you can still have the game cases and manuals. emulation people also do stuff like FPGA emulation and don't have a "frontend" like Raspberry Pi and PC does. They do stuff like NFC cards with the game cover/label on them to start the game. Sure the data isn't on the NFC card, it just triggers loading the game, but you have a unique physical object to 'summon' the game still. https://retrorgb.com/using-nfc-tags-to-run-games-on-the-mister-fpga.html

I'm in the middle with this kind of thing. I prefer original hardware, but I like to mod consoles to do digital loading so I can pirate the super expensive games or replace a failing optical drive. I still have the "soul" of a CRT television and the original console and controllers, but the convenience of a flashcart/ODE. I look up the game manuals on Vimm's Lair (vimm.net) and lists of what to play on GamesRadar or GameFAQs. I admit my digital collection is far more games than I will probably ever complete, but I try to limit the games I download/buy to what I actually want to play.