2) Get a few games along with it
3) Hook it up
4) Play old games on/with real hardware
5) Fun! (sorry, no profit here ;) )
Really, nothing beats the experience playing those old games on their respective hardware. You're missing out if you're using an emulator (though more power & kudos to the devs!).
Only thing i'm using an emulator for is trying the more expensive games first if i even like them, since retro-gaming kinda exploded and the prices of used games with it :/