In the heart of New Yorkâ??s East Village lies a hidden jewel for game collectors.
Upon walking into St Marksâ?? Games one is instantly whisked back to their gaming childhood. The store has amassed a huge collection of forgotten gaming systems, ancient accessories and glory day games to make any avid collector salivate.
“Some of the younger kids don’t understand the store, but older gamers come to find the games that they loved playing as kids,” said Dan Mastin the stores manager, as he pointed out a 1982 Vectrex game console that he recently sold to a customer who hadn’t seen the system since his youth.
The stores’ prized possession is a copy of the Nintendo World Championship 1990 Cartridge. There is dispute as to how many copies were ever printed, some say only 90, but the rare game is considered the Holy Grail for video game collectors. Another copy of the coveted game was recently sold on eBay for over $6,000. 
“I do not think there is anything more rare in the game world,” said Giulio Graziani, the stores owner. St Marks’ Games has been around for over ten years and is one of many stores throughout the country that specialize in retro gaming. Often these stores buy and sell from each other to meet the supply and demand of each geographic market. Often Mike Lodato, the assistant manager from X Zone, a retro game store in Nanuet, New York can be found purchasing SNES’s or Atari’s at St Marksâ?? to sell back at his store. Itâ??s an opportunity to stock up on much needed items while talking shop with friendly competition.
St. Markâ??s is happy to supply their colleague too since the store has
such a strong collection. Strewn all across the store are boxes filled
with 80â??s Nintendo and Atari games as well as glass cased collectorâ??s
items like Japans’ 1980’s MSX game system.
Although the store is stocked with new games, over 80 percent of their
business is from retro items. The new games on display will bring in
customers, but itâ??s the classic games that keep them coming back. â??We
have pretty much every system ever and the games to go with it,â? said
Mastin. 
For avid collectors like Kevie Faerkin, itâ??s a chance to collect
coveted items like the GameAxe without the hassle of running around or the fear of eBay scams.
“It’s fun to just look around, it’s nostalgic. If you are looking for
something specific on eBay you aren’t going to run into these rare
things you forgot about,” said Faerkin.
Right now business is good for St Marks’ Games. Soon the store is
going to expand their imported games section, although the small
Manhattan shop doesn’t leave much room to work with. The store is also
constantly busy doing repairs on old game systems. Although they break
down, Mastin insists that classic game systems are “built like tanks.” 
Although the market is subject to flux, the store’s owner is convinced that there will always be a demand for a store like his.
“Old games have concept, a beginning and an end, and new games lack this,” said Graziani.