Well, I've always kept my trusty old Odyssey 2 on standby - I just love showing it to people who don't remember anything outside of Atari. But the 2600 was never far behind on the "hot standby" list. Then four things happened in rapid succession in late 1998:

John Dondzila's "Amok" for the Odyssey 2.

Going through a lot of reconstructive dental surgery at a dentist's office where there was a Pac-Man cocktail machine.

Finding a store near that dentist's office that had a whole special section devoted to NES-and-older systems and carts, often at what now seems like insanely cheap prices - I miss that place. Scooterb23 can attest, I sent him there when he moved to that part of the country.

Learning of the wonder that is MAME.

There's been no turning back since then.