drive, Action Replay Mk 4 & 3 x C2N (350 boxed games)
PS1 Original model (10 games)

Will be upgrading my Amiga 600 to a 1200 later this year, the adf transfer kit is handy to have as it means you can write all the WinUAE adf emulator files back onto a disc to play on the machine. The 3 tape decks I have are a standard model C2N, Dark Brown 1530 Commodore 16 deck with adapter for C64, Vic20 & C128 and I also have a Mills Load It deck which has lights on it to fine tune the alignment to get things to load straight away. The Action Replay Mk4 allows me to back up single load tape games onto disc which is great for things that are awkward to load in.

PS1 I picked up a few weeks back at a car boot sale for £2, I do tend to just play the PS1 games on my PS3 though

I love these old machines, I am becoming an avid collector but I do also use them regularly

Actually it was meant as a somewhat sarcastic remark because I think your explanations that determine when which console would be bought "retroactively" are somewhat too convoluted. :P

But in case you weren't aware, the PS4 was released in Europe just two weeks after the US release (not sure whether you knew that, since I said 2013 and you specifically mentioned Europe).

Yeah, a few people mentioned that so that's why I clarified, although the clarification seems far too wordy now.

(Besides my mind was still operating like "last year" is 2012, sorry for the misunderstanding. Although unlike the Xbox 360 the PS3 is still getting a steady stream of releases in seemingly all territories.)

I was late to the party with the PS2; I actually bought it to play FFXII, which ended up being one of my most liked games. And the slim one was out by this point - the thing was (and still is!) gorgeous! It was actually a great pickup, as whenever there was a lull in "current gen" games and I had a hankerin' for some gamin' I'd pick up a classic PS2 RPG. Was rarely disappointed!

I picked up a Dreamcast a year or 2 after it died to take on a static caravan holiday to Mablethorpe because I thought we would be stuck for something to do because we were going to be in a static caravan. In Mablethorpe.
Forgot to grab the memory card on my way out and we ended up driving all over Lincolnshire looking for someone who still sold them - ended up in a branch of 'Game' in Grimsby!
Saved those Soul Calibre char unlocks in the end though!

I bought a Playstation 2 (slim) half a year ago, and an NES and an SNES a couple months ago. With that, my "retro" collection is just starting off (looking to get the Sega consoles and the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube as well). I have an Xbox 360, but that's nowhere near retro yet and was still the top of the line when I bought it (second hand though).

I just got my Saturn from Japan. It took forever, but it's here and it's awesome.

I've owned (at least briefly) pretty much every console since the Atari 2600, about half of them bought years or even decades after their prime.

I have always wanted a Neo Geo. Maybe now I'll actually buy one. But it's never high on my priority list. Wife/kids/house come first.