Editor's note: I remember the first time I saw Dragon's Lair and Time Traveler in the arcade. I was little, and oh man, was I wowed. When I got a bit older and had a car, I went toe-to-toe and shoulder-to-shoulder at the local coin-sucker almost daily. Playing Tekken 3, Soul Calibur, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 with real, live people ate up at least half my week! I miss the arcade, and this article makes me want to do nothing more than bang the machine. -James

It was pouring outside, so I decided to leave early for the theater just in case I bumped into some rainy-day traffic. I got there before everyone else -- the movie started at 10:00 p.m., and my friends and I had agreed to meet there 10 minutes before the show, not 40. I found myself with a solid half-hour to kill.

"Check the arcade machines!" my inner voice yelled as I examined the situation. Not a minute after, I stood in front of three old, lonely arcade cabinets. My choices were Hydro Thunder, Gunblade, and Time Crisis 4. I reached into my right hand pocket, pulled out the only five peso coin (0.40 USD) I was carrying, and fed it into the Time Crisis machine.

As soon as I shot at the screen to start the game, that old, familiar "time-recoil" washed over my hands. I was traveling back through my life, and it felt good. There I was, back in the Play Land Arcade in the Galerías shopping mall. As a little kid, I spent plenty of Sunday afternoons there with my dad and my older brother -- and with my friends when I grew a bit older.

I remembered sitting on my father's lap and laughing as the Out Run cabinet shook and turned us side to side. I remembered the excitement that came over me the first time I actually played a game instead of pretending to during the attract mode. I remembered being nervous while standing in line to get a shot at beating the local Street Fighter 2 champ. I remembered my older brother and his friends playing Bad Dudes. I remembered my friend Mike and me shouting while celebrating our triumph over Metal Slug -- and then realizing we had no money left for snacks and Cokes.

As poorly as arcades were held in the eyes of many adults, they were actually a great place for kids to hang out and make friends. I recollected this kid that I often saw at one of the arcades I sometimes dropped by. His parents seemed to be very busy people, so he spent lots of days walking around the place and striking up conversations with everyone. I think that helped him.

I thought about how people considered gaming an activity for the antisocial. Arcades were anything but that. Patrons stood side by side as teammates and as rivals. We heard each others' voices and rubbed elbows. We exchanged pats on the back and high fives when we achieved victory. We shared the same space and -- for a moment - we felt the same way.

As a "Hurry up!" sign flashed on the Time Crisis screen, my time ran out. I put the flash-gun back into its holster and checked my watch. I still had 20 minutes left to kill.

P.S. This is not an arcade, Microsoft. Never will be.