Joe Tarczon, a law student, recently visited St. Marks Place to indulge in a somewhat specific hobby. He climbed stairs to a small, discreetly located shop where he knew he would find what he was looking for: video games with great graphics and challenging gameplay — and compatibility with the extinct Nintendo Entertainment System.

Inside 8 Bit and Up, cluttered shelves hold Nintendo cartridges in black plastic sleeves and stacks of Sega Genesis games. Former hits like Super Mario World, NBA Jam and Sonic the Hedgehog are often stocked. Behind the counter, other games are still in their original shrink-wrapped boxes. A heap of loose instruction manuals — early literature for some — fills one tub. Controllers for deceased consoles hang from the ceiling like mobiles.

The store sells all the latest games and systems. But its specialty is nostalgia, in the form of products from the ’80s, ’90s and early millennium.