There's one point- graphics editing. One upside to emulators. Then emus have such things as Game Genie Support, save states, and, of course, being free. But, consoles do have their upsides. You don't have to worry about whether or not this game will work on this emu or not.
Games are also rather cheap.
And owning a cart doesn't take up hard drive space. I guess it depends on what you want. Of course emus don't offer the accessories, such as light guns. But since I can't have it, I'll stick with emulation. It doesn't draw me in like it used to.