Last Saturday, I took my wife to the movies, and on our way out, we stopped at a tiny arcade in the lobby. Twenty years ago, arcades were heaven on Earth for me, and even though they’re pretty much dead now, I still walked in hoping to find entertainment.

The first thing I noticed is that it was empty. The mall was packed, as it was Father’s Day weekend, but not even wandering children seemed interested. Many of the machines were turned off or disconnected -- probably broken or glitchy. No wonder the place looked like a ghost town! Some people did come in after we broke the ice.

Checking out Silent Scope, Konami's murder simulator.

The few games that were working disappointed me. Besides the token machine and the obligatory basketball and crane games, the arcade featured a lot of racing cabinets -- the ones where you sit down when playing. A Street Fighter machine was nowhere to be found. Fighting games used to be all the rage, with lines of challengers and spectators. At least it had Tekken 5, but pinball machines were also missing.

On the right-side corner, there was Final Furlong, a horse-racing simulator from Namco. A really cute little girl dressed in a ballerina outfit was having a blast galloping alongside her dad. I didn’t dare take a picture for fear of having security chase me. Next to it was Sega’s Star Wars Arcade, then a bunch of light gun games, and finally some version of Dance Dance Revolution.

My wife test-drives Mario Kart Arcade GP and shoots down Galaga.

It was a sad sight overall. The exciting arcade experience from the '80s and '90s is long dead. Online gaming with strangers is the closest you’ll get to randomly challenging someone at the arcade. We’ll no longer hear cheers from onlookers or learn the latest fatality move from the kid in the acid wash T-shirt, but we'll still get the stink eye from our significant other….

Not a lot of variety in this crane game. Those Garfield plushies look like knockoffs.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the movie we watched was Super 8. Go see it!